Tag Archives: business

Aug25

no mo’ venmo.

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vs.

coming up on the 4-month mark

of an ongoing battle with venmo

can’t even begin to tell the story in short form

 truly the perfect storm of events.

after talking, live chatting, and e-mailing

landon, santiago, elizabeth, miguel, ren, sacha, and abby

i won’t say which low-budget model above

most resembles me in the match

but i will say there is no doubt i am winning.

p.s.

i wonder if team venmo is posting a blog today

with our pictures

saying there is no doubt they are winning.

—

“i don’t like customer service because i don’t believe the customer should have to pay and help out too.”

-jarod kintz

 

Aug4

krabby!

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not sure this is the best brand name and marketing plan

or that there was a focus group….

 

 

—

“these were such friendly people, they didn’t notice how crabby we were, and before you knew it everyone was as happy as they were.”

-nora raleigh baskin

May16

slush fund.

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grandie j is at it again

this time it’s pop-up slushie stand

raising money for a boy shed

a clubhouse for him and his friends

lots of work, lots of fun

lots of choices on the treats n’ eats menu

riding off on bikes to drum up business

lots of happy customers

all the employees had rainbow tongues

(it’s important for them to like their own product)

great business, great profits

off to a great start. 

“whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”

-peter drucker

Sep16

where hobbies, hijinks, and capers go bad = my childhood #6

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(not my actual sale, this one is 70 miles long, but you get the feel of it)

—

there was that time

when i decided the best way to earn some quick cash

was to have a yard sale.

so i dragged our lemonade stand table out into the front yard

threw a plastic tablecloth over it

made a sign

covered it with stuff to sell

opened for business

let the cash flow begin!

 a couple of friends and their sibs

stopped by on bikes

to check it out

i quickly made 57 cents

things were humming along at a nice pace

the venture was looking promising

i thought i’d do this each weekend

maybe hire an assistant

deciding what i’d do with all the cash

until

my sister came marching out of the house

to see what was going on

 realized that i was selling her stuff

my mom soon followed

and that business closed pretty quickly.

—

“three dollars and it only transports matter?!”

(at professor frink’s yard sale – homer simpson)

fictional character from the animated tv series created by matt groening, the simpsons

 

 

 

—

image credit: cbc.ca

 

 

May19

where hobbies, hijinks, and capers go bad = my childhood #4

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one day
when i was little
sitting in my garage
with my sisters and friend
just watching the little spiders in the corner
as we hung out, talking and wondering 
how we could make some money
we came up with a brilliant plan
and decided that it would be a great idea
to start a ‘spider farm’
where we would breed spiders in my garage
and sell them to all of the people in our neighborhood 
overhead would be low
we just had to find two spiders
 get them to meet each other
and have babies
we never really considered the logistics
or that we knew nothing about spiders
or that we weren’t really spider fans
or how we would get them to ‘fall in love’
or that there might not be any customers
or that our business would close before it opened
when my mom closed the garage door and made us play outside
and that is the main reason why i am not a spider farmer today
and a teacher instead. 
—
“don’t worry, spiders, i keep house casually.”

-robert hass, field guide

—
image credit:  david kirk, ‘miss spider’s sunnypatch kids’
Jul17

nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. – ralph waldo emerson

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IMG_0797

met this group of young entrepreneurs

while walking back

from the downtown art fair

found them

just on the perimeter

in a safe zone

for guerilla marketing

and a cash business

in a bright spot

future lemonade magnates

with

a plan

a happy disposition

and

a wagon-load

full

of quiet enthusiasm

they had made sixty dollars

on the day before

while

rotating jobs

one sign-holder

three salesmen

at street level

offering up cool cups

of

sweet relief

to all who wandered by

with shy smiles

and  a price you couldn’t refuse.