Sean's Journal
Write Me

I had a briliant idea for the employees. Instead of a tip jar, institute a policy that 10% of the end of the day cash is divied out proportionately by the hours worked and paid out daily in cash. This would encourage the employees to sell the higher priced items and encourage them to sell faster.

I had another brilliant idea to offer GrabNGo coffee in the morning for commuters. Essentially it is pre-poured and lidded coffee that costs just a dollar. No lines, just drop the dollar, grab the cup, and go.

None of this is going to work because I am too enraptured by the 'trappings' of the business but not the actual business. I am already thinking about live music, poetry readings, improv skits, etc.

In my notes I have jotted down one important element. It reads: Define the business - What am I selling? 1-service? 2-coffee? 3-access? 4-goods? If I'm going to go into business, I need to know exactly what I am going to do.

This morning on NPR (beware - pretention zone) a report was done on Delaware and why so many companies file their papers there. Essentially, it is the easiest state in the union to create a company. To create a Limited Liability Corporation, all it takes is one simple form and roughly $300. That's pretty cool. I checked out their web access and all of it can be done via the web.

Now I can form a company, no sweat, but what is the company going to do? I'm an eclectic individual so there is no way I will be able to focus on just one thing. I can't just have a coffee shop. I can't just write. I can't just sell trinkets on the web. I must do a lot of things.

This led me to Stygian Enterprises L.L.C.: a publisher (I can publish my vanity piece Vampire Glyphs) and be a retailer (Nightmare Catchers, books, jewelry, clothing, and whatever else comes down the pike). This solution saves me from having to get office space right off the bat, saves me from having to hire an employee right off the bat, and lets me fantasize about owning an empire one day.

Most of my problems are now logistical - like initial operating capital, order fulfillment, inventory control, printing contracts, publishing my own material and finding/editing other material, and marketing/sales (which I SUCK at, I couldn't sell a lifevest to a drowning man). For the initial capital, I'm back to the small business loan, but instead of hundred of thousands, it is in a much more reasonable (aka less scary) range. Oracle has a small business operation (oraclesmallbusiness.com) which takes care of the website, database, transactions, accounting, groupware, and some sales tracking. An Airborne Express account could resolve shipping problems. Now I am left with production issues for books I want to publish, and buying issues for all the other inventory AND warehousing. Hey, it isn't an overnight solution to me drudgery, it is a PROJECT which makes it a bit more fascinating to me. Sort of like the coffee shop idea, I wasn't satisfied until I got some hard numbers in front of me to see exactly what it would take to accomplish it. I still would like to do a coffee shop (Carfax Abby is the name I want it to have) but I think I would be better off being a murmuring partner who focuses on keeping the toilets clean and keeping an eye on the BIG PICTURE.

STEP ONE: Finish writing the filler, designing the layout and editing the Vampire Glyphs book.
SECOND STEP: Find a way to mass produce the tiles (the glyphs) to be packaged with the book.
STEP THREE: Contact printers to get a quote on production cost.
STEP FIVE: Create Stygian Enterprises L.L.C. STEP SIX: ?
STEP SEVEN: profit.