I met with a team of fantastic people last week for 'business counseling' through Pitt. They encouraged me to start small at first (as I was hoping they would) and gave me a short list of tasks to complete before we meet again. I liked that they were reasonable, inquisitive, and open-minded to worms and environmentally friendliness as a business idea. Not one eye roll or sigh in the bunch.
I don't mean to turn this into a personal development entry, but it really helps to keep a positive attitude and take one step each day toward my goal of starting an environmentally friendly worm business. Even if its just a tiny bitty step, at least I am headed in the right direction.
Worms have taught me there's so much I don't know about so many things- but lucky for me, I have every day to learn it and plenty of willing teachers.
Speaking of worms- a fifth bin has now been occupied! Hooray for progress.
I screened the castings I harvested so far, too. I put the nice soft screened stuff in a giant super-tall recycled bucket, and put the left overs in an old coffee container to use on my own flowers. Those wormies are eating so fast now, I'm sure that bucket will be filled in no time. I fed the five bins two full worm bowls of scraps, plus a half head of lettuce and a giant bunch of grapes, all expertly processed into a slushy-looking, interesting-smelling scrap shake. Yum.
April 14, 2008
March 31, 2008
Back To School
I went to a helpful class last week sponsored by the SBDC at the University of Pittsburgh to help me write a better business plan. I got a little worried because they were talking so "big"- like about borrowing thousands upon thousands and financing short-term vs. long-term and square footage and use tax and employees and trademarks and....UGH!
To boot, they said six out of ten businesses fail within the first four years- mainly due to underestimating start up costs and overestimating profits.
All this made me think small. Like:
-focusing more getting my worms a bigger more productive home that can still fit in my basement
-getting them a few new consistent food sources and ordering some small packaging
-getting a cool logo and website designed that I can maintain
All that, and I don't want lose my focus of being an earth-friendly endeavor.
Some people jump into business with both feet, sign their savings away, and trust their business to employees they don't know guided by an unproven plan.
Stay tuned for a business that grows just like a worm bin: slowly but surely and almost all by itself!
To boot, they said six out of ten businesses fail within the first four years- mainly due to underestimating start up costs and overestimating profits.
All this made me think small. Like:
-focusing more getting my worms a bigger more productive home that can still fit in my basement
-getting them a few new consistent food sources and ordering some small packaging
-getting a cool logo and website designed that I can maintain
All that, and I don't want lose my focus of being an earth-friendly endeavor.
Some people jump into business with both feet, sign their savings away, and trust their business to employees they don't know guided by an unproven plan.
Stay tuned for a business that grows just like a worm bin: slowly but surely and almost all by itself!
March 13, 2008
Worm work
The worms have been multiplying like rabbits. I think it has something to do with the intense chopping up of the organic scraps by the new processor. I mentioned getting a little food processor for their food a few weeks ago, but a great friend from work one-upped me with my own worms by handing down a mega size food processor to me.
I'm telling you, this new processor could tear up metal scraps if it had to- plus, the glass bowl you load the scraps into is about three times as big as mine, which is huge time saver. Not that the worms were taking up so much of my time anyway!
Business plan update- I've been emailing some other worm-related businesses to get some advice and whatnot on some businessy stuff, and most are so pleasant and helpful and really give me a warm fuzzy feeling about my idea. But I got a mean response the other day. OK, maybe not mean exactly, but really discouraging and negative. Plus, he tried to sell me something at the end- no kidding!
Poo on him and his disappointing response. With so many other encouraging and positive responses...
Onward and upward!
I'm telling you, this new processor could tear up metal scraps if it had to- plus, the glass bowl you load the scraps into is about three times as big as mine, which is huge time saver. Not that the worms were taking up so much of my time anyway!
Business plan update- I've been emailing some other worm-related businesses to get some advice and whatnot on some businessy stuff, and most are so pleasant and helpful and really give me a warm fuzzy feeling about my idea. But I got a mean response the other day. OK, maybe not mean exactly, but really discouraging and negative. Plus, he tried to sell me something at the end- no kidding!
Poo on him and his disappointing response. With so many other encouraging and positive responses...
Onward and upward!
February 22, 2008
The Tortoise and the Worms
The new food processor has turned my worms into EATING MACHINES!
They are chomping through their food 2-3 times as fast as before, plus the bins are more fluffy now. I am not sure if because they are able to move and eat faster they are making more little air pockets or what, but the castings look fuller than they used to. I can't wait til I have enough to share, and (eventually) enough to sell.
I have been working on a business plan now for a few weeks, and it's a lot of work. (Not that you want to hear another excuse for me to blog any less about slow moving worms.) I'm truly impressed with people who set out to start their own business and follow through no matter what. It's such hard work and hoop jumping, that I would bet 3/4 of those planning to do it get tripped up right away just looking at the business plan structure, knowing they have to fill all those answers in to make a valid story for their funding and future.
I am pacing myself and tackling one small section each day, sometimes writing just a paragraph and sometimes filling in a whole section in a sitting. There are so many rules, regulations, permits, and licenses with all different departments, you can get overwhelmed real fast.
But it's just like everything else. Take a deep breath. Keep your eye on the prize.
Onward and upward!
They are chomping through their food 2-3 times as fast as before, plus the bins are more fluffy now. I am not sure if because they are able to move and eat faster they are making more little air pockets or what, but the castings look fuller than they used to. I can't wait til I have enough to share, and (eventually) enough to sell.
I have been working on a business plan now for a few weeks, and it's a lot of work. (Not that you want to hear another excuse for me to blog any less about slow moving worms.) I'm truly impressed with people who set out to start their own business and follow through no matter what. It's such hard work and hoop jumping, that I would bet 3/4 of those planning to do it get tripped up right away just looking at the business plan structure, knowing they have to fill all those answers in to make a valid story for their funding and future.
I am pacing myself and tackling one small section each day, sometimes writing just a paragraph and sometimes filling in a whole section in a sitting. There are so many rules, regulations, permits, and licenses with all different departments, you can get overwhelmed real fast.
But it's just like everything else. Take a deep breath. Keep your eye on the prize.
Onward and upward!
February 10, 2008
I come bearing gifts
With some credit left on Kohl's gift card, the worms got a great gift this past week: a snappy little food processor from Cuisinart.
Not that feeding wasn't a joy for me every time, but it may have been slightly harder on the worms. They don't have any teeth, and I am not the best food musher ever.
But using this new appliance, I was able to grind up four banana peels, several potato peels, strawberry tops, and coffee grinds into quite an interesting gooey mess that was far more palatable (and digestible) for the worms that what I had been giving them in the past- which was some very clumpy scraps with some pretty big chunks that I may have even had a hard time getting down.
In other news, I am going to get started this week on a business plan. I have some great plans for worms, recycling, and my financial future. If you listened to Joel Osteen this morning, you know the message was about setting goals and making plans to succeed.
Well, here goes!
Not that feeding wasn't a joy for me every time, but it may have been slightly harder on the worms. They don't have any teeth, and I am not the best food musher ever.
But using this new appliance, I was able to grind up four banana peels, several potato peels, strawberry tops, and coffee grinds into quite an interesting gooey mess that was far more palatable (and digestible) for the worms that what I had been giving them in the past- which was some very clumpy scraps with some pretty big chunks that I may have even had a hard time getting down.
In other news, I am going to get started this week on a business plan. I have some great plans for worms, recycling, and my financial future. If you listened to Joel Osteen this morning, you know the message was about setting goals and making plans to succeed.
Well, here goes!
January 13, 2008
AT LAST!
Things aren't always what they seem- that would have to be the theme phrase for today.
FINALLY, I kicked into high gear with the wormies and weighed, moved, and cleaned up their area. However, the results were not as spectacular as I had dreamed.
First off, if you've been reading this blog you understand that worm progress is mind-numbingly slow...almost past the point of watching paint dry. They move slow (you can figure this one out), they eat slow (one batch of food per week for thousands), and apparently they mate slow (go figure). Now, don't get me wrong- if this was any other business or endeavor and I ended up with three times as many of anything else, I'd be jumping for joy.
Worms give your dreams a chance to take hold and fly like crazy, because you can't really see exactly what they're up to til Moving and Weighing Day. And in my imagination, I pictured worms so overjoyed and elated to have found such a wonderful, magnificent home and such delicious carefully prepared scraps that they were wildly slithering far more copiously than your regular old hum-drum worm. I guess I was wrong.
I started with one pound (about 1,000) worms back in August.
Right now in January, about five months later, I have a little over three pounds. (In my imagination, I had about six pounds. )
I separated them more evenly this time and put one pound in each bin.
One bright spot was that I saw lots of babies, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for the next few months!
FINALLY, I kicked into high gear with the wormies and weighed, moved, and cleaned up their area. However, the results were not as spectacular as I had dreamed.
First off, if you've been reading this blog you understand that worm progress is mind-numbingly slow...almost past the point of watching paint dry. They move slow (you can figure this one out), they eat slow (one batch of food per week for thousands), and apparently they mate slow (go figure). Now, don't get me wrong- if this was any other business or endeavor and I ended up with three times as many of anything else, I'd be jumping for joy.
Worms give your dreams a chance to take hold and fly like crazy, because you can't really see exactly what they're up to til Moving and Weighing Day. And in my imagination, I pictured worms so overjoyed and elated to have found such a wonderful, magnificent home and such delicious carefully prepared scraps that they were wildly slithering far more copiously than your regular old hum-drum worm. I guess I was wrong.
I started with one pound (about 1,000) worms back in August.
Right now in January, about five months later, I have a little over three pounds. (In my imagination, I had about six pounds. )
I separated them more evenly this time and put one pound in each bin.
One bright spot was that I saw lots of babies, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for the next few months!
December 26, 2007
Jingle worms, jingle worms
Oh, the weather outside is frightful- and it is still a bit chilly in my basement. But, all seems to be well with the wormies and we are getting ready for the big weigh in and move this weekend.
Just to update from previous posts, the mighy Serra Eagles did indeed make it all the way to Hershey, to the State Championship for the Single A Division. Hooray! However, what they did when they got there rhymes with "booze" and we are not going to say it out loud in this blog!
Since I have off work til right after the New Year, I am able to devote more attention to the squirmers. They are still getting down on some grapes from last week- I don't know what's taking so long, I wonder if they are getting drunk on the grapes?- but I got plenty of Christmas goodies in the wing for the first feeding after the new bins are done.
One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year was a purse and wallet made from recycled billboard. Check them out and save the Earth!
Just to update from previous posts, the mighy Serra Eagles did indeed make it all the way to Hershey, to the State Championship for the Single A Division. Hooray! However, what they did when they got there rhymes with "booze" and we are not going to say it out loud in this blog!
Since I have off work til right after the New Year, I am able to devote more attention to the squirmers. They are still getting down on some grapes from last week- I don't know what's taking so long, I wonder if they are getting drunk on the grapes?- but I got plenty of Christmas goodies in the wing for the first feeding after the new bins are done.
One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year was a purse and wallet made from recycled billboard. Check them out and save the Earth!
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