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9 years ago
"We are made to persist."
So for a while now, the largest consumers of my time not accounted for by necessary life stuff have been trying to put together a workshop, working with a youth group, and volunteering at a bookstore at the church where I attend. Being a Unity (new thought movement) church, it's an extremely accepting and eclectic environment; the bookstore is a wonderful place for me to hang out and make cool things for a couple of hours. I've always theorized that I'd benefit immensely from a dedicated work space that was free of the distractions associated with working at home, and it turns out I'm right about that. My productivity has shot through the roof.
Because of a couple of incidents with unruly vagrants, there are only two volunteers for the bookstore at present; myself, and a fellow who has experience both in running a business and a self-employed private contractor. It was he who was orignally offered a 10% commission on the bookstore's sales, but he declined; I'm there more often and his income situation is quite good, so he simply doesn't need it. It was offered to me and I have accepted, technically making me staff.
He and I talked for about an hour today, while I took a breather from helping the youth group advertise their fundraiser yard sale ( I was hooping on a street corner with a couple of sign shakers for three hours today, I feel exhausted but amazing). Our discussion ran along these lines:
- we both feel the bookstore has vastly untapped potential, which the minister also sees.
- The church administration isn't really being cooperative with pursuit of that potential.
-We have the vision and know-how to tap that potential, if we can get the administration to give us a little more leverage.
- Everyone wins if we get our way.
- My friend can't man the bookstore on weekdays, and I don't have the knowledge to manage a business but i have every other necessary resource; time, energy, transportation, dedication, and creativity.
- I need the skills to manage a business for personal reasons, and the church needs someone to dedicate themselves to this bookstore.
- My friends has the skills and is willing to teach them to me.
- I appear to be the right person for the job, excepting that I'm the only person.
- Several of the teens will be legally employable in a matter of months and would volunteer their time to let me have a day off now and then. This won't work in every circumstance but it will do for most situations, and will help them learn some valuable skills as well.
- I can see the store benefiting from having outdoor seating and speakers for music, cosmetic improvements that shouldn't be terribly expensive, a wi-fi repeater, and a door chime.
- Traffic in the store could be improved by more days open, and longer hours, both of which I will commit to even for the 10% commission. While putting me on salary is obviously desirable, one must prove themselves worthy in small matters before they can be trusted with greater.
-The store's revenue could be vastly improved by a significant jump in online presence: ebay for used books, etsy for handcrafted gifts on consignment, amazon for special orders and similar, a dedicated web page, improved branding ( tentatively "Spirit Tree Books"), A blog for book reviews, advertising of events and the fact that we're open as a venue space for workshops and the like, and possibly a youtube channel for various things. All of this is very doable.
As a result, we're discussing taking a couple of weeks to get ideas together so we can present a unified front, and scheduling a formal meeting with the administration ( which may result in a vote from the board) to present and discuss our ideas. I have every reason to be optimistic about this and very few reasons not to be. I think this is going to be very, very good. But if anyone has some thoughts about what could show up as pitfalls, or suggestions as to what specifically could be done, I'd love to hear from you.
Because of a couple of incidents with unruly vagrants, there are only two volunteers for the bookstore at present; myself, and a fellow who has experience both in running a business and a self-employed private contractor. It was he who was orignally offered a 10% commission on the bookstore's sales, but he declined; I'm there more often and his income situation is quite good, so he simply doesn't need it. It was offered to me and I have accepted, technically making me staff.
He and I talked for about an hour today, while I took a breather from helping the youth group advertise their fundraiser yard sale ( I was hooping on a street corner with a couple of sign shakers for three hours today, I feel exhausted but amazing). Our discussion ran along these lines:
- we both feel the bookstore has vastly untapped potential, which the minister also sees.
- The church administration isn't really being cooperative with pursuit of that potential.
-We have the vision and know-how to tap that potential, if we can get the administration to give us a little more leverage.
- Everyone wins if we get our way.
- My friend can't man the bookstore on weekdays, and I don't have the knowledge to manage a business but i have every other necessary resource; time, energy, transportation, dedication, and creativity.
- I need the skills to manage a business for personal reasons, and the church needs someone to dedicate themselves to this bookstore.
- My friends has the skills and is willing to teach them to me.
- I appear to be the right person for the job, excepting that I'm the only person.
- Several of the teens will be legally employable in a matter of months and would volunteer their time to let me have a day off now and then. This won't work in every circumstance but it will do for most situations, and will help them learn some valuable skills as well.
- I can see the store benefiting from having outdoor seating and speakers for music, cosmetic improvements that shouldn't be terribly expensive, a wi-fi repeater, and a door chime.
- Traffic in the store could be improved by more days open, and longer hours, both of which I will commit to even for the 10% commission. While putting me on salary is obviously desirable, one must prove themselves worthy in small matters before they can be trusted with greater.
-The store's revenue could be vastly improved by a significant jump in online presence: ebay for used books, etsy for handcrafted gifts on consignment, amazon for special orders and similar, a dedicated web page, improved branding ( tentatively "Spirit Tree Books"), A blog for book reviews, advertising of events and the fact that we're open as a venue space for workshops and the like, and possibly a youtube channel for various things. All of this is very doable.
As a result, we're discussing taking a couple of weeks to get ideas together so we can present a unified front, and scheduling a formal meeting with the administration ( which may result in a vote from the board) to present and discuss our ideas. I have every reason to be optimistic about this and very few reasons not to be. I think this is going to be very, very good. But if anyone has some thoughts about what could show up as pitfalls, or suggestions as to what specifically could be done, I'd love to hear from you.
"That's how we find out who we are."
Do You Like Metal?
Art I owe people:
wildmark- Ongoing project
mitsozuka- Reference Sheet
foxystallion- Ongoing project
Do You Like Metal?
Art I owe people:
wildmark- Ongoing project
mitsozuka- Reference Sheet
foxystallion- Ongoing project
nominus_expers
~nominusexpers
OP
No, it basically is the same thing. Unity is part of New Thought, which is a christian new-age movement originating in the late 1800's. New Age bookstore, essentially.
