Yeah, so....right. Money.

Friday was a low point for me in this business thing. I realized that my own money was fast running out and that if I keep paying my production coordinator her much deserved salary I would be near zero in a few weeks. I started wondering if I would have money to pay for dog food. I'm not kidding.

Luckily a friend called in the midst of all that and reminded me that this is par for the course. And it was Friday. I take Saturdays off. (I have to do that or else I'll be certain to kill someone come Monday morning.) By Sunday I was back in the game.

A few weeks ago I reached out to people who had started their own companies for advice and counsel and I got  a really good lead on how to right a power point funding pitch. Here's the link,  Seattle Alliance of Angels, it will come in handy for any of you who are reading this blog with the hopes of starting your own business.

Now the question is- how do I get this in the hands of people who have the money to support CROW? How do I negotiate with them?

We have a couple of things going for us....well, no we have A LOT of things going for us:

- We are post-launch- up and running and proven to have a good product.
- The media and eco-fashion blogs love us.
- Our sliding-scale is marking us as unique.
- The customers love our clothing.
- We got off the ground for under $15,000.
- Our team is excellent, dedicated and amazing.
- Our concept is great and people get it.
- In two months, we've filled orders from 21 states and three countries.
Just to name a few things....

So why aren't we selling like crazy?

It's really just a matter of time, publicity, and the American public getting out of a media-hyped economic funk. Consumer spending confidence is down because (in part) due to gas prices going up, but I believe it's also because the media has created a near mass hysteria about the housing market. Last week I heard a report that the housing market was rallying and that in ten cities, including Portland, prices were again on the rise. This of course didn't get nearly as much coverage as the "failing economy." I lived through our last bad recession and I can attest that when the market decides it's over, it's over. and "the market" are people- so it's really in our hands.

It is also true that, believe it or not, a recession is actually a great time to start a business. You can get people interested in your product and just waiting to buy as soon as they feel flush. When the market rallies and grows, your business benefits. It's pretty cool actually.

So I'm confident in what we've done and how we've done it.

But, I don't have wealthy friends and my family isn't the kind I can turn to and I'm too old for that anyway. So I am entering this rather intimidating world of searching for investors. I'll admit that I'm scared. Burning through your own money is one thing, putting other people's money to work is something different. Of course as an artist I've done that through grants and fellowships, so I shouldn't be wary, but those didn't insist on profits.

So how to proceed? I looked at the model I had already set up in my company- green, transparent, community oriented, fearless. That led me to upload the pitch to YouTube and our blog. CROW is a 21st century company so why not raise funds in a 21st century fashion?

Life is such an amazing experiment, isn't it?