In the last week or so I\u2019ve taken the first halting steps toward setting up an on-line business.\u00a0 In reality it\u2019s sort of several businesses.\u00a0 One is a self-publishing account on Amazon.\u00a0 Another is a creator\u2019s account with a photo products sales site.\u00a0 And finally, there is an account with a custom photobook seller.<\/p>\n
But of course, it\u2019s an enormous amount of bother.\u00a0 One place requires a PayPal account and I had let my account lapse this year so now I have to open a new one.\u00a0 Then I have to figure out how to pay my taxes on time and whether I should incorporate and whether I should do that myself or pay a lawyer.\u00a0 I also have to figure out how to advertise my products.\u00a0 Of course, Orion\u2019s Cold Fire will be central to my marketing plan.\u00a0 I\u2019ll add links to the store fronts and shamelessly hawk my wares whenever an unsuspecting reader comes looking for political commentary or brilliant movie and book reviews.<\/p>\n
What I\u2019ve discovered is that all this business stuff is frightfully distracting from the stuff I like to do, namely take pictures and write stuff.\u00a0 But what is also true is that participating in some kind of business of your own is very exciting.\u00a0 What it requires is disciplining yourself; becoming your own boss.\u00a0 And for someone like me that is extremely challenging.\u00a0 I have always been the worst employee anywhere I worked.\u00a0 I find it extremely difficult to work in a manner that doesn\u2019t seem logical to me.\u00a0 So, if a company tried to get the engineers to perform regulatory clerical functions (that is, validation) my eyes would glaze over and my output would slowdown to a crawl.\u00a0 Eventually they would be forced to provide me with an assistant who could perform the requisite paperwork handwaving to satisfy the FDA that we didn\u2019t add Ebola virus to the batch by using the equipment I had designed, purchased and installed using good engineering practices, which I saw as my proper function.<\/p>\n
So now it will be necessary for me to convince \u2026 me(!) that I should perform all the clerical and bookkeeping and sales and marketing handwaving that is necessary to make money in a business.\u00a0 I have to confess that I\u2019ve already had a few discouraging moments as I realized how many hoops I\u2019ll have to jump through to coordinate all the various requirements needed to transact business in a businesslike manner.\u00a0 I would much prefer just winging it and paying for my mistakes as I go along but hard experience has shown me that that can be awfully expensive.\u00a0 The IRS really has no sense of humor at all.<\/p>\n
As I embark on this journey of discovery, I find myself full of unbridled enthusiasm and unwarranted optimism.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure reality will quickly rein in my na\u00efve ebullience and after being knocked around by cruel fate I will reach the correct mind set of all proper businessmen, callous cynicism and calculated misanthropy.<\/p>\n
So, consider this your fair warning.\u00a0 When links appear to lure you to my commercial products don\u2019t be fooled into thinking they represent anything other than what they are; crass commercialism and the single-minded pursuit of the almighty dollar.\u00a0 Come to think of it, after the fiasco with Russia, it\u2019s not so almighty anymore.\u00a0 But you get the picture.\u00a0 Caveat emptor!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the last week or so I\u2019ve taken the first halting steps toward setting up an on-line business.\u00a0 In reality it\u2019s sort of several businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1263],"tags":[216,1267],"class_list":["post-18207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-photog","tag-photogs-corner"],"yoast_head":"\n