It's been a long time since I wrote in this blog and for good reason. Nothing has gone ahead as planned with the business. I'm still waiting for the machinery ordered in March, expected delivery time: 2 weeks. Well...
New investor
Last week, I signed at the notary to amend the company statutes to include a new shareholder investor and change the business headquarters to my new home. That has had two immediate effects. First, the company business capital has been substantially increased allowing us to proceed with investments in equipment other initial start-up expenses to open for business. Second, the company is no longer governed by the unipersonal LLC rules. Up until now I, as the only shareholder in the LLC (SL), was liable under Spanish law personally for the company's debts. Now that's all changed. Having more than one shareholder means that the company's debts are it's alone.
No production = no income
I have not looked around for commercial space to lease either. After the flaky landlord waffled on the first lease agreement on the space that I had reserved early April, I decided to wait to know the delivery date for the machine before getting into the more expenses.
My sixth sense has served me well in light of the present situation. It's saved two months expenses without production income. I haven't stressed out about waiting for delivery.
The machine was due to arrive the first or second week of April. But, with no news as of today, it look's like it'll arrive in June, practically the end of the production year for us here. This is the time of the year when retail sales slow and production winds up before August vacation month hiatus. Factories close.
Home for now
In light of that, Friday, I decided that whenever the machine arrives now, I won't lease anything until the September. Instead we'll set the machinery up in a room in my home. My team will use these two summer months to get used to it functions and computer assisted design interface, create a catalog of design samples and produce orders for wholesale customers. This will eliminate the useless overhead in August when the shop is closed and create a little income cushion before getting into more expenses. It will give me time to find a suitable place, too since I won't be rushed to lease whatever space I can find just to have somewhere to deliver the machinery.
Looking to the Fall
The new plan is to open for business in September. This is generally a good month for sales, retail as well as wholesale. It has the advantage of catching the beginning of the new retail season, a time when wholesale buyers are open to new suppliers.
