For a very long time now, I've been wanting to start my own business. I've always dreamt about a job where I can call my own shots and, of course while we're dreaming, I would obviously make a lot of money.
My dream business has always revolved around the outdoors. Whether it be a gear store, guide service, or publication. And I've looked into each one far enough to realize that I don't have enough money to properly start and sustain one of these.
I consider myself...or at least used to consider myself an artist. More accurately put, a "fair weather artist". I have always needed a creative outlet, and for the majority of my life it has been drawing. Then it switched to music, then it switched to painting, and has since switched to writing. The combination of my necessary creative time and my desire for entreprenurialism have come together a few times before, but all have suffered the same above-mentioned financial road block-consequence, with the exception of one thing...
...designing and selling t-shirts.
The idea came to me a few years back when I had just started in the outdoor industry. Brands like Patagonia and Life is Good sold, among other things, t-shirts with these clever, sometimes inspiring, outdoor oriented designs and messages. The biographies of the owners of these companies were humble, simple and smart. And they prompted me to start thinking that this might be something that would be fun, and hopefully profitable. So I started designing designs.
It's gotten to the point where I now have a fairly extensive portfolio, have decided on the name and personality of this company, I have the necessary financial aspects in line, and am ready to start producing, selling, and profiting.
And funny enough, this stupid blog has helped me with the personality of my company and design direction.
I'll get into all the specifics a little later on in another post. Seeing as how I tend to change my on a 15 minute basis, I'd better not commit to anything publicly.
So with that said, I can tell you that the designs that you will see one of these days will be outdoor oriented, clever, simple, and cool. Like Fonzie. The profits that I end up making on this venture will be shared with outdoor and environmental organizations. The material of the shirts will be ecologically superior to traditional cotton, and manufacturing and printing will be done as close to home as possible.
Ideally, one day I would like to design and sell shirts that not just your environmentally conscious consumer would buy, but those who have no clue or don't care about our carbon footprint. (wow, you can tell I'm 10 minutes from Boulder, huh?) That way, when they do purchase one of my incredibly cool (like Fonzie) shirts, little do they know, that by buying this shirt they are donating to a grass roots organization dedicated to helping the earf. And maybe, just maybe it will help them realize that being eco conscious isn't just for greenies and granolas, but for truck drivers, farmers, politicians, steel workers, bass fishermen, and movie stars.
Back to the shirts.
They aren't going to advertise a preachy, artsy, "better than you" message. Not that there's anything wrong with that. They are going to be simple, sometimes clever (if I'm in a clever mood), always interesting, and appealing. There may or may not be a message in them, but there will always be a donation. The designs are all going to be mine (maybe not the art specifically, but the design), and they are going to be designs that I would wear on my t-shirt even if it were not my design. Get it? So they are going to be quite Earlish. But that's okay.
Like I said earlier, I tend to change my mind a lot. But generally, once I actually set my mind to something I usually follow through with it. It might take a while, but it'll get done.
A good friend of mine, Andy, also has a t-shirt company. Also? Oddly enough, we both had similar business ideas long before we actually met each other. His company is already up and running, and it is fantastic. http://www.interwoventhreads.com/ is where you need to go to check out Andy's company, Interwoven Threads. You should buy a shirt from him. He's getting married soon, he could use the money.
I'll keep you posted on the evolution of my company. It is definitely a work in progress, but I'm confident that I'll find some time one day to get it off the ground. Who knows, after my company becomes world renown, maybe you will be the proud owner of one of Earl's originally designed t-shirts. And then you could sell it on Ebay for eight dollars.
Gotta dream, man.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment