Back to Business

It's involved a lot of thought and discussion, but I do now believe that it's in our best interest to open the business again - Albert Design Studio.

I closed the business 11-months ago. It was obvious going into the radiation treatments that there was no way I was going to be able to continue. I was the creative director, print designer, web designer, photographer, illustrator, salesman, account representative, receptionist, and . . . well, you get the picture. I put in some long days.

This time we're going to do it a little differently though. Barb is going to join me as a partner and take a load off my plate so I can concentrate almost solely on doing what I do best, creating great print collateral, web pages, and photographs.

As I said to Barb, "Just bring the work to me and get the billing out and we'll be fine."

I'm planning on starting back-up on April 1. But I am going to ease into it to start. My goal is to bill 16-hours a week. I am confident that I can handle that both mentally and physically, although I'll probably have to work 24-hours to bill 16-hours (it just always seems to work that way).

I really didn't think I would restart the business 11-months ago. I thought I would do something for sure. But I figured I would need to reinvent myself a bit to fit conditions.

Even though I finished all jobs I had in the studio, and left nothing hanging when I closed last year, I still felt very guilty for closing on my current clients, who were forced to find someone else to lead the creative charge on their publications and web sites.

And I fully understand if former clients do not want to take a risk on me, and chance having to go through that again. But I've been surprised and touched by how many of my clients have asked me, "When are you going to start doing some design work again?"

So, we'll plan from now to April 1, filing appropriate papers with the state and seeking assignment of a new federal tax ID number. I'll tweak the web site and post it live again. We've already crunched all the numbers and revisited my original business plan.

I think it's all a very positive idea with a few very practical rewards.

First, I do find the work very therapeutic. There's nothing more that makes me feel energized and enthused the way working my own business does. It's the realization of a 25-year dream come true. And I love the type of work I do and my mind enjoys being thoroughly engulfed in it. It's a great way to promote living life, and forgetting about cancer.

Also, we always played with the idea of Barb joining me as a partner. Now we'll get to play that out and it will be very exciting. I think she's a little nervous because she doesn't feel like she understands what I do well enough. But I think she's a tremendous addition with vast experience in everything involved in running the front office of a business, from taxes to payroll, from collections to customer service. I see ways that she can contribute enormously.

And as a "group" of two people we become eligible for group health insurance, which we have already begun to investigate. It's a strange mystery to me, and if anyone understands the rationale behind this I'd love to know, but for some reason Congress chose to protect individuals in Group Plans, but chose not to protect individuals who have Individual Plans.

For example, the HIPAA statute passed by Congress about 10-years ago protects individuals in group health plans from being discriminated against. No one can be denied coverage. No one can be cancelled from a policy. And no one can be penalized for a pre-existing condition. But it only covers group plans, not individual plans.

Why? I'd love to know. It's a good law, and important bit of legislation. But why fall short and not offer the same to individuals seeking their own insurance? There's a letter to my legislators in the works about that one.

Regardless, the benefits of opening the business again and getting back to work seem to outweigh the possible concerns or potential set-backs. So the planning continues.

So, if you know someone that needs top-notch communications work in print or on the web please ask me to send 'ya a business card. (We have very interesting business cards.) (smile)