Ready to get back to work

Good morning everyone, it is 6 a.m. here, and I am back from a relaxing and inspirational week in the North Carolina Outer Banks. We ate, laughed (a lot) and soaked up more than our share of sunshine. I will be in the studio this afternoon and can hardly wait to get started on the bounty of orders that came in last week --- but before I go, I wanted to share some photos of the trip. Enjoy! Andrea

Hatteras Lighthouse

Ocracoke Ferry

Learning to crab

Our children

Darin and I

Sweet Isabel

You can have a place of your own, outside of your home.

Image courtesy of DesignDivasGallery on Etsy.

Do you dream of having a dedicated space --- outside of your home --- to make and showcase your handmade goods? If so, I bet you have lots of questions that you’d love to ask someone who has “taken the plunge”, so to say, and moved from a home studio into a commercial studio.


When I began to ponder the idea, matters like insurance, taxes, permits and lease terms were all considerations. One of the first things I did, which was very helpful, was to organize my questions in outline format with headers to group related questions. You can do this on paper or the computer. The latter will allow you to rearrange your questions and make notes with ease.

At the time, I would have been grateful to access another artisan that was willing and able to candidly answer my questions. So, while it is all still fresh in my mind, I have taken the liberty to respond to the questions I wanted to ask someone in a similar situation. I hope the information is useful and encourage you to post additional questions in the comment field. Please be mindful, the numbers reflected are based upon my specific circumstance in the Northern Virginia area and could vary greatly depending upon your craft of choice, credit score and location.

What line items should I include in my moving budget?

Insurance $400 (per year)

Business License $25 (per year)

Occupancy Permit $50 (onetime fee)

Security Deposit (equal to one month’s rent)

First Month’s Rent (should fit your budget, period)

Utilities (the properties I considered were all inclusive, so this was not an issue for me; but do your research because I have heard tales of HUGE electric bills, in excess of $900 per month in commercial properties! You can and should call the utility company and ask what the average bill is for the property you are considering.)

Movers $50 for my son (and a box of assorted donuts); hubby was free of charge (because he is just sweet like that).

What types of licenses and/or permits will I need?

A federal tax ID, sales tax account, business license, occupancy permit and a fictitious name certificate (if you didn’t name your company after yourself).

How should I go about locating space?

I searched for properties on Craigslist under Housing / Office & Commercial. When I found a place that I liked, I emailed the landlord/agent to ask:

Does the property have a separate entrance? Are utilities included? What type of terms are you seeking? Is there access to a bathroom? Is parking included?

If I liked their response, I followed up with an informal visit to check out the surrounding businesses and semi-discretely peep in the windows. After all that, if the property still made my “short list”, I called them back to schedule a tour.

Everyone that I spoke to was quick to ask “what purpose” I intended to use the space for. Initially, this was somewhat intimidating to me because (if I may be frank) most people, men in particular, just don’t take diaper bags seriously. So, I polished my elevator speech and evaded the “d” word. Next time someone asked the same question, I replied with confidence:

“I own a label called Watermelon Wishes under which I design and produce a line of bags and accessories for women and children. The space would serve as my studio.”

I also created a one page document entitled “Executive Summary” that provided potential landlords with a synopsis of my product and customer base, past performance and future goals. Beautifully crafted, I revisit this document often for inspiration.

Was it difficult to negotiate a lease?

No. The rent was within my budget and I felt no need to dicker over money --- and even if I did, I wouldn’t have, because I am not the haggling kind. Each lease is different though and it is critical that you read every single word. Do NOT skim through this type of document under any circumstance. In fact, you should feel free to take several days and read it no less than three times. If you come across something that is unclear, ask questions and get the information you need. This is a big decision and you want to make the best choice you can with the information you have.

In my case, I wanted to be absolutely certain that the landlord understood that I would be manufacturing products on site and the process involves a sewing machine, serger and use of an iron. I also wanted to disclose the fact that my children would be on the premise. Both of these items are included in my lease under a section entitled “additional terms”. Of course you can propose to add or remove any term you like in a lease; but I would suggest prioritizing your requests and limiting yourself to those items which are essential to your operations.

What type of obstacles did you encounter?

Oddly enough, two times, the agent/landlord who I met at each property confessed they could not find the key to let me in. After much ado, I did get to see both places; but, I still think this was a really strange coincidence if you consider I was the only common denominator. When the time came to make my final decision, I had narrowed the choice down to two units. The first was an office close to home, approximately 800 square feet and the second was 17 miles away, two floors and half the size. The price difference between them was $200. Briefly, I wrestled with the logistics of traveling a half hour each way to work and then I decided the commute was worth wild because the second location presented the opportunity to be surrounded by other unique specialty businesses as opposed to the emblematic office setting offered by the other. Plus, it cost $200 less; which I justified would offset the added fuel expense.

Did the space live up to your expectations?

Absolutely. I put a great deal of thought into defining the purpose of the space and the feeling which I wanted it to evoke. I can honestly say it is everything I had hoped it would be. As an added boon, my existing studio furniture fit the new space perfectly and I did not have to budget additional funds for furnishings. I believe it is critical to define the purpose of the space you want to create before you do anything else. It was important to me to find a place that was aesthetically pleasing and free from distractions. Believe it or not, I don’t have internet service in the studio; because, I want to ensure my time there is spent solely creating. The computer based portion of my work can be completed from home in the early morning and evening hours.

How did your family adjust to you working outside of the home?

Well, I’d be lying if I told you just fine. After spending 15 years at home, it was an adjustment for everyone --- especially me. Thankfully, I have an amazing husband and every time I would begin to doubt my ability to manage so many responsibilities, he quickly assured me it would be fine and reminded me not to be so hard on myself. (Thanks, baby!) It has been six weeks now and I think we’ve found a groove that harmonizes work and family. Of course, school will start soon and we’ll be back at the drawing table trying to figure out how to get everyone everywhere they need to be when they need to be there; but, that’s not really any different than it was before. In a nutshell, I think the key word will be elasticity--- and we will all have to give a little as needed.

Tuesday Guest Post: Be hip, CLIP!

Yay we have 2 winner(s)!

Congratulations to frugalfriends and zakiebaby --- you are both winners! Simply relay your shipping information to me via email at orders@watermelonwishes.com and I will send out your complimentary Watermelon Wishes coupon files ASAP.

All the best and thank you for sharing! Andrea

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My name is Heather and my hip partner, is Brooke. We love a deal. I remember as a mother of five young children living in the Oakton, Va area, anticipating Saturday mornings. If you are like me (or Brooke), you know what happens on Saturday mornings. As the sun begins to break the dawn, the dew sits softly on the grass, garage doors begin to open. Slowly treasures begin to make their way onto tables and blankets, awaiting for me to find them. I truly love other people's "junk." That "junk" clothed all my children in designer clothes, allowed us to have all of the expensive popular toys, and furnished my house in the latest styles. All for next to nothing.

And then, when craigslist came around, I was able to resale most of this "junk" to others. It was a beautiful cycle.

As my kid's grew up so did my grocery bill. This led to my love of coupon clipping. I always loved clipping but I didn't get "hip" until I met Brooke. She took the coupon clipping to the next level. Instead of my normal savings of about 50%, she introduced me to BIG time savings. Over the past few years, we have both searched and shared our latest savings. And we have been amazed at the amount of items we could purchase for absolutely FREE! Whether it was stock piling toothpaste when they were "giving" it away or buying enough cake mix for the next year, we were there.

We want people to get rid of (or lose) the idea that couponing is for "the poor and needy" and change their thinking along the lines of coupon clipping for the "hip and happening (not to mention, smart)" shopper. You have to eat right? You have to clean too. Why not get a deal purchasing the necessities of life.

So Brooke and I decided it was time to share our secrets. We know where to get the coupons. We know how to read a coupon and the trick of combining them. We know how to use the coupon to its fullest saving power and how to organize these coupons. We know how to find the best deals, and when those deals come...how to get them. We admit, we pretty much know EVERYTHING when it comes to a coupon! We know because we LOVE them.

We teach a "hip to clip" coupon class 2 or 3 times a month. It is there, you can learn the art of couponing. You will be armed (hopefully with a huge HIP binder full of coupons) with the confidence that YOU can find the deals and YOU will save money and YOU are hip to be clipping (those that aren't using coupons are just plain CRAZY!). You can save on everything, if you are just willing to save time to clip!

Our blog provides savings in our community. We find the deals and you go out and get them. We love the local library reading program where each week our children can pick up a few coupons for free meals, activities or treats at the surrounding businesses. We are also fans of rebates too. This is the time of the year where places like Staples and Office Depot are giving away products. All you have to do is to be willing to immediately get those rebates sent in. You can find these tips on our blog: http://www.hiptoclipcoupons.blogspot.com/.

I don't get out and garage sale as much as I used to, although I still get that excited feeling when I see the signs pointing the way to bargain bliss. I want to follow them, I really do. But I don't have the time, or the need as I once did. Now I find clipping a coupon makes me just as excited and my need of feeding 5 growing children (four boys!) filled.

So Be Hip, Clip!

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Great advice, Heather! Thank you for sharing!
Have a favorite coupon tip? Post it in the comment field and you will be entered to win a fabric covered accordion file by Watermelon Wishes. The winner will be selected at random and announced Aug. 2, 2010.
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