It's Time.

What with Evan really starting to get busy, and generating true income (and expenses), it is really time that he officially become a business. We were kind of waiting for the new year, to make it easy for accounting and tax purposes, and lo and behold, we are now a month into the new year. Time to get moving.

He has the paperwork for establishing himself as a limited liability corporation (LLC), so I need to get on him to fill it out and send it off. Once that's done, he can open up a separate business checking account to deal with expenses, so that things can be written off more easily. He's already made a pretty substantial purchase this calendar year (big piece of equipment), so hopefully, that can be retroactively included. I've noticed that our electric bill has gone through the roof since he's been working out of the house, running those machines. I think I had heard that part of that could be written off, too. I sure hope so. He also needs to buy professional quality invoicing, billing and budget software, so I need to look into the options on that.

There are so many things to figure out and keep track of, but hopefully, once the groundwork is laid, this running your own business thing won't be as daunting and complicated as it seems right now.

If you've got fingers (and, I know you do!)

please keep them crossed for Evan. At this very moment, he's in a meeting with a potential client for a very big job. His old boss, Nick, referred it to him. I don't know much about it except that it is most likely big and expensive and would be a great opportunity for Evan.

UPDATE: I just spoke to Evan and meeting went quite well. He's going back there on Monday with a designer so they can put a detailed drawing together and hopefully, a contract can be signed by the end of next week. Woohoo!

Wherein I brag about Evan again...

When people ask me what Evan does for a living, I say 'he makes furniture.' Then, the responses usually fall into one of three categories.

There's the 'oh, my grandpa/dad/old boyfriend/former neighbor makes furniture for fun, too', which usually implies some sort of hobbying that involves plywood, lots of glue and a nail gun. I never know how to reply to that response without coming across as rude, so I usually just say something along the lines of 'that's great!' and leave it at that.

There's the 'wow! could he make me a sectional couch?' or the 'could he make me a dining room set? I can pay as much as $300 for it' responses. Those usually require me to find a polite way of telling them that a) if they really want a wooden couch, I'm sure he could make them one ;) and b) sometimes the paltry amount of money they want to spend wouldn't even cover the material.

But, every now and then, someone just gets it. They get what he does, and they appreciate the time and skill it requires. We are very lucky to have a neighbor--who runs an art gallery in town--who appreciate what he does. He has talked about possibly showing some of Evan's pieces in an exhibit, which would be very cool.

It really seems like things are coming together on so many fronts for him these days. I couldn't be happier for him, or prouder of him.

So you can share my awe ;), I leave you with a photo of one of the bathroom vanities he has made. Isn't he talented?!?!

Exciting!

I'm not sure if I've noted it 'publicly' (to all six of my readers that is ;) ), but since early August, Evan has been striking out on his own professionally. Basically, his boss at the millwork shop kind of lost his marbles (well, actually, there's more to it than that...addiction issues, but I'll leave it pg for here) and that was just the kick in the pants that Evan needed to do what he's really wanted to do all along, or at least since finishing up with school: work for himself.

So, anyway, he's running a home based business, so to speak...making furniture, cabinetry and decorative millwork out of his workshop in our basement. He's had a few customers lined up, and thanks to a number of connections he's forged in the two years we've been here, more just keep coming out of the woodwork (no pun intended). He seems to have a nice pipeline of work ahead of him, which is great. And, more or less, it is all interesting pieces that he's excited to make, which is the best news of all.

But...the most exciting news is that one of the designers where he used to work put him in contact with a local architect whose 'schtick' is to sell craftsman style furniture to go along with his renovations. You can check out his work at http://www.richardbubnowskidesign.com (the site seems to work best in IE). Anyway, he is very interested in having Evan make a few of the pieces. This is potentially a very big deal, as the custom, one-off pieces are fun and interesting for Evan to make, but to have a steady demand of something like this is definitely the kind of bread and butter projects that he'll need to keep the business afloat.

So, I'm really excited. He's still in talks with him, so keep your fingers crossed. I really do think that the somewhat stressful events of this summer with his boss was such a blessing in disguise, and it would be great if this worked out.