live. work. dream.

It’s hard to keep a secret in a town like this. Especially when an ad for another local sign shop appears on the the same website advertising this business for sale. We can only assume that owner discovered our ad and helped get the rumor mill going about the sale of our operation. But it was bound to happen soon anyway, considering our new owner just ran her DBA in the local weekly.

Training is going very well. There is a lot to learn about the many aspects of design, production, website management and equipment maintenance, but the new owner is more than capabale to take the reigns. Our escrow is scheduled to close in a couple weeks, at which point we’ll divulge the big secret about who we are … if you haven’t found out already! Now comes the exciting task of informing our clients and officially spreading the word around town.

When we find the time to post again, perhaps we’ll explain the “next big thing” counting down in the header above. Big things are in store for the current management. Big things indeed…

Who’s got time to post blog entries while training the new owner on all the multi-faceted aspects of this turnkey design and production business? Not to mention all the packing, coordinating of storage, planning our next big adventure — more about that later — and increasing excitement of things to come!

I’ll tell you one thing though. Having a yard sale these days is more work than I ever expected. Who would’ve thought the pros and early birds would be lined up and waiting when we went outside at 7:30 a.m.?!?!? One suggestion: A bloody Mary, or two (or three) certainly helps!

Get an estimate for storing all your furniture and crap accumulated over ten years, however, and you’ll quickly have plenty of incentive to purge. Yes, it is difficult to let go of that Pink Floyd T-shirt from the Momentary Lapse of reason tour. But there will be someone out there who falls in love with it and is willing to give you a few bucks!

I just gave this blog a major overhaul in preparation for what it shall become. What will our next live/work dream be once we sell this business? There is no way to tell, but you’ll be sure to hear all about our search here. After a well deserved sabbatical, that is…

Be sure to check out the new Gallery page where we’ve integrated the interactive photo album and embedded video from LiveWorkDream.com. There is also now a contact form on the About page so you can let us know what you think! How do we find the time to do this while marketing our business for sale and keeping it profitable? It’s easier than you think with the WordPress 2 blog platform. (more…)

The comprehensive online storefront, client intranet, and gallery that is the core of this business’ success resides at a dot com domain. (If you’d like to know what domain, please return our Non-Disclosure Agreement.) When we completed our trademark registration for the business name we also registered .net, .biz, and .info domains which we currently have set up to auto-forward to the .com website.

We are now tranferring all these forwarding domains to the same registrar and hosting provider as our primary website so they will all be maintained under the same roof. We have also extended the domain registrations so they won’t expire for a few years.

What does all this mean to the non-technical potential buyer? Simply that you won’t have to worry about it at all… This is just one step toward our goal of making this sale quick and simple for all parties involved.

With that goal in mind, we are preparing for an easy and seamless transfer of ownership that will be transparent to our clients so they will continue their dedicated relationships with the new owner(s). We are developing operational guidlines to support our training and transition to the new owners. All products on our website have been mirrored within Quickbooks to simplify accounting and inventory management. And we have prepared very detailed financials and other business information ready for review by serious potential buyers. We only ask for a personal financial statement in return to ensure that potential candidates are indeed serious about pursuing this unique business opportunity.

Here’s a sad but interesting coincidence … as if all coincidences aren’t interesting enough:

Last week we printed a 7′ Magic Pak banner display for the National Brain Tumor Foundation. They placed their order by phone after reviewing our website and approved the artwork I designed for them on Monday. As it turns out, just the day before my friend Don Wolski passed away after a long battle with brain cancer. We’ll miss you Don.

Don was the long time host of our local NPR radio station’s Bayside Hayride — a hokey yet enjoyable mix of old-time string band, bluegrass, folk and country tunes that airs every Sunday evening at 5:00 pm. He was also a founding member of the Redwood Technology Consortium — a local non-profit group serving as the primary information and educational resource on issues related to the technology industry on California’s North Coast.

What touched me most about Don’s struggle with cancer was the way the community turned out in full force to support him and his family. Once this tight-knit town was aware that Don’s treatments were financially challenging for his family, a benefit tamale dinner was coordinated with all the proceeds going directly to them. Hundreds of people showed up. Local businesses donated food, drinks, and services. And everyone had a great time dancing to the musicians who played pro bono. (more…)

I just love this time of year in Eureka… Throughout February and March, literally tens of thousands of once endangered Aleutian Geese stop by on their migration back North to Alaska. I understand the annual Morning Fly-Off at the the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge is quite a sight to see as flock after flock take flight from the grassy fields.

While I have not actually yet made it to the 6:30 a.m. gathering, I get plenty of pleasure just watching and listening to the flocks fly overhead from the fields in Eureka to the Arcata Bottoms and back every day to feed. Soon they will be well fed and energized for their long flight ahead. From here they will fly for thousands of miles to their home in Alaska without stopping to rest.

Now, I’m obviously no birder. But who could not enjoy waking to the distant sound of honking geese as they pass overhead. And the sight of so many huge flocks flying overhead is enough to impress anyone! Do you know why geese fly in formation the way they do?

No, their V-shaped flock is not an example of leadership and gagle hierarchy. It is, rather, a perfect example of teamwork in action. Birds immediately behind the leader take advantage of the updraft caused by the goose in front. Those behind them, do the same, and so on, and so on. When the leader tires it will work its way back through the flock as a goose from the rear will replace it in front.

Is it your time to take the lead?