CURRENTLY 10:42AM - WRITING FROM THE HOUSEOFDAKH STUDIO
So it’s been a full year since i’ve moved into this studio and it’s been great and also tough.
first let’s talk about how i got one.
I’m gonna be summarizing a lot of the small details mainly bc i have a lot to do today so i need to pump this blog post out pretty fast lol. so beginning from around march 2020 i realized that i had been full time for about a month at that point, meaning i was working 8+ hours a day, steady income, solely from this creative project houseofdakh. that was march, then for the next couple months i had slowly been saving up. this is right when quarantine hit, as you all know so “saving” didn’t really mean much because i was buying a lot of random stuff lol but it was almost all for my home studio (computer, speakers, sewing supplies etc). Sometime in April or may I WAS STARTING TO GET CRAMPED PRINTING IN THE GARAGE AND PACKING ORDER IN MY ROOM
ALTHOUGH IT WAS MOSTLY BECAUSE I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO WORK IN MY OWN SEPARATE ART/ CREATIVE STUDIO, I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE TIME I NEEDED A BIGGER WORKSPACE THAT I WOULD BE ABLE TO GROW INTO. AFTER SAVING UP SOME MONEY FROM APRIL - JUNE I HAD STARTED TO LOOK MORE SERIOUS INTO FINDING A STUDIO SPACE. I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING INDUSTRIAL JUST LIKE A BIG GARAGE AND AN OFFICE SPACE TO DO COMPUTER WORK AND ALL THAT. I USED WEBSITES LIKE LOOPNET (NOT SURE IF THEY COVER ALL OF U.S. OR JUST IN MY AREA) TO FIND AVAILABLE LISTINGS FOR SPACE, USUALLY THEY WOULD PROVIDE PHOTOS BUT MOST OF THE TIME IT WOULD BE REALLY HARD TO TELL WHERE EVERYTHING IS.
*DISCLAIMER I AM NOT A FINANCIAL EXPERT / ADVISOR OF ANY SORT, THIS IS JUST MY EXPERIENCE LMAO
I TOLD MYSELF I WOULD ONLY BE ABLE TO MOVE INTO A STUDIO IF I HAD 3-4 MONTHS WORTH OF RENT AFTER THE DEPOSITS, PURCHASING INSURANCE, ETC. I DIDN’T HAVE AS MUCH AS I HAD HOPED BUT ENOUGH FOR ME TO FEEL COMFORTABLE MAKING THIS MOVE, SO I SAID F IT. FOUND A PLACE THAT FIT THE BILL AS BEST IT COULD, READ A WHOLE CONTRACT REVIEWED, WATCHED A LOT OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS ON HOW NOT TO GET RIPPED OFF LOL, AND SIGNED THE LEASE THE END OF JUNE. SINCE THEN, I’VE SLOWLY FILLED THE STUDIO SPACE IN WITH A NEW(USED) SCREEN PRINTING PRESS, INVENTORY SHELVING, AND BUILT A CLIMBING WALL I CLIMBED FOR A WEEK AND NEVER TOUCHED AGAIN.
SO NOW WHAT?
NOW WE SET FOUNDATION. IT FELT PRETTY UNINTENTIONAL THE PAST YEAR ON HOW THINGS WERE RUN. AND MAYBE IT WASN’T ALL BAD BUT HOW UNORGANIZED THINGS WERE GAVE A LOT OF ANXIETY. AS GREAT IT IS BEING YOUR OWN BOSS, IT HAS ALL THE RESPONSIBILITIES. NOW IT’S TIME TO REDO SOME FRAMEWORK, SETTING A GOOD FOUNDATION FOR WHATEVER’S YET TO COME. ONE THING I MISS DOING IS JUST MAKING UNIQUE 1/1 PIECES, I NEED TO FIND A WAY WHERE I CAN MAKE THAT WORK. NOT SURE IF ONLY 1/1 PIECES WILL PAY THE BILLS AS OF RIGHT NOW. THERE’S SO MANY CREATIVE PROJECTS I WANT TO WORK ON OUTSIDE OF CLOTHING I WILL NEED TO MAKE HAPPEN AS WELL, HOPING THIS SPACE CAN ACCOMMODATE FOR THAT. ALSO, I BELIEVE IT’S PAST DUE FOR ME TO START CONSULTING WITH SOME PEOPLE WITH MORE EXPERIENCE IN THIS INDUSTRY / SMALL BUSINESS. EVERYTHING SO FAR HAS BEEN DIY, BUT IM PRETTY STOKED TO GET SOME ADVICE FROM EXPERTS ON HOW TO EFFICIENTLY RUN A BUSINESS.
MAN I FEEL LIKE THERE’S SO MUCH MORE I NEEDED TO EXPLAIN/TALK ABOUT BUT THAT’S ALL I CAN DO FOR TODAY HAHHAAH. LMK IN THE COMMENTS WHAT ELSE I CAN DIVE INTO AND SHARE FOR THE NEXT BLOG POST, PLANNING TO DO THESE MORE OFTEN.
THXBYE