One thing I've been doing while I've had some time off is to think about the world I want our business to sit in. This comment on an earlier post helped me to crystalise this.

Right now, we sell, or potentially sell, in various contexts:

• Fashion - we're mentioned often in places that have nothing to do with esoterica
• Art - some of our work is viewed as art as much as its design (we were once asked to repaint some images on canvas and sell them in a gallery - hmm)
  
• The tarot community
• The "cats" community - actually, we are almost invisible as yet in this one and should probably be more involved
  
• The wider "New Age" interest groups
• Czech design - again, we are not yet really part of this. Perhaps it would be distracting if we were - and could change our work in ways that wouldn't be good.
  
• "Alice" fans

• On our own shop as Baba Studio (where we're often seen as larger than we really are)
  
• On Etsy - which has entirely its own aesthetic and where we do not fit with the amateur look that's preferred by the admin there. We fit, but we are not "in" this group in the way that some sellers are.
  
• On Trunkt - it feels like we fit quite well there - but then, what IS Trunkt exactly?
  
• On Notmassproduced - again, another aesthetic. Very sweet and designery but virtually invisible as yet, so we don't try to adapt to fit in, though we're happy to be there.
  

• Hate paperwork? Make it an aim to get most of it done by someone else - or at least invest in software and setup so that you can spend a lot less time on it.


• Loathe phone-calls? See if you can do more of it by email.


• Find building websites a total bore (how could you?) Find a good, reliable web person - perhaps you can even trade with them in some way - and have your site set up so that it doesn't need masses of maintenance by you.

Then again, it may be the entire job that bores you to tears. If so, now is the time to begin to plan to do your own thing. Or to change what your "own thing" is. I went from corporate design consultancy to designing cards and bags. And found that this is work that truly engages me - these days I don't nod off.

(the picture is two of our cats sleeping in a box on my desk - I have a permanent box there these days).

This is a time of change the like of which we haven't seen in the West since the 1960s. It's going to be hard - and it's going to be wonderful. Even in the middle of the tough periods, remember that this just could be the time that allows you to do your best work, the work you always dreamed of doing.

Building a good, solid business is usually not quick. It takes time to learn what works and what doesn't and to decide what to focus on, what to build and what to drop. Not all ideas will take off and you won't be able to see all the good opportunities and possibilities at the very beginning. A great business tends to grow step by step - and sometimes it can feel like two steps forward and one back.

I am an impatient person and in the past I've found this frustrating. I came to Prague seven years ago. Alex and I began working together six years ago and it really took four years before we were taking out more than we were putting in - simply in hard financial terms quite apart from time. That was a stressful period at times when I kept saying, "Next year we'll be in profit," and in fact it took three of those "next years".

But I'm glad now that it did take that time. I look back and I laugh at some of the ideas we had then, but I'm also amazed by how many things did come to fruition - eventually. Because it took time, we now have a better business - financially, organisationally and maybe, most important of all, in terms of doing what we love, rather than being forced to make compromises.

If you are just starting out, try to begin with at least enough money in the bank (or a part-time job) to survive for some years, not just months. Particularly at the moment. If you haven't enough, then seriously (seriously) consider doing what I did - which is to move to a cheaper place to live to buy yourself time. Time is precious, you may have to trade off some other things in order to get the time you and your business need.

If you are already running your own enterprise, try not to rush it unless you really need to. Take some time to experiment, to dream up new products, to take a few risks. Also, simply, take some time to learn where you can - and want to - take your business.

Okay, we are now officially heading into a depression rather than a recession, it's going to be harder running any business (though as you know I think smaller businesses may have the advantage of being able to respond quickly) and we're all going to have to:

• Market harder
  Price keenly
  Cut costs
  Come up with new products that are desirable and affordable
  Work on keeping customers
  Be prepared to put in more hours

People who are newly starting a small business run a real risk of thinking, "What can I make?" rather than, "What's really wanted?".

The overwhelming number of cowls and fingerless gloves on Etsy provides a wonderful example. When did you last, honestly, wear a cowl? When have you found fingerless gloves preferable to ordinary gloves with fingers?

The reason for this stuff is that it's far, far quicker to make than full-sized scarves and conventional gloves. It uses less yarn too. So you can sell it for a much lower price - within more people's budget. AND it can look spectacular in a photograph. Seductive for a maker, no?

But... it's a trap not to fall into. Ultimately, these products are - in person rather than in a flattering picture - not all that practical or desirable. Okay, make them beautifully and photograph them well and you may well sell a few. But do you honestly expect to sell many? Do you think there will be repeat customers for something as quirky and niche (and maybe not in a good way) as this?

When you are planning your products, ask yourself first and foremost what customers really want. If it's something you can't make to realistic timescales or budgets, consider if there is another way - maybe you can use some ready-made components? Perhaps you can get lower-cost (please not lower quality) supplies? If there is no way - move on and think again.

In the end, you can't compete by offering people something they don't really want. You CAN compete by offering your own beautiful, unique or better version of something that there is a real demand for.
__________
Small disclaimer. This is not aimed at any particular Etsy sellers, including those shown in the screen shot. It's intended just as a general observation and comment.

web-based social promiscuity is definitely the way forward. Facebook and MySpace were used with devastating effect by the Obama campaign. So, too, his own beautifully-designed website. Its organisational and money-making power were extraordinary and election-changing.

Barack Obama has become the commander-in-chief by being the social networker-in-chief. If Jack Kennedy was arguably the most telegenic presidential candidate that America has seen, then Mr Obama is surely its most web-genic.

Perhaps what I really mean is don't be intimidated by the apparent success of others around you. Of course, other people's success can be inspirational and encouraging, but it can also make you feel "Why bother to start? I'll never be able to emulate that." Don't fall into that attitude, it can become an excuse for not making even the first small moves in building your business.

For some years now, I've had regular Skype conversations about design, marketing and - well, life in general - with Monicka Clio Sakki. One of the things we tend to do during and in-between those conversations is to swap online finds - "Have you seen what these people are doing?"- accompanied by a barrage of urls.

Michal Negrin is one company we've discussed quite often - not because we particularly like the design (it's a bit too sugary for me and I think way too sugary for Monicka) but because we are both a bit awestruck by the way Michal Negrin has taken her company from a market stall selling jewellery to an international franchise.

I doubt we - as in Baba Studio, I can't speak for Sakki-Sakki - will ever be anywhere close to this kind of international operation - although I would like to build up more and more worldwide distribution and perhaps eventually do some of the things that franchises do. Meantime, there's a danger in looking at others who already done this and telling myself things like:

• She had amazing financial backing and advice, I don't. So things are possible for her that aren't for me.
• She was lucky. I may not be.
• She started at the right time. It's far harder now.
• Her work is more mainstream. Mine is "edgy" and therefore won't attract a wide audience.
• She's driven. I want to have a life.

These points mainly apply to those start-ups with angel or venture capital funding. Which, let's face it, does not include many creative studios.

But it's still worth taking five minutes to hear what's said. In a later post I plan to reinterpret this for our own kind of small business. For now though, this advice is useful and at times quite thought-provoking.


The Entire Video of John Doerr Giving 10 Tips for Start-ups to Avoid the Econalypse

...it's time to realise that the work you produce IS your brand - you can't just put expensive lipstick on a pig (or a poor product) and expect to make it into anything other than a pig. As someone somewhere recently pointed out.

You'd think it would be blindingly obvious to say that when you're in a creative business the first and foremost matter you need to focus on is the quality of your product. If you're a musician, are your performances/recordings good enough and original enough to draw a following? As a writer, how do you stand up against the best around in your field? If you are an artist, do your images stand out, are they beautifully realised and emotionally moving, do they have the kind of meaning that audiences respond to? And - close to my heart - if you design products, are they distinctive, well-made and both fit for purpose and desirable? Do they last and give pleasure beyond the first flush of ownership?

All the time I see discussions - on blogs, forums and other on and offline venues - in which presentation, branding and promo/marketing are the focus and the actual product is ignored. Maybe this is because I mostly follow design and craft conversations - perhaps it's different in music and literature (if so, I'd love to hear your comments and experiences). But again and again I read and hear advice telling people to promote more, take better photographs, work on their logos and brand style, think more about their packaging... almost anything but "look again at your product".

Is this because it's hard to critique someone's work without causing offence? Yes, to a large part this may explain it. It's a lot easier to tell someone that their photos are poor than to tell them that the world really does not need, for instance, yet another piece of badly made beaded jewellery. But I suspect it's also because we live at a period in the world's history when presentation really has taken precedence over content and substance. You see it everywhere - from the US Republican campaign decision to run with Sarah Palin because of her "story" to the belief that what many countries need right now is not so much real change as a rebrand - hey yes, that'll fix it.

But maybe, just maybe, we're coming to the end of this odd obsession and swinging back to placing more value on the thing in itself, rather than the way you show it and market it. If so (and I hope it's so) then it's a particularly good time to look at what you're producing and ask yourself how you can improve it. Simple, obvious, but now more true than ever.

Because enjoying a small piece each day is far better than bingeing through the whole box of tricks in a single session.

Marketing and promotion needs to be a habit that you do, almost without thinking, each day. A great big advertising push followed by nothing for months is particularly useless on the web, where everything gets out of date so fast.

Marketing works best when it's something you actually enjoy, rather than a chore you have to force yourself to perform. I suppose that should be obvious, but all the time I hear writers and designers complain that they want to do their creative work, and only put time into marketing because it's necessary. Many people even seem to see their hatred of marketing as a badge of creative authenticity.

Well, if you want to loathe doing your marketing and communications that's up to you. But as it's got to be done, it's surely better all round to make sure that it's an activity you actually enjoy.
This is more likely when:

• It feels authentic. No-one enjoys either doing or receiving "hard sell". Just do the kind of promos that you honestly do relate to and that feel like the real you, even if it seems quite gentle stuff compared to the blare of some of the big brands.
• It's interesting. I'm not suggesting you jump all over the place and try everything. But sometimes doing something you haven't done before is more fun than "same old, same old". Today I made my first ever Facebook ad. A modest little thing to be sure (there's not a whole lot you can do visually with a Facebook ad - well, maybe I haven't come up with anything more dramatic yet) but I'm genuinely excited to see how it does. It's energised me.
  
• It's not too much of a strain. Don't force it to the point where it's exhausting. Do something small each day and go on to some other activity (like your main design/writing/music/art work) once the marketing stuff stops being fun.
• It's creative. You don't have to ape the big brands to be an effective marketeer. In fact it's usually much better if you do something that's fresher, different and more "you". Find a tone or a style or a format that isn't the same as everyone else's. Use your imagination and your ability to make something new and distinct.

I've just been reading yet another post on the Etsy forums about Chinese manufacturers. Of course, it's fine to criticise people selling items that are not handmade (in Etsy's terms handmade means also hand-assembled, hand-altered but still, pure factory-made does not qualify). But what makes me wince about these threads is how quickly they degenerate into racism and excuses for not buying from "them". Although on the upside, it's reassuring also to see how many people recognise this and counter it.

The basic arguments made by the anti-China lobby always focus on four accusations:

• It's crap - stuff made in China/Asia/overseas is all rubbish. 90% of the time if you check the Etsy shop of the people saying this you'll find they are using Chinese components/fabrics/material in some of their work.
• It's dangerous - "these people" put lead in children's toys (er, actually if you read the Mattel case you'll find that it was at least as much the fault of Mattel as the Chinese manufacturer).
• It's immoral - "these people" make children work in sweatshops. Yes, there are sweatshops in Asia. There are also sweatshops in London and New York. Many of the modern Chinese factories have good worker conditions.
• It's unfair - "these people" are taking "our" jobs. Hey? What makes you think the West has some immutable right to the jobs? And isn't global trade creating jobs also?

When things are going well, or even when they just begin to look up, you're going to find some people who are jealous, spiteful or - and this is more common - simply uncomfortable with seeing you taking risks that they have avoided themselves.

We're all human and we've all felt envy for others, or wanted to hold them back in our own safe world instead of watching them move out into something broader and more risky. I'm not saying that someone who does that is bad or malicious or even necessarily all that conscious of the way they're trying to hold you back. I'm just saying that it happens and it's a hazard to look out for.

Year ago, I formed my own unofficial, independent little group of user-interface designers right in the middle of one of the major tech research labs in the UK. At the time I just wanted to get on with some decent work with good people. Nowadays, I recognise that I did what Seth Godin would describe as building a tribe. The tribe we made in that place was amazing - for a couple of years we did remarkable work that changed things. It's notable how most of the people involved went on to quite glossy design careers. We learned, we worked - with passion and fascination for what we were doing - and we did things beyond what any one of us could have done alone. In work terms, I still look back on it as one of the most productive periods of my working life.

So how did people at "the Labs" (I won't give the actual name of the corporate but if you know the telecoms industry in the UK you'll easily guess) respond to this? Well, to my surprise at the time, they mostly criticised, challenged, tried to form their own carbon-copy competing groups and, in the end, managed to have us dissolved. They took a brilliantly functional, efficient and innovative group and - deliberately destroyed it. Makes them sound horrid, yes? Well, they weren't. There were some genuinely nice, well-meaning, clever researchers among them. But they saw the building of something that not only didn't fit, but that also worked amazingly well - and their reaction was to tear it down. That's not uncommon.

Noticeable success - especially if it's done in a whole new way that doesn't "fit" - can be threatening. Many people will react to that by throwing hurdles in your way -and occasionally worse. Your fun and your satisfaction may be someone else's threat.

So - decide now that as your small business grows and thrives (okay, maybe slower than it would without this financial crisis, but let's be confident and say that it will thrive) influence from people who want to prevent your success, even for the most well-meaning reasons, are not what you need. Learn to avoid them. If you actually work with them or - God forbid - they are family members or close friends - learn to ignore them.

I just read this on Seth Godin's blog

"The media and the tech blogs glamorize businesses that act big. They write about the big checks VCs hand out and they lionize the organizations that make a splash. The untold story is in the organizations that are close to the customer, close to the product and close to each other. Thinking small always pays off."

It's well worth reading his whole post.

I used to worry in London about being too small - at its largest my company employed 35 people. Now quite frankly I will be worried if we ever employ more than six (right now it's us two and Halina employed part-time). Small can be great. Collaboration, co-operation and focusing on what you really know how to do with excellence is the way to go.

Today I got up feeling better and more energised than I have for a few days and settled down to plan our bags for the next six months or so:

• I counted a final 2042 tarot bag prints - which have taken a month to produce. There are more than 100 images in all and it was a lot of work. But exciting.
  Never before have we done even as many as 200 bags in a batch, but by working this way we think we can considerably cut costs and so keep final prices down. This will be important next year. But doing so many at once has felt slightly crazy. Maybe it's another sign we are growing up as a studio.
  
  
• I designed a new wearable pouch. More on this over the winter but the intention is to go ahead quickly with this one as it will be beautiful, useful but also priced well below $30. Again, this is the result of thinking for a couple of months now about how we can offer some very affordable designs while actually improving quality. It will very quickly be available in ALL the tarot bag prints too. This is good I think.
  
  
• We discussed Alice, animal toile and other cushions. Now whatever we do, these can't be low prices - though they will be way lower than, for example, cushions like these - and I think at least as good in design and quality. But we have done what we can and now we will go ahead with a smaller batch than originally planned, just to test the water. They are gorgeous, quirky and special. I think we'll be fine with these.
  
  
• We confirmed the way we want to go on the shoulder bag saga. For nine months now I've been trying to produce a new shoulder bag to have in addition to our current one. Finally we are getting there though this one has been a continuous story of two steps forward, then one back. Now at least we have an agreed plan.

1. Find ways to keep your costs down. I've said it before and I'll probably say it endlessly through this "crisis". At the same time though, don't drop your quality whatever you do.
2. Think about new products that provide really great value. Use your creativity and your abilities and see what you can come up with. Test out your ideas and then - get going.

I came across this on Fred Wilson's blog. I admit to a caution about VCs based on some of what I saw in London in the dotcom boom and bust but his blog is a good read and I find that I relate to many of his opinions and attitudes. I suppose at heart I'm a liberal capitalist - more or less.

Anyway, although this advice is aimed at the kind of company that incubators take on - start-ups that are expected to grow rapidly and maybe IPO or be bought out, it's also relevant to the enterprises that this blog is focused on - small, personally-run, creative companies that aren't particularly interested in getting huge and corporatised but intending to make a decent living.

Here is the piece in full with my take in blue -

It's counterintuitive, but during an up cycle people accept conventional wisdom, and during a down cycle people challenge it. That's good. Very good. And the cycle will winnow competition.

A lot of what we were told was "true" about market capitalism turned out to be a mirage. It feels like the world turned upside down. Scary, but also thrilling. Now is a great time to think outside the box. NO - in fact, don't even THINK of corporate terms like "outside the box". Think quirky, think outrageous, think of what you dream of. Think "why not?". What we were told was "silly" may not be at all. Think daft and think hopeful.

"Yes we can" Okay, that's a modern cliche now, but you know, there is a whole world shift going on that's about daring to do what you thought was not possible. It's in the air.

And if you need to make cuts, make them now. Don't cut 10% now and then another 10% early next year -- make the change in one fell swoop. Piecemealing your way through change kills momentum, hurts culture and the team and is a chickenshit way to run a business.

Yes, this is just good sound advice. But it's something that's easy to ignore because at difficult times, it's easiest to deny and put off. Personally, here at Baba Studio Headquarters (hold on a second while I move the cat off my desk) we have been cutting swathes through some of our plans and reconsidering others. If something has to go, it should go now.

There will be a flight to quality; this always happens. But this time I think it's going to be more than that. For TV and print this has been an unusual year: The shift to online has been stemmed first by the Olympics and second by the election. But year-over-year growth in ad spend has been down across the board (see slide 32 of the sequoia deck, linked below). Expect the next year to be ugly and different. I think spend will move online, very fast, and print may right downhill. And people will look for ROI -- real measurable results. Monetizing social media is hard. Much to do here, much money/share to make/take.

There will also be a flight to individual and meaningful - and simply gorgeous. And lasting. Especially lasting. Now that might sound totally naive. I know that financially people will rush to quality in monetary terms. Quality like Lehmann's and General Motors and...
See what I mean? In a world where it won't be at all clear what's stable and what's not, there will be a desire for products that don't have that depressing "this looks fine now but it's poor material and poorly made and I know it'll look awful after the first wash" feel that many chain-store items do. People will want something that has some material and emotional quality to it. Small and medium-sized (and micro) businesses are in a much better position to provide this. With authenticity.

Openness. I think this cycle is going to drive another significant shift in how open and interconnected the Web is. This is good news for you, and this is bad news for the Facebooks of the world, who tried to replicate the walled garden strategy of Web 1.0.

Think about what happened through the last cycle. Start with AWS. In the 1990s, Internet companies had to own everything top to tail. Today you can use Amazon and other services to pop up a new box for hundreds of dollars, if that. Thats a huge shift, and it's also a shift towards interdependency.

We are all now dependent on the Amazons of the world for parts of our infrastructure. I think this turn of the cycle is going to drive a lot more openness. This in turn ties to the market figuring out how to rapidly establish bottoms-up standards. This is about working with others and figuring out how to do things without having to do all the work.

As a very small business or start-up, you have to use what's out there. We are looking more and more to building a very good, personal relationship with one or two workshops. Our graphics and printing we do ourselves (how terribly uncorporate of us to be so picky, but the quality of the images and printing is everything to us). But our sewing is being done by a few places that we like and trust.
More broadly, we're using everything out there for blogging, showing off our pictures, building our shops and so on. When you're a very small business, you have great flexibility in trying out all sorts of services quickly and then deciding to run with them or not according to your experiences. Large business has far more trouble with doing this in a meaningful way.

Main piece by John Borthwick.

Weird week this week. And that's just HERE never mind the DOW and the FTSE.

Anyway, I had a burst of energy and tidied up some of our websites. I can't decide if putting a large Etsy display on our Victorian Romantic site is too commercial. I hope it isn't just a sign of mild panic. But it did seem like this might be a good time to make sure that people at least know we have a shop. This after two enquiries this week:
1. About if we have plans ever to do a tarot deck (this from a really lovely Etsy buyer)
2. If we wholesale our "deck" - singular - from someone who found the Victorian Romantic site.

This tells me that if I can get the network of links working better it will be both more useful for customers and generate more business for us.

But IS this going too far? I'll think about it more this weekend.

Yes, I know that there is not enough money in the WORLD to pay off the derivatives market. I know that Will Hutton is right when he says that we are sitting waiting for the approaching hurricane to strike, and all we are feeling now is the head-winds.

But.

But when money tied up in debts has become so crazily virtual that it no longer has any meaning, then I actually think it may end up having less real power to hurt than we think. Is that naive and ridiculous? Probably, and I'm not enough of an economist to put this argument coherently. But my hunch (and I tend to be good at hunches) is that this is a hurricane that will miss the levees, and veer off to dissipate itself relatively harmlessly.

Meanwhile, we make more bags. LOTS more bags, because we believe that they will be wanted. When you're talking gadzillions of trillions, what's $22? I think many people will have much the same attitude.

There, I made myself type that phrase, "financial meltdown". I'm not sure if that's what it's going to be - which is I suppose an inane comment as who is sure? But assuming that whatever happens, things are going to get worse not better economically, here are some of the ways that it's better to be running your own business than working in a large corporate at a time like this -

You have control and know the real facts and figures about turnover, profitability

You can change things quickly. Far, far more quickly than any large company can

You know your customers better - and are much more genuinely connected with their needs and choices

You are not saddled with huge overheads and debts.

On that last point, if you are going to start a business now, by choice or by part-necessity, whatever you do don't take on debt. I'll post more about that.

I began my first business - more than ten years ago now - because I was sacked. I was sacked partly because I didn't know the rules of small companies (having just moved from a large corporate) and partly because the person who wanted my job - and for a time, got it - was a brown-noser par excellence and pretty unpleasant with it.

I don't feel at all defensive or embarrassed about being kicked out. What I do feel a little ashamed of is that the truth is that without that, I may not have had the guts or will to begin my own business. I used to think how wonderful it would be, but I could never summon the courage. Only when all seemed lost (it wasn't of course, but it seemed that way for a couple of days) and I realised that in fact I had a lot of the basis of a business already in place - then finally I took the jump.

Whatever the reason, being sacked is traumatic and can leave you feeling vulnerable and lacking in confidence. Nowadays, even if you know the rules, do not have a colleague shoving knives in your back and no matter how well you are doing the job - you may be fired. Things - let's face it - are not looking so good now, particularly in the more recession-sensitive fields.

If the worst does happen, put the situation to the good and consider the possibilities of beginning your own business. USE the trauma to shift yourself outside your normal comfort zones.

Okay, for some reading this it will just not be practical - perhaps you need a secure income, in which case a new business in a precarious climate is not such a great move. But if you have flexibility, maybe a bit of redundancy package or some existing clients or some established reputation in a creative area, now may be the time.

Assuming that we are at the beginning of what may be a long-term economic downturn (and not going into all the ifs and buts and interesting consequences of that) here are two simple steps to take right now.



Look at your costs
Can you find ways of buying your supplies more cheaply without compromising quality? Can you cut down on expenses that aren't necessary? - maybe using Skype more rather than landline phone-calls, making less short trips, turning down the thermostat a bit? I know these things are all boring, but they add up.

What are we doing? Well, mainly we are busily switching most of our actual bag sewing to an Asian workshop that we like - they do beautiful work. The small workshop that we've worked with for some years here are being partially closed down in any case (owner - a fashion designer of some repute here - is retiring) and we have more than enough "special" work to keep Romana, our main sewing colleague, as busy as she wants to be.
More on the pros and cons of sending work out of the country in another post.

Look at your prices
I'm not going to suggest that you slash prices as sometimes that's quite disastrous. Depending on your margins, even a modest reduction in your retail cost could, in theory, halve your profits. So be careful about suddenly going into "fire sale" mode. I'll do a post soon on pricing but for now, my advice would be to look at the spread of pricing. In times when credit is tight, you may well find that some people are still happy to pay reasonable prices for quality, but others may be looking for smaller, inexpensive things either for gifts or simply as little treats for themselves. Can you produce some new items that are at lower price points? Under $20 - or 12 Euros - is probably the kind of price to aim for.

What are we doing? As our small drawstring bags are already only just over the $20 mark, we aren't sure we can make anything that will retail for less (though we are considering the possibilities). However, we are just about to launch new versions of the large drawstrings and the bucket bags which will be at lower prices than before. Again, sourcing from Asia helps us do this. Also we will switch to a high-quality silk mix rather than pure silk for the larger bags. The end result will be indistinguishable in look and feel - but it will shave some dollars and euros off the final retail price.

Both these steps are perfectly obvious. But the thing that counts is not to sit like a rabbit caught in the headlights of on-coming disaster. Begin both these changes now. You don't have to do everything possible all at once. So just start.

Oh - and see the positive side too. You know, it was only a sense of real panic some months ago that made me finally begin on the long and quite demanding task of finding an Asian workshop that we could form a good relationship with, and that understood quality. It took ages and I would probably have given up if it wasn't for a bit of real lurking fear about the way things were going economically. Once things pick up again (and they will) the changes that you make now will stand you in good stead long-term.

It's an odd time to be giving advice on starting and building a creative business because it looks like the sky is in the process of falling in. As I'm typing this, the "bail-out" is being debated and the markets look like this:

and part of me just wants to hide under the quilt (with whatever I have converted into gold under the mattress - though it wouldn't go far) and hope it will all blow over. But it won't. I actually do think that we are seeing the end of extreme, unfettered market capitalism - and personally I had a hunch this was bound to happen when Soviet communism ended - somehow one ideological system had propped up the other. With any luck the outcome will be a softer, more humane type of middle of the road capitalism with a good dollop of gentle socialism thrown in. Er, if we don't just slide into fascism that is.

So. Is there any point in even trying to run a business that's selling anything other than the basics? Well, yes, there is. The world will not stop. People will still want some fantasy and beauty in their lives. And - if you think of the 1930s, these wild times actually can produce extraordinary art and design. However, it might be an idea to rethink strategy now - change demands change and you may well not be able to follow your own five-year business plan (assuming you ever had one - the futility of such plans may well become my "point 25" when we get there).

It's probably time to look at new ways of doing things. Some thoughts on that in my next post. Firstly though, I need to send a letter to our "base bag" supplier to say we have decided to change to using silk-mix rather than silk in some of our products. Thus taking a really big chunk off the final price while keeping the exact same look.

You may have noticed that I've been stunned into silence here by the incredible (well, not really - actually entirely predictable to anyone who can do basic maths) events on Wall Street.

So before I say more about this, here's a video that pretty much sums up my attitude right now (warning, gets very raunchy about two-thirds of the way in - a distinct touch of the Weimar.):

Or at least, why my Russian is.

One thing on which Alex and I differ hugely is in our tendency to ask others for help. He finds it truly amazing when I need help or advice, know where to get it, but don't want to ask for it. "Why?" he asks, and the cultural gap between us opens up and almost sucks me in.
"I just don't like to," I say, feeling a bit feeble.

Russians ask - well, in fact more or less demand - help from one another all the time. I think it's somehow a result of the whole Soviet thing. Not because they were all sunny, happy, communal and co-operative communists but rather because, as Alex explains it, under that system your chances of survival were just a lot less if you didn't have mutual support from friends, family and neighbours. They simply grew accustomed to needing one another.

I decided earlier this year that I very much wanted to combine embroidery with some of our prints (I once almost did the Creative Embroidery degree at Goldsmiths College - another episode in my patchy and eventful past - under the amazing Constance Howard) . I have found a way of getting the most beautiful hand-embroidery done for us, but I also want to try machine embroidery - a very different look that works especially well with metallic threads. One of our Russian friends then announced that he had bought a professional embroidery machine (he does make-up and costume for films). "Is there any chance he might let us try it?" I asked Alex tentatively, only to get a blank look and then, "Well, of course." In fact a beautiful bag embroidered with a splendid gold crest and Alex's name arrived from Moscow not long after - our friend is, apart from his nationality, simply a generous person.

Of course we will also be expected to help when we're needed - and we do. But the point is that there isn't the self-consciousness or anxiety involved in asking for quite major favours that I was brought up with.

A bit of that kind of Russian attitude is a great thing in a small business. Ask and give - you really are stronger as part of a co-operative network.

This is another big topic so again I'll split it across a couple of posts - and no doubt come back to it as well.

Running a business is lonely and scary and it can leave you feeling very exposed. It's important to find people you can talk to, and who may also be able to help you.

Weirdly enough, I learned this, at least in part, from a British Telecom management training workshop. When I worked for BT I used to be sent on lots of workshops and I honestly think it's the only thing I ever did learn from them. Oh, except I now remember that I did also learn (learning point number two as they say) that if someone on your team at a workshop faints at your feet, grab them quickly and volunteer to take care of them, preferably in a quiet room in the hotel (these workshops, at middle-management level, are nearly always held in places like Marriott Hotels). Sitting watching daytime televison and getting stuff in from room service and chatting is usually a much better way of bonding than actually attending the "teamwork" workshop. Which brings us back to the first thing I learned, which is that it's okay to ask for help.

At the particular ghastly workshop I'm talking about (not the fainting incident one), we all had to make videos that communicated the company values. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not, this happened. My team's video was pretty crap because we spent a lot of time bickering - or in my case, alternatively telling jokes and going into a huff because they wouldn't give me full creative control, HUMPH.

We also didn't have a clue how to make a video. There were two technicians there and we were told we could ask help from them, but somehow we felt we should only do that in case of dire need (not knowing how to switch on the camera etc.) At the final "wrap up" session one thing we were asked was why on earth we hadn't asked for the help available to us. A really good question.

So - I pass on to you this piece of learning from that experience. If you know of people who can, and may be willing to, help you, then for goodness sake ask them.

_______
Postscript. By the way, I was so utterly depressed by the video-workshop I'm describing that when they asked us a final question - what we would take home from the experience - I said something inane while clearly telling myself "That's it, I'm out of this job. These last three days tell me that I have to get out NOW". I moved jobs within a fortnight. There are times when I think that the main, hidden aim of corporate middle management workshops is to bore and depress the trouble-makers into leaving the organisation. Or am I just being paranoid?

This is carrying on from my last point (11).

I'll probably say a lot more on this whole issue as it's one of the main ones facing any business nowadays. For now, just some simple advice:

• Face up to the fact that there is some very strong global competition in the world and it's not going to go away. Just don't hide your head in the sand.
  
  
• Also - as the cliche goes - don't panic. Of course you can compete in this new, internationalised market. You just have to put some time into thinking how.
  
  
• Realise that there are huge positives in what's happening. Asian producers are not just competitors they may also be suppliers - even if all you end up doing is stringing some Indian glass beads with Bali silver findings - or even better, collaborators. You can find people - in any culture or country - that you can work well with.
  
  
• Be honest and be confident about your own skills, experience and abilities. What can you make that people will want? Regardless of competition. What do you have that's unique in some way?

Whenever you make a significant step - or even a great big jump - towards what you want to do next, you have to leave something behind. There just isn't time and energy for it all. Sometimes it even involves moving away from the way you identify yourself - or the way others identify you.

For many people, I suppose I am "that woman who does those tarot decks". But right now, we are thinking seriously about whether we will do any more decks, after the couple that are in the pipeline already. Oddly enough, we always intended, when we began, only to do ten in all, and somehow that still feels right.

You know, I actually want to do more of the Bohemian Cats work - but in a much weirder, wilder way. And that means really focusing on it for a while, finding where it needs to go next. I have a feeling that this means that in another few years I'll be, "that woman who used to do those tarot decks". In a way it makes me very sad. I love tarot, I enjoy all sorts of aspects of it, not least the people we've met through it.
But I want to get back to the Cats - and so does Alex.

It's become conventional wisdom - hardly even questioned - to tell anyone starting a business of any size that one of the first things they need to think about is the "exit strategy". Some advisors say that this should be done when you do your initial business plan. You're supposed to decide if you plan to sell the business, give it to your children, IPO it or simply close it down. Then you're supposed to focus the business towards that eventual exit. Of course.

My reaction? How the **** should I know what my exit strategy is? Look, it takes five long hard (see post below) years on average to even get a business to the point where it makes a profit. Another five probably to establish it to the point where anyone would remotely want to buy it. Another five - at least - to get it (assuming it's big and ambitious, which most non-IT, non-financial services businesses are not) to gear it up for going public. I once had the reality of IPOing explained to me by a very likeable client - who did indeed sell and make a lot of money eventually, but who said that the years leading up to it were at times hellish in their sheer stress. Okay the truth is that I was very impressed and a little intimidated to find him on the front page of the Financial Times around the time we were having this conversation. I assumed that for him the years of hardship were worth it. And the exit must have been welcome. But then again, he was in one of those classical IT businesses that does this kind of thing.

The reality of the world right now is that things are changing - and changing faster, less predictably and in a more volatile way than ever before. In the six and a bit years I've been here, the Czech Crown has moved from being only 42 to the US dollar to being 15. That alone has shifted a lot of things hugely. Flats in the centre here have moved from being cheap to being - even in the trendier outskirts - at not that much under London prices of a couple of years ago. They now look like moving back to relatively cheap again. Streets that used to be quiet are now choked with traffic. Little local shops in the centre are vanishing and being replaced by chainstores. Marks and Spencer is everywhere and Starbucks (OMG) is moving in.

Those are only local changes. In the bigger, badder, wider world look what's happening. In 2000 did you read constantly in the media about Islamic fundamentalism? Did you imagine oil heading towards $200 a barrel? Did you expect to find out that we've killed off 25% of our world wildlife in a few short years?

I'm not trying to be doom-laden about this. In fact, on good days I feel perversely optimistic about the world. But I find the idea of planning what I'm going to do with the business when we want to get out of it (and as Alex is considerably younger than me this is indeed a long way off) just a waste of time and effort. Exit strategy? I am in this business because I love what we do and couldn't think of anything more fulfilling than doing studio work. Even if I wanted to think about exits, I'm in no position, until I learn to use my crystal ball a good deal more accurately, to imagine where an exit might be in years to come. Exit? I'll plan it only if and when I can see that the need for it is both imminent and clear.