The Plan
Well. When I went to Viet Nam, I went with a plan and a man.
I left Viet Nam with a new plan and no man.
So okay, if you don't remember, the plan for Viet Nam was that I would do the teaching thing to make some money and get our foot in the door, while Trash would work on ... getting a fucking job and earning money toward opening our own restaurant or cafe.
Yeah, so, tell the gods your plans and all...
After I kicked his dumb ass out, I had to really think of what I wanted to do with my life. What am I good at? Not only good at, but what do I enjoy and how could I make money doing it?
Lying around on my ass reading books does not buy cat food.
And also, it can get pretty boring.
I sat in my little house in Saigon, and I thought and thought and thought...
1. I don't want to work in an office again. Nope. I'll do it, I'm waiting to hear back on loads of resumes and from a couple of staffing agencies because money is running dangerously low, but it's not a permanent thing.
2. I don't want to work for anyone else.
3. I want to write at least two non-fiction books.
4. I am really good at baking.
Regarding number four, not only am I good at it, I really love it. It's constantly challenging and I never get bored -- which is the number one reason I don't want to work in an office again, once I get everything working properly, the day to day sameness of office work no matter what it is, loses its lustre and I start dying inside from boredom.
All right, really good at baking, so what?
Initially, the New Plan was that I'd move in with La Cyn and start at cooking school in the fall or winter term. Yes, that was "Ninja School." And then opening my own shop.
I want to open and run my own bakery.
BUT (everyone I know has a big but)
I finally completed the enrollment forms last week. It'll cost over $20,000 for seven months of school, only one quarter of which will actually cover the areas I'm interested in: baking in volume and networking in the restaurant world. Well shit, there's books for that. And a shitload of free networking things here in The City. And really, wouldn't this $20K that I don't have be better spent on getting the shop started?
So I sat here in my minimalist room in The City, thinking about how goddamn, I'm gonna need winter clothes soon, shit! And also thinking about my strengths and weaknesses. If I'm really gonna do this, what am I not good at? What am I going to have to get good at to make this happen? To drop all pretense of modesty, I am good at anything I set my mind to, if I want it bad enough.
I don't have any experience with running a small business and business accounting just makes me tremble. But if I'm gonna start my own business, I'll need to know all of that stuff. Sure, I'll hire an accountant for taxes and ask him or her to tell me exactly how much money I need to set aside at the end of each day to cover them. But the day to day stuff will have to be done by me alone.
Turns out the SBA has just about every course a small business owner could possibly need available online for FREE.
Well fuck me sideways. One weakness down!
AND!
I've got a whole marketing and design department all to myself. I've already told her that once a name's decided upon, logo and everything else in that arena is all hers.
I ran this idea past ghostpoetical, who has opened his own small business in the past year, and he thought it was a better route.
So I got that going for me.
I have a very clear concept of what kind of bakery I want to run, what I'll sell, and how it'll fit in with the neighborhood. I've got a good idea for how to build a reputation and capital as well. I'm not going to be catering or making cakes (boring!), I want to be the local baker. The place you go for your daily bread (but oh not that name, it's too Biblical). I want the early morning dog walkers who come in for breakfast-type breads. I want the little old ladies who stop at the butcher shop for their liverwurst then come see me for their loaf of black rye. I want people like me, who like to market a few times a week and realize... oh my god I forgot to get rolls for dinner! No espresso, but I'll be happy to serve drip or Vietnamese coffee to you, I'll even have tea. Maybe sandwiches at lunch time, but when they're gone, they're gone.
And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Feel free to leave name suggestions in comments.
I left Viet Nam with a new plan and no man.
So okay, if you don't remember, the plan for Viet Nam was that I would do the teaching thing to make some money and get our foot in the door, while Trash would work on ... getting a fucking job and earning money toward opening our own restaurant or cafe.
Yeah, so, tell the gods your plans and all...
After I kicked his dumb ass out, I had to really think of what I wanted to do with my life. What am I good at? Not only good at, but what do I enjoy and how could I make money doing it?
Lying around on my ass reading books does not buy cat food.
And also, it can get pretty boring.
I sat in my little house in Saigon, and I thought and thought and thought...
1. I don't want to work in an office again. Nope. I'll do it, I'm waiting to hear back on loads of resumes and from a couple of staffing agencies because money is running dangerously low, but it's not a permanent thing.
2. I don't want to work for anyone else.
3. I want to write at least two non-fiction books.
4. I am really good at baking.
Regarding number four, not only am I good at it, I really love it. It's constantly challenging and I never get bored -- which is the number one reason I don't want to work in an office again, once I get everything working properly, the day to day sameness of office work no matter what it is, loses its lustre and I start dying inside from boredom.
All right, really good at baking, so what?
Initially, the New Plan was that I'd move in with La Cyn and start at cooking school in the fall or winter term. Yes, that was "Ninja School." And then opening my own shop.
I want to open and run my own bakery.
BUT (everyone I know has a big but)
I finally completed the enrollment forms last week. It'll cost over $20,000 for seven months of school, only one quarter of which will actually cover the areas I'm interested in: baking in volume and networking in the restaurant world. Well shit, there's books for that. And a shitload of free networking things here in The City. And really, wouldn't this $20K that I don't have be better spent on getting the shop started?
So I sat here in my minimalist room in The City, thinking about how goddamn, I'm gonna need winter clothes soon, shit! And also thinking about my strengths and weaknesses. If I'm really gonna do this, what am I not good at? What am I going to have to get good at to make this happen? To drop all pretense of modesty, I am good at anything I set my mind to, if I want it bad enough.
I don't have any experience with running a small business and business accounting just makes me tremble. But if I'm gonna start my own business, I'll need to know all of that stuff. Sure, I'll hire an accountant for taxes and ask him or her to tell me exactly how much money I need to set aside at the end of each day to cover them. But the day to day stuff will have to be done by me alone.
Turns out the SBA has just about every course a small business owner could possibly need available online for FREE.
Well fuck me sideways. One weakness down!
AND!
I've got a whole marketing and design department all to myself. I've already told her that once a name's decided upon, logo and everything else in that arena is all hers.
I ran this idea past ghostpoetical, who has opened his own small business in the past year, and he thought it was a better route.
So I got that going for me.
I have a very clear concept of what kind of bakery I want to run, what I'll sell, and how it'll fit in with the neighborhood. I've got a good idea for how to build a reputation and capital as well. I'm not going to be catering or making cakes (boring!), I want to be the local baker. The place you go for your daily bread (but oh not that name, it's too Biblical). I want the early morning dog walkers who come in for breakfast-type breads. I want the little old ladies who stop at the butcher shop for their liverwurst then come see me for their loaf of black rye. I want people like me, who like to market a few times a week and realize... oh my god I forgot to get rolls for dinner! No espresso, but I'll be happy to serve drip or Vietnamese coffee to you, I'll even have tea. Maybe sandwiches at lunch time, but when they're gone, they're gone.
And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Feel free to leave name suggestions in comments.