Creating a green business... one paw at a time by Michele Martin

10:18 pm | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment

Damn Laptop Hinge or Wow, Homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Compote is GOOOOD

So, since my last post.... 

My investor backed away from the investment after I reiterated my disinterest in dating anyone. including but not limited to someone investing money in my company. Frustrating.  So, in the matter of a week I lost money and lost my web developer since I was no longer in a position to pay him. I faced utter despair until:

1. Thank you Mass Revenue for returning the over payment for my property taxes!
2. Thank you stimulus check
3. Thank you Fed return!
4. THANK YOU Sonya and Jason for taking on the project of developing my web site for me for free because you two are AWESOME.
5. Thank you part time job in the evenings. While I gave up restaurant work over a decade ago with a bitter "see-ya" , you welcomed me back with no grudges... understanding that everyone needs a comforting old friend to lean on sometimes! Thank you restaurant industry!
6. Above mentioned Sonya lent me her old manual camera upon learning that my equipment had been stolen several years ago and I was missing it. See a pic of my girl Bella attached to this post. This made me happy.

So, this is what I have been up to. It now looks like we will launch in less than two weeks. On the 17th of this month we are participating at an eco-consumer fair in Saugus. Still trying to figure out the best products to bring with. From my experience I don't buy pricey things at these things. I stick to $20 or below when I shop at fairs and outdoor markets. Perhaps I will just bring one of each bed and allow people to order them at the event and then I will ship them out that week following.

P.s. My Dell Latitude broke its hinge and I made some really tasty jammy compote tonight. Yum. 

10:16 pm | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment

Narrowing it down.... or I have a cold and can't keep scouring the internet until 4am for solutions

So, I think I am between choosing AISO and The Greenest Host for my hosting needs post yahoo. The Greenest Host rents space from AISO and they are both 100% solar powered. I had been considering Dream Host but they offset rather than utilize clean energy from the get go. Plus .... Joomla had me about to stab myself in the eye. I just don't get it! I read the forums and even self declared geeks don't seem to get it. This amazes me since it was touted as being great for beginners and non programmers. Not quite.

I also think I need to cave and hire a web designer. I need to focus on the product acquisition and not on giving myself cluster headaches. Anyone out there with a passion for recycling, reusing, and reducing that wants to help a girl out at a steep discount or a deferred payment plan? If you have a dog or a cat you can even work out a discount or trade based upon goodies for your furry friend.

I am invited to participate in another green shopping event... this one in May in Saugus. It's a smaller community one however it seems that it might get a fairly good turn out so we are going to go for it. They have agreed that Bella is welcome to come with and be the spokesdog for Lucky Dog Organics. Very exciting!

Speaking of exciting... Bella is beta testing a cool new gadget for dogs that some MIT grads came up with. I signed a non disclosure but I will say this.... super cool and very design concious. It looks like an ipod for dogs. Ha Ha Ha.

Sniffle..... time for more oj and to get settled in for the night.

10:13 pm | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment

Do I need a CMS?! Joomla.... isn't that one of the little people on Willie Wonka?!

I took a nap and decided to try my hand at this Joomla thing.... I downloaded WAMP and Joomla (as well as a bucket full of other open source programs like wordpress, zen cart, etc ) and I seem to be up and running. Well, I seem to be leaning against the wall scratching my head with my sleeping dog on my feet.

This week is proving to be rough... while the weather is nice and it's a joy to be outside with my dogs I am finding that I don't feel I have enough time to promote the hands on business while trying to get the site up for the virtual business BUT I am going to lose two clients soon as they are going on extended summer vacations. This equals close a 1/3 of my income at the moment as both clients are regular daily clients. So, I am finding myself stressed out and more exhausted than I should be. In an attempt to budget I have cut out my coffee treats at the local Espresso Royale and Starbucks.This also means I need to buy a new glass pot for my french press since I broke mine three weeks ago... if I can't get my coffee out of the house... I damn well better be able to drink my organic bolivian at home in my beloved french press. No coffee at all would be the worst hell imaginable. Alas, I am not the only one who will be needing to sacrifice... Bella is also going to have to go without her dried tilapia treats for awhile as she would eat $20 a day if I wasn't careful (and she once did grab a bag off the counter that had nearly that much in it... note to self... dogs who are very skilled with paws and tall enough to reach counters... don't leave treats, butter, your salmon, or pretty much anything else there that you either want or don't want them to eat. Like expensive imported chocolate you received as a gift. Did I mention the pound of butter??) 

I intended to start running again this morning.... but I overslept. I have in on my list of intentions for tomorrow morning now.... even a mile.... even 10 minutes Just to get back out there. 

Back to the task at hand... now that I know Joomla is NOT Ooompa and there is no magic chocolaty goodness awaiting me at the end of it all... well, where is the fun?! But seriously, what IS the difference between a CMS with a shopping cart and a non cms site linked into a shopping cart?When I started looking I didn't anticipate so many confusing choices. Google has made it harder for us.... we have TOO MUCH access to knowledge now. The more I know..... the more I know that I don't know much of anything. (Except the entire Oompa loompa song....)

02:57 pm | 0 recommendations | 4 comments

In over our heads

It's April 5th and Bella and I are often wondering what we are doing. Late last year we decided to start a web based holistic and eco-friendly pet supply business. We didn't want to just say we were green, we wanted to really do it... in everyway possible. This has been proving to be more than slightly frustrating in that choices and options are either extremely limited and/or nil OR on the other hand... abundant enough that our heads spin as we try to circumnavigate the marketing mumbo jumbo in order to find the most sincere and intelligent choice both for the environment and for our customers.

It's been hard and this afternoon, with Bella asleep beside me, I feel no closer to an answer and no closer to launching than I was in December 2007. Funding is extremely tight, the housing market has made the equity in my condo miniscule at best and banks do not like to loan to "e-tailers" since the 90's. So, I have been begging and borrowing from friends and trying to do as much myself as possible. Have any of you ever tried to design a website and shopping cart with zero experience? I have a vision but cannot begin to understand how to make my vision for the site match up with my non existant coding and programming abilities.

Last night I was up until 4:30 am as I downloaded yet another site builder... this one called site studio and appearing to be more promising than the rest. Atleast, the templates are of a higher quality and the layouts cleaner and more professional looking. I am exhausted. Yesterday was a long day, It was a true New England spring day, high 40's and rainy. I had a semi full client load but chose to leave Chico at his home and opt for two shorter visits rather than take him out in the rain all day. So, after 8 dogs and almost 10 miles of walking I headed home and changed gears from the real to the virtual business. When I am not trying to create this web business I provide residents of certain Boston neighborhoods with pet care services such as walking, sitting, running and nutritional counseling. I enjoy going to work and being greeted by happy tails. When my last corporate gig ended I knew I needed to be working in a field that i felt provided a greater benefit to the community then my sitting behind a desk booking flights for executives and ordering company lunches for absurdly socially awkward geniuses. I don't jest... some of my colleagues were MIT engineering grads who could happily live without human companionship for the rest of their lives if they had their computer and a vending machine. These people made the job interesting and I truly loved everyone (well most) I worked with, especially my indie- folk music loving suburban boss. He was great BUT I didn't want to be there, I didn't want to pretend to be happy, so I stopped pretending and we all decided that I should be happy. Walking out of the office that day, knowing it was my last time, was bittersweet. I love what I do now, but I miss the people I worked with... and the vending machine.

My neighbor is playing music that reminds me of that annoying habit of when a child learns a few notes on the piano or a teenager a few chords and they then proceed to play these same notes and chords over and over and over again at varying degrees of ear splitting volumes. This is all I hear and feel through my walls, three notes over and over and over again.... someone save me. I have only been awake for a few hours. The recent bout of insomnia combined with having a home office and unlimited internet access is a ticking time bomb. Bella is whining in the other room because she wants to go play but I have work to do. I should take her into the city and for a long walk but I can't motivate myself The french press broke last week and the coffee shop is a mile away. Will they deliver a latte I wonder? Hmmmm. But this laziness clears and I realize.. having a latte delivered isn't very eco-friendly... even if the coffee shop I support does use corn based pla to-go ware. Maybe they will walk it over to me for an extra couple of dollars. Ha Ha Ha. Yes, I am THAT tired at the moment.

Time to get back to work. Until the next post, if anyone can recommend a great list of things I should be checking off when building a green business on the web... I would appreciate the help!