In Business

 

If it was easy...

I started my business in the late 1970s when there was no internet.  Since then, things have changed dramatically, in some ways not exactly for the 'better' when it comes to having and nurturing a small business.

With a very broad background (even at a young age), knowing a number of people who had small businesses and the general scope of what they dealt with on a daily basis, I at least had a clue as to what I might face.

But of course every business is different in their own way.  And now, the internet, which both makes some things easier, and some things very much more difficult, needs to be contended with.

A business is not a 'static' entity.  It needs constant care and attention and if you don't have at least a familiarity with what running a business entails, things can get even more stressful, especially if you have no cushion to catch you if things go badly awry.

Like constant wildfire evacuations.  Or the building next door blowing up.  Or whatever climate catastrophe is thrown your way.

One of the things that non-business folk don't understand is just how much you need insurance and just how very expensive that has gotten - and will continue to get - given climate change and all of the so-called 'natural' disasters.  Which will do nothing but keep getting worse.

For as long as we ignore the driving cause of climate change, the more unpredictable the weather will become, the more the glaciers will melt, the more the sea will rise, the more the forests will burn.

Finally, last night on the news, someone actually pointed out that the boreal forest, long touted to be a natural carbon sink, is now contributing to the increasing levels of carbon in the air, as it burns to the ground.

I confess I snorted and commented to my spouse that I have been saying precisely that for months, ever since the current wildfire season began weeks earlier than 'normal' and we lived under an almost never ending smoke pall.  The carbon was right there, in front of our eyes, and all I could think of was the impact all that wood burning, all that smoke going into the air, visible, and all the carbon *also* going into the air, invisible, was going to have.  And none of it was going to be 'good'.

As I wound down my business I was able to compact it all into my home, but I continue to carry a rider to cover the studio.  Because I worked for an insurance adjuster, and I *know* that there is no insurance company in the world that would cover what I have in my studio on a regular home ownership policy.

I also carried additional business insurance on the van because we were constantly driving to events -  either craft shows, fibre sales, or teaching - laden with boxes and boxes of product and/or equipment for the class.  Yes, it was an additional expense, but when I got rear-ended just a few days before leaving for a large sales event I was able to get a rental van and attend the show.  Because I had the correct type of insurance.  The insurance adjuster wasn't best pleased when I pointed out that I did, in fact, qualify for a van for the duration of the show in Edmonton.  He wanted me to turn the rental van in as soon as my van was repaired.  I asked him how he suggested I was to get me and my booth/products home from Edmonton (about a 500 miles journey) with no vehicle?

Being in business isn't all that much different from weaving, really.  It is complex.  There are a tonne of variables.  You need to focus on your business, but keep an eye out for things that might negatively impact what you are trying to do.  It's a good idea to have a Plan B.  And not stay 'stuck' in what you have been doing when it becomes obvious that it is time to make some changes.

All lessons I learned, the hard way, usually.