Another no frills blog entry here. It is 7AM here and I haven't slept since I woke up yesterday morning (well, close to noon). I just want to jot down shortly what the situation has been and where things are at.
I have been wanting my own business for a very long while now. Since I was still in college. The idea I had at first was never for it to be my primary occupation in life but for it to just be something quick on the side while I was going to school. That never panned out because school was pretty busy and even after school my resources kept getting diverted to other things.
Trying to keep this short, late in 2015 I started noticing some odd symptoms but I didn't think much of it at the time. Plus, I was doing a stint as a supervisor at my job and it was hectic working sometimes 60 hours a week during the holidays, although the increased pay was well worth it. And honestly, if it weren't for the money I accumulated during that time (and maybe even a little taste of management experience) I probably wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing now.
So, going into 2016 I noticed the symptoms were worse and more frequent so I decided it was time to get checked out. I was a little panicked so I took a lot of paid time off work and even a bit of medical leave. Once all the exams were done, I was told I have an incurable but mild condition called ulcerative proctitis. The damage to my intestines is permanent but luckily it's not going to have a huge impact on my quality of life and I should be able to prevent it from getting worse now that I have the right medications. I am glad I got it checked out ASAP because I recently lost a relative to colon cancer-- which was a possibility with the symptoms I was experiencing.
While I was taking time off from work I realized that I never really wanted to go into retail management and that in all honesty my end goal is to work for myself. I seriously thought about going back to school and I even registered for classes and studied for the exams to get some classes waived. Ultimately, however, I decided against it due to the funds necessary. I decided I was going to fully commit to pushing through with my business plan instead.
So yeah, I got a DBA and my CA seller's permit is being processed right now. I have a new e-commerce site set up and it's ready to go once I secure a reliable producer for my t-shirts. I'm starting with t-shirts because it's simple product that's relatively low overhead to produce. If it succeeds I'll expand into other goods. I've been ordering samples from different companies and I'm in the process of deciding which one has the most to offer.
It's almost there. In the meantime, I've been working on new designs nonstop and writing. Yes, writing. The writing is a separate project and once it's done I intend to make the story available for free on my website.
OK, back to work.