Yesterday, I picked up "The Rook," by Daniel O'Malley and I'll be finishing it today. Fast, fun, read. I could see the (1st book) writer tricks early in the book, but eventually I sank into it and started enjoying it.
It was also the first time in a while that I read more than a few hours during daylight. It felt right. It's how I should be spending my time during a lockdown. Instead of spending that time online. Because the news is really only about one thing--something I can't do much about.
***
So what's going to happen here is that a lot of businesses that deserve and need a loan, won't get one. And a lot of businesses that don't deserve a loan and don't need a loan, will.
It's the way of the world.
There will be just enough money to spread around to keep a bunch of wounded businesses barely alive. And other businesses that go further into debt. The Walking Wounded.
There will be a ton of fraud on top of that.
Whoopie.
As usual, I'll be on the outside looking in, protecting my own business by being as practical as possible, which is probably the smartest thing I can do.
***
My general rule of thumb for my business is "Keep it simple, stupid."
***That means avoiding entanglements. I don't join clubs or organizations or enter into partnerships or buying clubs or whatever. We don't do consignments.
***That means avoiding complications. We run a cash business. We put out product for sale and we accept payment for it. Period. Almost everything is SRP. Everything is retail.
***That means avoiding schemes. Anything other than putting stuff out for sell and then selling it. No special arrangements for a subset of customers. Everyone is the same.
***That means using our floor space for product. We don't have couches or tables, we don't host book clubs. We don't have game nights. All space is used to display product.
***We don't pre-buy or special order. When someone requests something from us, we usually just order it and tell them it will be in the store the next time they come in. If it should happen to sell, we'll order another one. No obligation by us or by the customer, but still gets the job done.
***That means not chasing pennies. There are lots of banks and card and phone and insurance and on and on that offer us "savings." What I've learned is that what they give on one hand, they take with another. Find a decent service and stick to it.
***That means keeping everything above board. Pay your bills on time. Pay taxes on time. Keep honest books. Don't try to find ways around paying your employees, or pretend to be somehow a non-profit or work out some scheme where a portion of what you earn goes to charity. You should give to charities--freely, without some convoluted method.
***That means sticking to basics. I'm a store. I sell stuff. That's it.
Whoopie.
As usual, I'll be on the outside looking in, protecting my own business by being as practical as possible, which is probably the smartest thing I can do.
***
My general rule of thumb for my business is "Keep it simple, stupid."
***That means avoiding entanglements. I don't join clubs or organizations or enter into partnerships or buying clubs or whatever. We don't do consignments.
***That means avoiding complications. We run a cash business. We put out product for sale and we accept payment for it. Period. Almost everything is SRP. Everything is retail.
***That means avoiding schemes. Anything other than putting stuff out for sell and then selling it. No special arrangements for a subset of customers. Everyone is the same.
***That means using our floor space for product. We don't have couches or tables, we don't host book clubs. We don't have game nights. All space is used to display product.
***We don't pre-buy or special order. When someone requests something from us, we usually just order it and tell them it will be in the store the next time they come in. If it should happen to sell, we'll order another one. No obligation by us or by the customer, but still gets the job done.
***That means not chasing pennies. There are lots of banks and card and phone and insurance and on and on that offer us "savings." What I've learned is that what they give on one hand, they take with another. Find a decent service and stick to it.
***That means keeping everything above board. Pay your bills on time. Pay taxes on time. Keep honest books. Don't try to find ways around paying your employees, or pretend to be somehow a non-profit or work out some scheme where a portion of what you earn goes to charity. You should give to charities--freely, without some convoluted method.
***That means sticking to basics. I'm a store. I sell stuff. That's it.
No comments:
Post a Comment