POTLATCH GIFTS
3122 Vrooman Road
Penn Yan, NY

Like many others in the same situation, as I faced retirement I looked for something to do to keep busy and also to earn additional income. I tried several do-it-yourself type activities and several self-employed ventures without much success and when I needed help solving an issue I was glad to find that Bill Crain of SCORE was available with time and counsel. As a person long experienced in business (but never an owner), I called on his counsel along with input from the chamber leaders and the Yates County Industrial Development office. It comes as no surprise that all of this counsel was accurate even when I chose to do something other than what was suggested.

                             

For the past four years I had a shop in a weekend arts-and-crafts market selling wooden puzzle and pewter figurines and tin soldiers that I made and also demonstrating those crafts. The net result continued to give me a loss to impact my income taxes.

In April of 2006 I retired from my accounting position and my wife and I took a four week vacation trip that took us to New Mexico and Arizona. While there I began to see and appreciate the artwork of our Native American peoples. As a result, that summer I included Native American Artwork in my shop and without any advertising, by yearend, the Native American Art was showing as almost 70% of my gross sales.

At this point I was aware that there was a market for the sale of these products in my geographic area and I was alone in making these (authentic) products available. We began to look for a place where I could make more sales (to earn more dollars) and turn the loss (that impacted my income taxes) into a gain that would provide more income.

We began to research the shops in Penn Van that were available for rent and sale in Penn Van and to 'crunch' the numbers. When I had much of the research done I went back to the SCORE counselor and after it was all laid out it was strongly recommended that I not open a shop in town but that I contact The Windmill. The Windmill is a Saturday only market that has 10 to 15 times as many visitors as my previous market place, has a twenty year history and includes a magazine type advertising document and website that lists both vendors and product-lines

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I was able to make the change and after four months I can report that the Native American Art is almost 90% of my gross sales and I have requested an expanded (double) shop for next year. I am most grateful for SCORE and the counsel that they make available.

Don Rydman 315-536-6654

 Potlach Gifts

The Windmill Farm & Craft Market, 3900 Route 14A       Penn Yan

Thewindmill.com     

 

If you have an existing business or are starting a new one, consider how your company may benefit from SCORE’s counseling. Call for a free counseling appointment at one of our many locations. While you are there, ask your SCORE counselor how you might tap into our 60-plus membership knowledge bank to further address your particular business and industry concerns.