The joys of running a small business

image from here

It's an interesting process running a small business. I run the 'commercial' wing of Green Renters, a not for profit I started with my husband a few years ago. What this means is that I try to get paid something for the many hours of unpaid work I've been doing since we came up with the idea in 2009.

I recently graduated from NEIS training and I have been working hard to make things happen. Green Renters has a number of different components including running workshops and special projects (such as an Expo for people living in rooming houses and social housing) an online shop, facebook page and twitter, website and stalls.


Today I've been busy testing recipes for a DIY natural bath products workshop we are thinking about offering at Green Renters as our DIY natural house cleaning workshops have been going so well. workshops. It's a bit of a contentious issue. We've been running our 'sustainable living in rental accommodation' workshops for a while and have gradually extended our workshop topics to include issues that represent the needs of renters in more round-about ways: container gardening, reducing food waste and more creative workshops such as eco-crafting and making jams and preserves.

When you run workshops and events for a living, most of your time is spent organising bookings which can involve lots of emails and phone calls and it can be frustrating when things are cancelled at the last minute. But more so, it can be rewarding when people attend a workshop and ask lots of questions or make comments or find it helpful.

It's been very much a learning experience. I was never a confident public speaker when I was younger. But it's much easier to talk about something that you are interested in and feel passionate about. I'm also not entirely confident that what I do will be financially viable in the long run, I have plenty of spread sheets and a business plan but papers aren't reality. But you have to start somewhere, and I like a challenge.

I hasten to add, Green Renters is not just me, there's by husband, our amazing volunteers and the board members of Green Renters Inc, all of whom work for nothing or very little.


A few things I've learnt about running a small business

• You are broke for a long time. Not can't pay the rent broke, but there's certainly no money going spare in the early times. I gave up a reasonably lucrative job to go out on my own
• It's great not dealing with issues such as workplace bullying and office bitching
  
• You really have to prioritise. I love crafting for Polka Dot Rabbit but I've realised for a while that mass production is not sustainable as a business of one ( I don't make anything that retails for thousands) and the craft 'scene' boom is very much burst from what I've seen. I still make and sell crafty things, just not as much
• Working from home is not all it's cracked up to be especially the house is cold during winter

Some of the postcards above my desk

• Working from home is great as you miss the morning commute!
• The sustainability sector is extremely competitive. It can be a bit embarassing when we are asked of our relationship with other more established not for profits who have been quite unwelcoming of our presence
  
• You can have a hell of a lot of fun and meet many fantastic people
• I love my friends dearly and miss them when I don't see them often enough
  
• Business networking can be hit and miss, I occasionally go to such events and find myself one of a few unsuited people!
• It's excited when things start happening and you can get others to join you (we've a horticulturalist and our food writing Elizabeth running gardening and food preserving workshops for us)
• 
  We won this award this year!
• It can be hard to talk of anything else besides your business
• It can be handy being an insomniac (I started work on a job description from 2am-5.30am this morning)

A few things I've learnt about running events and workshops:

• Assume nothing is confirmed, even if it is in writing
• Check by phone, I've been surprised when I've turned up for a meeting with someone (often quite well known) who simply forgot all about it
  
• Don't assume requested equipment is available (or working) on the day
• Leave loads of time to get to a venue by public transport
  
• Equipment you need to carry will often be heavier than you think
• There will usually be one person at a workshop who is absolutely lovely: affirming, gives eye contract, nods and asks interested questions
• There will usually be at least one person at a workshop who used a workshop at a platform for their own agenda (Smart meters are a particularly passion of a number of people it seems)
• Don't assume people's intelligence by their social position: some of the most articulate people I've dealt with at workshops have been people living in rooming houses.
• When running stalls you can get a variety of responses. I remember running a stall in Malvern for an environment day and having a older woman come up and abuse me that 'all renters are lay abouts'. Err, ok...
  

A bit about my day:

• 6.30am: Husband rises reluctantly. He starts work at 7am from home. He keeps his Husband of the year crown, always bringing me a cup of tea in bed. He is awesome, very awesome

• 6.31am: Pablo the cat makes sleeping no option, purring as loud as a lawn mower

• 7am-8am: Read in bed, I am often tired in the mornings (thyroid fun) and I love reading in bed

• 7.45am-8.30am I a up and in the office/craft room (depending on how well I slept the night before). Read emails, eat breakfast.

• 8.30am- Read blogs, facebook, twitter. Social media is very important, despite how people disparage it.

• 9am- Listen to BBC4 and work on workshop content or articles for Green Renters website

• 10am-Email and ring people following up workshops. Some workshops are funded by grants to Green Renters Inc and actually are a lot harder to book than paid workshops!

• 11am-snack and another cup of tea

• 12pm-post-office shopping/lunch. When I say shopping, it typically food shopping or materials for products we sell in our online shop.

• 12pm-6pm: My afternoon can involve running workshops, meeting people for coffee to discuss providing them with workshops, attending events etc. None of which I get paid an hourly wage for.

• 6pm onwards: sometimes I am running workshops late, working on social media, attending an event such as Green Drinks. Usually there is wine involved if I am not running a workshop!

Hope you had fun reading this and it inspires you to start your own business or at the very least, appreciate the efforts of those of us who do something for a greater good, not to get rich!

For a good cause: Door snake making workshop

Sunday April 10th
12pm onwards
Cate' s house in Brunswick (email me for address)

I'm organising a Green Renting expo for people living in social housing and rooming houses in conjunction with a housing organisation to be held in May. We're hoping for a fairly decent turn out, and would like to offer all attendees with their very own doorsnake for draft proofing their room.

As most shop sold door snakes are mass produced overseas in sweat shops I'd like to make my own instead. So this means making about 100 Door Snakes. They're pretty easy to make. I have two sewing machines but feel free to bring your own. Donations of fabric thread and wadding/cut up scraps are also welcome. (Some makers use wheat or sawdust but this is not an option due to the risk of pests and bugs).

So if you can't sew, it could be an opportunity to learn or you are welcome to do cutting, turning fabric right side out, ironing etc. All useful tasks!

I'll put on some snacks etc but feel free to bring something. You're welcome to bring people who would like to help but we don't have *heaps* of space so might have to spread out a bit. It won 't be too sweatshop like, there'll be wine and chocolate and music and tea and all the good things! A great chance to hang out with crafty people and chat too :)

Feel free to give me an email cate@greenrenters.org or 0433584889
Many thanks
Cate

Things I like today

Not a hope in hell that I could do these without cracking the eggs but gosh they're stunning!


Nanas everywhere will be rejoicing over this book!

Rather tempted by these Dick Bruna curtains!

We won the WWF Education Award for our work at Green Renters! Thanks for all your support :)

Things I like today

I think any crafty person would love this necklace

I love glass balloons, I saw some like these last time I was in Italy. Alas they're not exactly travel friendly!

I find this gnome slightly sinister...

I've always liked Clarkes shoes and these ones are great!

You probably know that as well as my crafty pursuits, I also work for the not for profit Green Renters Well I'm proud to say that we've been nominated for an award in the WWF Earth Hour awards. We're in the top four in the education category for all of Australia which is a huge honour! If you fancied, you could also vote for us in the People's Choice Award and go in the draw to maybe win a prize....(we're in the top row, third along)

news and bits and pieces

I've not been around much at all in blog land for a few reasons. I've been flat chat with Green Renters working on our upcoming International Student Challenge and attending the Sustainable Living Festival here in Melbourne where we participated in a Sustainable Homes Q&A, presented a workshop on sustainable living in rental accommodation and ran a workshop on eco-crafting (making rag rugs from t shirts and my friend Katherine taught people how to darn socks).

After that I got a re-occuring hideous sinus infection which really knocked me about over the last few days and has made me hopelessly behind in craft world. Hope you are all well dear crafty folk xx

ps-We had a server crash just before the SLF. We lost all our surveys! If you would be kind enough to fill out another one here we'd really appreciate it

Ain't to Proud to Beg

A lot of you probably know that besides my craft endeavours, I co-manage Green Renters
Chris and I started Green Renters a few years ago as we were tired of visiting 'Green' expos and events and finding ourselves left out of the loop by environmental groups and those who provide environmental resources due to our housing status.

So we thought we'd start a website looking at what those of us who rent can do to live more sustainably. Ok, we with a shortage of rental properties in most urban areas, we don't have the luxury of choosing a 6 star rated rental. We have to take what we can get. And since we're dealing with indifferent landlords and real estate agents, we aren't in the position to install solar hot water or a rain water tank.

But there are heaps of things we can do, in how we kit out our home and how we live our lives. What we choose to buy and how we spend out time. So we started the website. We've been doing a few workshops here and there. We've started to get some momentum. So we quit our jobs and have been working on Green Renters (unpaid) for the last six months. We're getting a board together and will get incorporated. We're working on a membership structure. We're building a brand spanking new website with a shop.We're doing a project for people living in rooming houses.

To do all this we need a bigger better website with a reliable, speedier webhost and specific computer for the use of our volunteers to help write articles and newsletters, develop workshops and assist in the day to day running of our not for profit. . We believe we have something important to offer which is relevant to many people but we need some help getting to the next stage. Can you help?

Things I like today

I know it's nearly summer when I see watermelon at the markets...
This brooch has the most amazing embroidery detail. Just stunning.

I really like these teapots. Imagine a Vegemite one!

I like political posters and this is a great environmental message. It's part of the collection of posters in the book Green Patriot Posters

It's that time of year...

Hayfever! Pop one of these in your bag, much more forgiving to your nose and the planet than a wad of tissues. Reduce your carbon nose print, use a hanky!

No Impact Man Film Screening here in Melbourne

Join Green Renters with a screening of the full-length documentary film No Impact Man
Date April 22nd
Time Doors open 6.30pm, screening starts 7pm
Location Donkey Wheel House 673 Bourke Street, City Melbourne
Cost: $5

Contact 0433584889 / contact@greenrenters.org
RSVP via Eventbrite

Facebook event

Synopsis

A guilty liberal finally snaps, swears off plastic, goes organic, becomes a bicycle nut, turns off his power and generally becomes a tree-hugging lunatic who tries to save the polar bears and the rest of the planet from environmental catastrophe while dragging his baby daughter and Prada-wearing, Four Seasons-loving wife along for the ride. And that’s just the beginning. Bill McKibben meets Bill Bryson in this seriously engaging look at one man’s decision to put his money where his mouth is and go off the grid for one year -while still living in New York City – to see if it’s possible to make no net impact on the environment. In other words, no trash, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no air-conditioning, no television….
What would it be like to try to live a no-impact lifestyle? Is it possible? Could it catch on? Is living this way more satisfying or less satisfying? Harder or easier? Is it worthwhile or senseless? These are the questions at the heart of this whole mad endeavor, through which Colin Beavan hopes to explain to the rest of us how we can realistically live a more “eco-effective”and, by turns, more content life in an age of inconvenient truths.

No Impact Man opened in 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim!
Enjoy an entertaining evening with door prizes, some tasty treats and beverages to enjoy for a very reasonable price.

An Ethical Dilemma

I've been chipping away here at Polka Dot Rabbit. I've been working on a series of embroideries of Morrissey/Smiths song lyrics more for my amusement than anything else but maybe I'll put them up for sale at some stage. Also planning my upcycled ceramics which I hope to launch in a couple of weeks.



Craft wise my biggest dilemma is my hand embroidered gloves. They've been my most popular selling item ever, online and in shops, markets etc but they don't match the rest of my recycled items ethos. When I started Polka Dot Rabbit I wanted to run a business based as much a possible on recycling and upcycling with a green ethic as far as possible.

You can't get recycled acrylic gloves and to knit gloves I'd need to charge about $50 a pair minimum to factor in labour and materials and it's a ridiculous slog for such a small return. It's also not really reusing by simply knitting unless you use donated wool and such. I don't support wool felting due to the intensive use of water and heat to created felted materials and a lot of places won't stock wool because it's not vegan.

Haven't been able to find any acrylic gloves not made in China within my price range. I've found one stockist in America but they are reluctant to ship to Australia and I'd have to raise my prices to cover costs. I want to be able to market my craft as upcycling and enviro friendly and gloves made in China doesn't do that. Not sure what to do about this to be honest. Any ideas? The only one I can think of at the moment is to have a seperate line of gloves under a subset business but it doesn't really please me....

Day 28 of the 30 day vegan challenge

Here's today's dinner which I enjoyed with some ginger beer:




Tofu sausage roll, salad, avocado and chickpeas :) You can read more about my vegan adventures here

I forgot to mention...

I have an article on green renting in the latest Mixtape!

Mixtape is a wonderful zine with loads of interesting articles like:

• Aunty Cookie Book Plates
• Cool Cross Stitch Pattern
• Everyday Heirlooms
• Livin' Large
• Ethically Challenged Corporations
• Crafty Lady: Katy Jones
• and another WICKED pull out poster designed by :
• Tina Tarnof

You can buy your own copy here.

What I've been up to....

pic via ffffound.com

I feel I've been rather neglecting this blog as I've been quite busy and also quite tired. I have been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and some related sleep disorders so I'm often very weary and don't always have enough energy to do everything I would like...

Things I am making:

-Red stitch embroidery/applique for Kootoyoo's red stitch quilt
-Embroidered gloves for a new stockist in London
-special order map coasters
-more comic wallets and bits and pieces for old and new stockists
-upcrafted ceramic crockery (stay tuned for pics!)


Things I have been doing:

-decluttering the house ( a massive task! We are holding a stall at CERES market in a couple of weeks and will be selling loads of books, cd's (our whole collecting is being digitised), fabric, vintage homewares and other bits and pieces. Whatever we don't sell will be donated to charity.

-organising our one year wedding anniversary celebration. We'll be staying overnight at the Melbourne Zoo as part of Roar N Snore! So excited.

-pet sitting a rather cheeky persian cat called Bella

-buying art (must remember pics!)

-organising an interview with Frankie Magazine about our Green Renters site

-learning German

-hypnotherapy

-exercising when I can and eating healthy

-working of course!

I found this on the internet and I really like it:

Community building made easy

How many of these do you do? List via Pink of Perfection

Words and Pictures: Careful...

I'm a big fan of World War II Propaganda posters, particularly the themes about 'careless talk' and the thifty, 'make do and mend' themes.

Here's a few of my faves:

You can join us here

update on Sam the Koala

here

5 cheap, green products for renters

I was interested to read Green Planets 5 supercheap green items everyone should own.

The list of products are:

1. Thermos/Mug/Water Bottle

2. Tote bag

3. Clothesline

4. Smart Strip surge protectors

5. Water Filter

I had a think about how this compares to our needs as renters. We carry our own bags (green and homemade) as a matter of course. I think most Australians do. We don’t drink filtered water as Melbourne water tastes fine. We are fortunate to have a clothesline unlike many renters in the US with body corporates who has banned clothes lines for aesthetic reasons. We eschew buying bottles of water for a reusable bottle. So here’s my list of cheap, green products for renters:

1. Plastic buckets.

Less than a dollar each typically and they last for ages. essential for collecting rain water, shower, laundry water and the like.

2. Tea/Coffee pot


pic from Posy Picker71
I drink lots of tea. Making the switch to loose leaf tea was a menta challenge at first as I like the convenience of tea bags but I now love the ritual of making my own pot of tea. Saves money and packaging and my hydrangeas love the tea and coffee leaves…

3. Cloth napkins and hankerchiefs.


Napkins by PurlBee

I used to get really bad hayfever. Not fun. I could go through a box of tissues in a couple of days. The expensive super soft ones infused with oils. Not cheap. A big pack of man hankies keeps my nose happy and cuts down on waste to boot. Cloth napkins are great when we have barbeques and parties and save us from buying serviettes. You can buy them for next to nothing at charity shops or learn to make your own napkins here. They are also great as resuable wrapping paper and gifts.

4. Curtains

Myxi (couldn’t resist!)


Insulated curtains make a huge difference to rental properties in cutting out heat and cold. Pic up a pair at an op shop or ask your extended family, people always seem to have disused curtains lurking somewhere. Of course, you can also make your own.

5. DIY washing powder.
I really like this as all the water goes happily on the veggie patch. Recipe here

Thoughts on an autumn morning in Melbourne

Do you ever feel like your life is fragmented with lots of bits that don't really fit together? I feel like this alot. It's not exactly a bad thing, but it's more that I can't help thinking sometimes that it would be easier to be really good at one thing or have one clear passion in life. I like lots of different things but lack the drive/ability to make any one my clear succes.

At the moment it feels a bit like this.

I work full time in academic advocacy. I enjoy it but I feel a bit embarassed that I am one of the longest serving staff in my company. There's not really any opportunities for career progression but I earn a good salary with lots of little perks and I love the people I work with. As a person with mental illness, I need stability and structure and familiarity in my day to day tasks. Working in education gives me alot of stability and I have been quite well for a while now.

I write (periodically) for The Dawn Chorus and have an article on issues around female sex drive due to be published in Filament magazine.

I make crafty things for Polka Dot Rabbit but most recently it feels like alot of effort given that it's a bit too much work around a full time day job. I love creating and making things but alot of my orders are for the same products all the time which takes the creativity out of things a bit as it can just feel like work. I could probably technically make enough money to create crafty things full time but the thought makes me feel tired. I am starting to feel a great pull toward more arty recycled products but don't quite have the confidence/skill to get it all together. I really want to be able to draw well but don't draw anywhere near enough. I'd love to be able to do an art show or exhibition. I really enjoyed doing the craftea chat workshops and I'd like to set up a not for profit for such work but I lack the time/energy to do the extensive business things that are required to get this moving.

Greenrenters is starting to kick off quite well but we're not quite sure where to take it. There's always the possibility of grants and such but we both work full time and we're not quite sure about the next step.

I'm going overseas for a month in June. This is excited as we would like to live overseas one day. Being over 30 makes this a bit difficult but not impossible. I'm becoming more and more interesting in environmental issues but I still love arty crafty things and social justice and feminist issues. I love volunteering and festivals and workshops and galleries and cafes and all sorts of things. I tend to start things without finishing them and I often feel overwhelmed by choices in my life so I end up in a state of inertia.

Some of my disjointed dreams:

-opening an all day English style breakfast cafe with space for evening classes and workshops

-having an art/craft studio in a co-op environment. I couldn't work alone all day.

-living in Eastern Europe

-being fit and healthy (and yes, thin) instead of being plagued by the tyranny of eating issues

-running a not for profit with workshops and training full time

Perhaps I am of a generation which will never specialise in one career/passion/focus? Not wanting children gives me alot of freedom, the future is exciting. But it's also so uncertain....

Happy Earth Day!

LucyCat takes the most beautiful nature photographs. I wanted to share some with you on earth day as I've been looking through them all and it really reminds me what life is all about, the bigger picture...

Mr Bluebird sitting pretty:

One of Lucy's Nesting Boxes:

Mrs Bluebird minding the eggs:

They've hatched!:

Getting ready to fly:

Here they go:

Happy and free!:

Beautiful, don't you think?

No Spend Craft Month: The Results!

No Spend Craft Month
Apr - May 08

How long could you go without spending on your crafty pursuits?

Last year I read Judith Levine's “Not Buying It”, a journalist's account of spending a year not buying anything except 'essentials'. Whilst it didn't go as far as doing without toilet paper, it challenges the idea of doing without, not buying into trends and the role of consumerism and identity.

I considered all this in regard to crafting. I love making things and have always been a huge fan of all things second hand. Whether found, or bought from charity shops or occasionally online. The dilemma is how many things I have to buy to enable me to make my crafts. I prefer charity shops. But it's still spending money. I have a big stash of second hand jumpers, ill fitting clothing and odds and ends stored under my bed, as well as a box of books and comics, and a bookcase full of poorly folded curtains and sheets. When you like second hand goods, there's never really an end point, there's always another purchase to be made. In your head, there's a competing dialogue between what you have, what you could buy, what you are planning to make, and what you could make if you had this and this and this and this....

There’s also the whole commodafication of crafting. Why are crafts ascribed more kudos once they receive a monetary value? Some of you may have been involved in the “Buy Handmade” pledge and campaign from last Christmas which encouraged consumers to focus on handmade goodies, rather than mass retailers. The campaign was initiated by some of the bigger craft retailers and publications. I loved the idea of “Buy Handmade” as I know how handmade things are seen as something to be kept and treasured. But why are we buying instead of making? When did DIY become DIB(uy)?

Is DIY/B still a valiant attempt to have a social conscience? Is it better to buy handmade if it is made from fabric woven in third world conditions? And further to that matter, how many crafters are crafting in effectively third world conditions? Cutting out fabric on the living room floor, hunched over a desk or kitchen table (anyone heard of an ergonomic sewing machine?). And how much is that labour valued? Obviously you need a meaningful middle class job or frugal living to enable to send hours crafting or trawling charity shops for second hand goodies and still have a roof over your head. What about selling of hand knitted garments? Winter is coming, I need some fingerless gloves. I can go to a retailer near my house and get some handmade by a local crafter. They retail at $25 of which I assume the knitter gets perhaps $15. That wouldn't even cover the cost of wool and needles, let alone the cost of labour. Are [predominantly female] crafters worth so little that we are constantly underpriced by others and more importantly, ourselves?

As well as labour issues, there's also the big trend towards eco-logical crafting - using trends such as felting. To felt old jumpers a common technique involves the use of hot water and multiple hot wash cycles. You may even choose to use your clothes dryer. This translates to lots of water and electricity. I live in Australia in the middle of a massive drought. Big carbon footprint.

Thoughts:

Where do my materials come from?
What carbon footprint does my crafting leave?
How much time do I spend shopping for materials?
How much money do I spend on materials?
Have I spent money to make money?
What are my materials worth?
What is my labour worth?


I decided to take ONE MONTH from Monday April 7th to see how I manage crafting without buying anything. No buying more fabric 'just in case' or tools instead of looking for those I own. No more spending money to make money. No more buying things I didn't really need at the expense of things I already have.

So what was it like? I had quite a lot of interest from fellow crafters. I felt like a priest as people kept admitting me that they too had a considerable stash of half finished products, fabric they were too scared to cut up in case they made a mistake and couldn’t walk past a charity shop without buying something. Others admitted they had never thought about the conditions under which their fabric was made. A couple admitted a kind of pressure to keep up with gathering more and more stuff-pillow cases, tea towels and retro linen seems to be a popular pack rat items!

Personally it was a challenge. I broke my last sewing machine needle and ran out of PVC. My partner bought me a pack of needles in exchange for mending his holey jeans. (Fair trade? I hope so). In some ways I realised how I had been preferencing the urge to shop over the urge to create. Consumerism seems so much safer than creativity. No risk or making a mistake or being judged for your efforts. I had in the past surrounded myself with vintage and recycled goods as a testament to my aesthetic. I even have books on retro and traditional crafting. But what was stopping me? I started wondering if all the crafters who say they love what they could do and could do it all day everyday were lying or I simply lacked discipline and had an embarrassing bout of terminal procrastination. It also made me wonder what it would be like to sit in a studio/spare room day after day and create. What would it be like to create from scratch without expectation or a nod to the past?

Was it productive? Well, I started a new project with all those second hand jumpers (still not finished). I had a go at photography and took photos of my life everyday for a week. (You can see the photos at http://rabbitwithpolkadots.blogspot.com/ ). I started a fabric mosaic of a woman cleaning the toilet. This took some courage. I don’t really know how to mosaic and I had to find photos of women cleaning the toilet! I cooked more than I would have ever thought possible. I made a skirt, decorated some t shirts and made some odds and ends. I’m also working on some illustrations which are somewhat thwarted by my lack of drawing skills.

Would I do it again? Yes!

Future challenges I am thinking about:

• A month without craft websites
• A month of starting no new products but instead completing all that are half finished
• A month of hiring an empty space to craft without distraction
  

Links

Judith Levine ‘A Year Without Shopping

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Buying-Year-Without-Shopping/dp/0743269357

Jean Raila “What Would Jesus Sell?”

http://www.murketing.com/journal/?p=997

Polka Dot Rabbit

http://polkadotrabbit.com