Captain's Log, First Entry

[NOTE: Transferred from blog.makeitmade.com]

I’ve decided keep a running log of what makeitmade efforts I undertake each week. Similar to how dieters track calories to face the reality of how much they eat; I will track my efforts to face the reality of how much I’m slacking.

Efforts this week:

• Stuck some of the fitting room flyers in the bathroom of the Soy Luck Club
• Looked longer at the Sales Tax ID form and decided to put fairs on hold for now
• Bought a folding aluminum table from eBay for use in Union Square selling or The Market NYC (http://www.themarketnyc.com/flashmain.html)
• Talked to someone about potential website designers who are cheap and will give me a shopping cart (http://www.6d.com.br/, http://www.goldmic.com/home/)

Associated Narrative:

So this week started out with a healthy dose of motivation! On Sunday I walked through a street fair in Greenwich Village and for the first time, really noticed some of the people running the stands. And I was struck by how these people have succeeded in making something happen. Here I am. Fluent in English and college educated and I can’t get my act together to set up a stand. Taking this deep shame back home with me, I search my apartment for the packet sent to me by the NYC Tax Department. The way things work is that before you can register for a fair with someone like Clearview, you need to first obtain a NY Sales Tax ID. What’s a little frustrating is that once you obtain an ID, you have to file your sales tax every quarter or so, even if you don’t sell anything. And if you don’t, you get fined like $50. Additionally, it’s kind of costly to participate in a fair, around $250 a day. Given my track record with t-shirt sales, I wonder I’ll be half-assed about it at the fair, make a loss, then be discouraged for another 2 months. I think I need to be a little smarter about things and not just go through the gestures. So, what I’m going to do is set up a sidewalk stand first. I’m still not certain if I need a permit but I don’t think I do. And the worst that can happen to me is probably I get yelled out. The problem is that I hate being yelled at! I really need to stop being a baby about this stuff though! So I will do this. The next weekend of sun, when hopefully my folding table has arrived, I will set up a stand and try my hand at selling to strangers.