Good News Everyone!
We were able to take some huge steps this week regarding the "legitimization" of CMC. I finally was able to get my grubby little hands on the paperwork needed to sell on campus. I got CMC registered with the State of Florida as an LLC, and I found a new design for the shop. Although this is all great news the fight is still far from over and it wasn't easy getting to this step.
Let's go back to Monday this week.
I went back to the student organization people and asked specifically for the person in-charge of allowing vendors on campus. I got her email and sent a message explaining who I was and what I want to do. I waited all week for a response and by Friday (today) I had still not heard back. I went back to the office and was lucky to have her there. It was then explained to me that not only do I need to be a proper business but I also need to partner with a student organization to sell. Then and only then will I have authority to sell on campus. This leads me to the next step, finding and partnering with student organizations. Over the next week I plan to scour engage and send tons of emails out to the heads of programs asking if they would be interested in partnering with me. This deal especially works out for the organizations because all they have to do is let me use one of their tables. Plus, I can offer them a percentage of the sales I make. I'm going to start with 10% and negotiate lower if I can. You can also help me out with this. Those of you who belong to student organizations can ask the heads if they are interested in helping me. My goal is to be able to sell at least once a week so if i can accomplish that I'll be a happy camper.
Costs, costs, and more costs
Hey! Remember last week when I said that starting an LLC was only $150 and that was it. Sooo... that was a lie, I had the pleasure of finding out that I needed an extra $400 worth of paperwork needed. $200 for my Federal ID Number, $100 for some paperwork that says I'm an actual real-life legitimate business, and another $100 for a poster that says I have rights. Thankfully, I don't count as an employee so I didn't need that wonderful poster (business law people back me up, I don't want to go to jail). With my $1000 profit goal slowly slipping further away I put my mind at ease by making more paintings, and something new was found.
Happy little mushrooms.
My girlfriend asked me out to have a paint and hammock date. We relaxed and chilled in the sun and had an overall wonderful time. As we sat down to paint I was highly impressed with what she had made. She created a trippy background and made some transparent mushrooms with black paint and string. I decided to use her technique for one of my own paintings to sell the next day. I'll let you be the judge but I'm pretty happy with it personally.
Campus safety left me alone this week and I met some really nice people associated with UT wellness who let me sell next to them. Fingers crossed next week we will be ready to rock!
Thank you all so much for the support! Have a fantastic weekend!
Hey Carver. First of all, I love your energy and your approach to this intricate process. It sounds like a nightmare with all of the paperwork that you need to fill out and the meetings and more meetings that you need to attend just to do what you love the most, art. You have great energy, and your blog is entertaining and very inspiring. You make it seem so easy!!! I know that CMC will become an amazing business one day. You have the passion and definitely the skills to overcome everything that comes your way. Don't ever give up because you are great at what you do. By the way, I love the painting. It is something that …