Wednesday, 21 OCT 2015 :: The cost of business

I am really late at getting here tonight !! 

I was online this evening, looking for a heat sealer at a website I went to years ago... http://www.associatedbag.com ... they have all the supplies you might need!  :-) 

Well, they do have a lot of things to choose from, but maybe not everything.

I was looking for a small hand-held heat sealer to get going on some packing ideas for my products.  When I got to the site, the cost of the sealer was a lot more than I remembered.  It was beyond my current budget, and the larger heat sealer seemed to be a better option when I do get the funds.  Since I was there, I decided to look up some other packaging and shipping products to see what their prices were.  As I looked, I decided to ask for some samples to see what they would be like if I actually used them.

The shipping on the samples was free, but when I thought about buying one of the items I looked at, the shipping charge would have been almost as much as the product I wanted to buy.  I decided to wait until I made a larger order.

While I am saving up my money for a heat sealer and the packaging it would be used on, I will have to check on the prices at other sites.  Maybe I will try to find the other item I wanted at a local store, too.

It really costs a lot of money to operate a business... it has been one of the handicaps in my own effort to build a life starting at home.

To package a food product I need bags, the heat sealer or something else to close the product packaging and keep the food item safe, I need package labels, then I need shipping containers to get it to the customer, and shipping labels, and money for postage, and accounting options, and maybe a computer and printer that will print labels (including shipping labels)... I could go on to office supplies, office furniture, office equipment, transportation to the mailing facility, etc.

Poverty budgets are already a challenge... fitting in the costs of doing business makes it a long-term one-step-at-a-time challenge.  My goals and budgets are all an effort to overcome these financial issues. 

Income through sales is the only path for poverty households.  Finding the right product is key.  It has to be something that doesn't require a lot of other expenses to make and sell. 

Food products can be a headache if they have to be made in a commercial kitchen.  Community kitchens can be rented, but then you are dealing with the money issue again.

Crafts don't require health department approval, but they have their own financial issues with tools, supplies, etc.

Art may work for me, but then there is the issue of who will buy my work?

Nothing is guaranteed.  You just keep going, keep trying, keep looking for the right answer...the key to your success.

I am almost there.

My goal lists, my budgets, my ongoing revisions, my struggles to overcome the problems I face, my faith in the purposes of GOD, my products...  I hope they are all going to become the path to what I am searching for... to the place I belong... and the destiny that is mine.

I hope that a lot of people will one day be helped by the efforts I have made.