If you had an open checkbook.....

Good Topic!

#1 - Hire an assistant with basic bookkeeping skills. This is the number one thing that distracts me from getting the design stuff done (other than teh interwebs :). Knowing that there is a stack of paperwork somewhere really squelches my creativity. It would really be more worth it for me to pay them than for me to work un-billable hours.

#2 - Rent an office. I'm increasingly appreciative of the separation between work and home. I'm looking into some of those options right now.

#3 - Use the surplus funds to take a short break from clients and focus on branding MY business. It's so easy to do for others and so hard to do for yourself! I always joke that I'm the designer with no logo because I'm too busy making them for others!

Hmmm...

#1. I'd hire Anita for some work.

[Its more than about money... I have to force myself to figure out what I want! ;] -Yawn- ]

-Andrey

I'd hire shop help for heather, a delivery driver, put Andrew Sengul on payroll, give Danny Bronski a full up front retainer for legal services, and many other things...including possibly a biodiesel powered delivery car..

oh and while we are really dreaming, i would buy myself a decent house, and buy an extra one right next door and sponsor Anita for US citizenship so i could bring her flowers everyday.:) ideally this house would be on the same street as Elizabeth Lee from Seattle Organizing Works who i would also bring flower to every day so she could continually kick my butt and keep my my life "in the works"..:(

1. Pay off bills incurred during the last year when my time was dedicated to writing my book - with design work being done on the side.

2. Invest in new marketing/promotion materials as I begin a push for new business for 2008.

Great question Rebecca.

1. I would love to work on product development and would write myself and Howard Howell salary checks so we could sit and brain storm product ideas all day.

2. I would of course order flowers once a week from Justin and Heather at Bizi Bee Floral becuase they create beautiful arrangements.

3. Finally, I would like arm of Seattle Organizing Works to focus on not only organizing people's stuff but finding a way to recycle and reuse the items that they discard. I would like to see much more sustainable use of items and much fewer trips to the dump.

That's interesting. Because I would also do Elizabeth's #1 along with her #2 and then I would take action on the Big Idea's we created.

1 - New laptop!

2 - Buy an alt powered car to be more in line with my eco mission.

3 - Hire Stephanie for admin, someone for accounting, Michelle (?) for small biz lawyer.

4 - Pay my venture partner Star Morris for her photographic mad skilz vs. her working for free for our projects together.

5 - Get BiZi Bee flowers every week for sure!

6 - RENT OFFICE SPACE and cover the walls with creative inspiration, with a super cozy couch for napping and refreshing the creative mind!

1. I'd rent office space with other freelancers so I wouldn't always be working alone and would always have somewhere to go in a day (if I wanted to!)
2. I'd get the most environmentally friendly business cards you can get. (I may have to pass up the soy-based ink right now. sigh)
3. Spend more time selling freelance articles to other markets than the one I write for most often so I could end up spending more time writing articles I am passionate about.
4. Always buy the freshest and most organic, local ingredients so my wife and I could make amazing meals together every night.
5. Eat them in front of an ever-fresh bouquet of flowers from BiZi Bee!

you know guys..you dont' have to be rich to buy flowers.. for the cost of a latte a day i'd love to keep you in a fresh bouquet!!:)

You guys are hella sweet for buzzing about us. we love you guys big time..Makes Heather and I feel like rock starz..:) hey one of those sounds good right now..

Unfortunately Justin, you're not part of our business plan. We just need to STICK TO THE BUSINESS PLAN and everything will be okay... it should be okay.

;]

But... you can be part of my "I must buy flowers for my wife to keep her happy plan."

-Andrey

My turn!

1. I'd buy a Mac Pro. I need one. Ok, I want one.

2. I would expand our home-office by building into our side yard because my husband and I both work at home and it drives me crazy and makes me write run-on sentences! whew Is keeping my sanity part of a good business plan?

3. I'd pay for school with any extra money I had. I'm about to transfer to the most expensive school in Tulsa and I need that degree!!!

4. I'd tell my husband that buying flowers from Justin is part of our business plan because it keeps my brain healthy. He'd never go for it, though. He'd rather clean the kitchen.

I'm in a spunky mood today.

P.S. It's interesting to me how many Bizniks would like to have an office. I know how you feel. My husband took mine over...

#1. I'd hire 3 senior engineers, and 4 mid-level systems administrators to improve delivery time for new customers.

#2. Purchase a small local datacenter.

#3. Hire a few good sales reps to keep my staff busy.

#4. Finally get our website design to a standard I'd be happy with, and hire someone to put some useful information on it for a change.

I love it.

#1 remodel the basement to be the office, with a bathroom, and a separate door. Yes, it does have daylight, and it could be really nice.

#2 Purchase three Macs networked together, so both my wife, myself, and our new assistant are connected.

#3 Hire a tech/geek to handle all the tech/geek stuff (which I currently do myself...), and probably get a fourth computer to network him/her into the system as well.

Those would be the biggies.

Develop a world-class back-end database to run my business with.

Expand online marketing services.

Spend the money on my clients.

Buy condos at select destination resorts to serve as satellite offices and retreats for clients.

Lets see...

1- I would increase marketing budget, developing a nationwide multi-level plan via internet and word of mouth campaigns.

2- I would train a sales staff of fifty to address major metro areas in each state, and scale the customer service team accordingly.

3- I would put in place a marcomm and development team for Europe and Asia.

4- Attend monthly tradeshows in the U.S., focusing on specific advertising and PR channels I'm familiar with.

4-

Nobody wants to do anything for fun?? :)

If I had no limits on what I could spend, I'd take a handful of girlfriends and go to a sunny place to a hotel and hangout by the pool, read a great book and go dancing at night (all on me!). I'm telling you, I need to get rich. My friends would be very happy.

There's one more thing I've been thinking about. I will do that with my existing budget anyway but I would like to go to an orphanage this Christmas and bring some presents for the kids. I saw "Fred Claus" in the theater today and it just reminded me one more time how important kids are in our lives.

So if I was a billionaire, I'd buy out Michael Jackson's Wonderland (or whatever he calls it) and make it open for all children who want to go there anytime they want, all expenses on me (without him in it probably!). :)

Oh, for fun?

I'll use that money to get my dream job! The job involves doing nothing and getting paid. I would then use the earned money to travel the world.

=]

-Andrey

1. Medical
2. Dental
3. Vision

If you need medical, dental and vision, and you have a business, you may be able to get a group policy at a decent price.

We're in Oregon, so we needed a minimum group of 2, and so with my wife as 1, and me as 2, we signed up through an agent with Lifewise of Oregon with a pretty darn good plan that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.