The Roller Coaster

Starting a new business can be overwhelming.  There are so very many hurdles and hoops and so much red tape.  For us, it helps that we are a homestead business.  That means that much of what we sell is considered agriculture and the rules for agriculture are somewhat less arduous.  That does not mean there are not licenses and regulations and permits, some of which require classes on food safety, others of which require visits to a local health department to request ~ in person, mind you ~ approval of food labels which must be placed on any and all canned goods.

There have been days (even weeks) when I have felt as though I am beating my head against a brick wall.  There may have been a few moments when I was actually (gently) tapping my head against the brick exterior of our home.  It is not simple.  It is not for the lazy.  It is not cheap, once all the fees, licenses, approvals, applications, etc. are totaled.

The quail part of the business alone is not cheap.  Because we have felt a need to get this up and going and have the business ready to GO by early December (more about the "why" of that later), there has been a cost to hurry this along.  Building tractors and condos and brooders is not overly expensive individually but all of them together do add up.  We had to purchase another incubator, purchase parts for two other incubators, purchase heaters for the brooders, and purchase another batch of eggs (we have been having some fertility problems with our current batch because we lost a couple of males).  

Our feed costs have gone up as we are increasing our flock.  There is the regular need for sand (quail LOVE sand baths!), shop towels for the brooders, pet pads for the poop trays under the cages...it all adds up. 

I mentioned recently that Cletus has been taking a lot of Fridays off and we have been enjoying a lot of long, 4-day weekends.  We have rested and spent more time at the beach and with friends but a lot of this time has been spent building.  He's made another brooder (where the quail live for the first 3-4 weeks), he is working on the second condo, and of course, the tractors.  All of this in addition to regular home and garden maintenance, and the work for next year's garden.

We have put a LOT of time, energy, money, and a lot of ourselves into developing a business.

Earlier today we hit what seemed to be an insurmountable road-block.  This was only going to affect the craft arm of the business, not the farm side.  I was asked to sign off on a document for a license which required me to sign away some basic property rights.  The person asking me to do this met my red-head self.  I dug my heels in and politely refused to sign right then and there; instead I informed them I would take the document home, consider it, and let them know.  I explained why I did not think I could sign the document and was met with, "I don't make the rules but these are the rules".  I walked away.  I did slam my car door when I got in.

After I got home and explained (maybe a little loudly) to Cletus what had happened and that we might not be able to make the craft arm work after all, I went for a walk.  All the voices from my past met me on that walk and shouted at me.  "This was a really dumb idea".  "What in the world made you think you could do that??"  "No one is going to be interested in what you make anyway".  "Why would you think you could make any profit doing that; it's not that good".  

It was a few minutes of, we must be crazy to think we can make this work!  But as I walked I realized some things.  I realized how important this crafting part of the dream had become for me; after all, if it were not important, I would not be upset!  I realized we have long passed the point of no return on this.  At this point we have put so much into starting a business, we cannot simply walk away without trying.  I reminded myself that this requires work.  And the work is worth doing.  

I decided on a plan B for the business.  Etsy is not my first choice for doing this (woven and knit goods are tactile and people like to be able to see and feel what they are buying), but if it was the only way to make this happen I would find a way to do it.  

I did not mouth off to the government official who asked me to sign the document.  I did not fire off an angry email (I started to.  God stopped me.).  I chose to sit back and take a few minutes.  

Then my phone rang.  The person I had spoken with had the grace and humility to double check with someone higher up regarding our request.  They discovered their statement I  had to sign the document was not correct and called to let me know they were in the wrong and apologize.  They are expediting the process and I may pick this up as soon as I drop off a check.  I hope my response to this was gracious.  I think it was.  I was so shocked I really don't know what I said other than, "Thank you, I will be there tomorrow".

So one more hurdle has been navigated.  We are back to plan A.  I will likely also be setting up an Etsy shop for the crafts.  We still have a couple more hurdles to go but are hopeful that by December 5th we will be launching at a local venue.  

I've got a LOT of weaving and knitting to get done so the posts between now and then will likely be shorter (you just breathed a sigh of relief, didn't you?).  When we have this finalized and definite I will let you know the when and where but for now, save the date: December 5th!!