What exactly will the money be used for?

The money will be used for securing a commercial space for the business - it will be used to pay rent costs per month and help offset those monthly costs, so business revenue can be used to reinvest in other areas of the business. Other areas that can use improvement is marketing, branding, advertising, vendor fees, and product improvement. The money will also be used for equipment upgrades - they will help increase production, reduce production time, reduce labor costs, and increase revenue.

What equipment upgrades are you looking to invest in?

Equipment upgrades include: Tabletop drum sander, small fume extractor for laser cutter, radiator water chiller for laser cutter, air compressor for laser cutter, exhaust fan for laser cutter, electric binding machine, paper cutter, dust collection system, table saw, and laser focus lenses. Some of this equipment will vastly improve my current laser set-up allowing me to cut materials more efficiently and the other equipment will streamline and speed up the process of finishing products.

How do you plan to make your business sustainable?

My three main sources of revenue are e-commerce, direct sales, and business to business. I plan to be sustainable by constantly getting my products and brand in front of people at different events, trade shows, and pop-up shops. Constantly exposing my brand will build the Sukhino Designs community and increase e-commerce over time.  E-commerce sales will also increase through social media marketing and direct target marketing. Lastly, business to business sales will be established through the wholesale market, promotional products for businesses, and corporate gift giving. This will be a challenge being a one woman show starting out, but with the convenience of having one location  and equipment upgrades, I will be able to satisfy each of these revenue streams and eventually hire people along the way as I see the need.

Why is a location for your business so important? Are there really constraints with you working in different locations?

Having one location to complete all of my work is extremely important for my business. I would be able to complete multiple things and be more efficient in one space than in multiple spaces. The downside of working in multiple spaces is the amount of time that I waste traveling between each space when I could be completing two things at once. There are also time restrictions in each location I work in. In my workspace in coffee shop, I have to work around the hours of the coffee shop and anytime the space the reserved for events. There are time when the space is reserved 4 days out of the week and I am unable to work, which increases my processing time and places me behind on projects I have to work. At the storage space, the space closes at 8pm and having to work around figuring out when to cut at the coffee shop and then find time to sand at the storage space before it dark is a juggle. If I don't have time to travel to my storage, then I sand in the middle of field, but that is only when the weather is decent. I don't have control over my process and having control is very essential to the success of my business.

What are your challenges with running this business?

Running this business as a one-women show is a challenge all in itself. With your support, I will be able to make small investments in different technologies to help automate my process and help move my business along until I am able to hire support. For now, I want to grind and work this business out by myself for as long as I can, so I can save and reinvest capital to continue to make this business successful.  Once my business is at a stable position, then I will start to contract out work and hire people to continue to improve and grow the business.