Yes, I know. I’ve been away from the blogosphere for far too long! And I do apologize for my lack of posting in the past month. But like the title of this post suggests, I’ve been really cracking down on myself and finally getting down to business. I’ve been spending much more time these past few weeks really breaking things down with what exactly I need to do in order to get Scraps of Life off the ground. I actually whipped out an old sketchbook of mine and started writing pages of notes and lists, organizing my thoughts and ideas. Just that process alone has been illuminating to me, helping me to really see just what steps I need to take to first of all make Scraps of Life a legal business entity, not to mention a successful business entity as well. Has it been easy? Not really. Overwhelming? Absolutely!

One of my first steps in reorganizing myself and getting serious about business is this…this blog right here. In case you haven’t noticed, my posts have been pretty crazy and all over the place when it comes to topics and a unifying theme for this blog. At first I was writing just to write, to get back into blogging. Then I was went into wedding mode with my “Wallet-Friendly Weddings” series, which I obviously never got to finishing (maybe someday, yeah?), all while throwing in bits here and there about paper crafting and my business goals. But I’ve finally got a clear vision for this blog that I hope you, my readers, can appreciate and will follow. From this point forward, this blog is all about business. Well, my business anyways. With each post, you will be able to follow me as I take each step in establishing Scraps of Life as a real business, from the process of getting my business license, to my thought process on creating a business plan and goals, to creating my products and bringing them to sale. You’ll be there every step of the way. And I hope that as I write about this business journey, you will appreciate my business even more, and perhaps even be inspired to start a business of your own. And hopefully I’ll be able to make starting your own business an easier process since I can give you a heads up on what to expect right here!

When I first got serious about starting my own business, I never thought it would be such a complex process. Everyone I had talked to had said things along the lines of “Oh yeah, you just need to get a business license and that’s not hard to do at all.” All I have to say to those people is “PISH!” Mind you, the process hasn’t been hard….just like legally changing my last name to my married name wasn’t hard. It’s not hard in the sense of being a challenging task. It’s hard in the sense that it has proved to be a very time consuming and somewhat annoying process. Yeah, I need to get a business license, but how? What do I need to get a business license? How do I apply for one?

Cue hours upon hours of online research and some conversations with mom. Google saved me on these first steps. And mom gave me some awesome encouragement and reassurance that it’s not as bad as it seems. But rather than go into detail about the results of my hours of research, I’ll just break it down for you. Here is what I found in my search for answers to the question, “How the Heck Do I Get a Business License???”:
1. First things first, I need to file a Fictitious Business Name Statement, also known as a DBA (”Doing Business As”) since the name of my business will not be containing my legal name. I totally didn’t know I had to do that! Yay for an extra step in my “Obtaining a Business License” process ***she says with much sarcasm***
2. Great, get a DBA and then apply for my license, right? HA! No! I plan to sell tangible items. Therefore, I need to get a seller’s permit from the Board of Equalization so that I can properly report my earnings and pay the proper sales tax to the government. Additional step #2!
3. Can I apply for my business license NOW??? Yes! Yes, I can. And I will!

Now, honestly, my research was much more back and forth than my little 3-step summary may suggest. I Googled “business license San Diego” and clicked on I don’t know how many links before finding the information I needed and the actual application form itself. Part way through this initial search was when I discovered the need to file a DBA. So then I had to search on how to do that. Then I thought I had it all covered, only to go through the license application and notice the little box asking for a seller’s permit number, which cued me to the fact that, hey, I need a freaking seller’s permit! More research…yay… A week after my initial research began and I finally had most of the information I needed, along with the forms printed out for review.

Great. Research done. Time for action. No, wait. I still had to finish tons of stuff for friend’s wedding (which is on Saturday!). Shove printouts of my research and application forms into a pretty blue folder and put aside to focus on favor boxes, thank you cards, table number cards, and a pretty card box to put on the gift table. That was like, um, 5 weeks ago? Oh, and throw in a freaking awesome opportunity I discovered to complement Scraps of Life, and let’s just say I’ve had a lot on the table lately.

But I’ve been motivated. Really and truly motivated. For example, just today I obtained both my DBA AND my seller’s permit! And I’m so excited about it. I really feel now that things are finally coming together for me and Scraps of Life. And I am so excited to continue to share with you my experiences as I take this long-awaited journey into self-employment and sole proprietorship. In my next post, I’ll share with you the process of getting my DBA and seller’s permit. And after that, I want to share with you an exciting opportunity I grabbed earlier this month, along with some insight into my plans for Scraps of Life. Can’t wait? Me neither!

Until next time! (And next time will be sooner than a month from now, I promise :D )