...The waiting really is the hardest part. Right now I'm waiting for my business application to be approved by the state. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't, but what I'm truly nervous about is what comes after it's approved.
I've been running my Etsy business on the side for the past 2 years, and and my sales slowly climbed I started to realize that I could actually make this a viable source of income, not just a few extra bucks to spend on clothes (okay, more like fabric). The biggest bump in business came last year when I started to offer custom bridesmaid clutches in my shop, and that aspect of my business is the one I've chosen to really focus on and get it to grow even more by looking into advertising and renting space at bridal expos.
It's the latter that forced prompted me to stop flying under the radar and register as a sole-proprietorship. In order to apply as a vendor for most shows you have to be legally licensed in the state your business is based in. So if I want to play with the big boys, I have to be a good citizen and stop flying under the radar. Which is nerve-racking. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm not afraid of Big Brother, I don't have anything to hide... but honestly living in Crook Cook County, IL has made me wary of anything involving local government. (We had a really bad experience with our property taxes the year after we bought our house that took a full year to resolve and the general attitude of the county was "tough luck".) I just have this dread that even if I do everything the correct way with my business, the county will pop up with some asinine rule that wasn't listed anywhere and I will owe thousands of dollars I can't afford to pay.
Oh, the joys of living in Chicago...
But if I want my business to grow I have to suck it up, push those butterflies out of my stomach, and start treating this LIKE AN ACTUAL BUSINESS. And that means in just a few days, in the eyes of the state of Illinois, I will officially be a small business owner.
Lord help me.
