It was a week of dealing with odd tasks and clearing my schedule for the looming shop construction project.

I shipped out 4 bike cargo trailers.
Figured out how to track the value of each sale that comes through Google Adwords.
Worked on my shop plans.
Worked on a custom sign project.
Managed my rental property

As I look towards the spring ahead, I’m pulled in multiple directions. As I’m expecting a great year for growth in sales, I would like to continue to work on adding new products for both Wandertec and the BikeTrailerShop.com. As part of this, I would also like to continue optimizing both websites. On the other hand, I also would like to be putting a good effort into getting the shop extension built. Having a spacious shop will be of great benefit as the business continues to grow. So, as always in business, the demand for immediate growth must be weighed against the demand for long term growth.

My general strategy for meeting both short and long term goals is to continuously be involved in projects that serve both purposes. As a matter of getting the most efficient work out of myself, I tend to bounce between tasks based on what excites me most at the moment. If I can keep my perspective on both long and short term, I will be excited about moving forward in both directions.

In keeping my business afloat, its been an ongoing necessity to bring in extra income when the opportunity presents itself. For quite some time, I spent my weekends delivering pizzas. Having moved on from that about a year ago, I’ve since been involved in two side jobs to earn additional income, both of which I was quite busy with this week.

The machine that is used to build the CELLO bike trailer case side-panels as well as other parts, the ShopBot, is also quite good at doing CNC designed sign projects. I’ve gotten to know the owner of our local Signarama shop and begun cutting out custom shaped sign blanks for them. There is plenty of opportunity for doing business with 3D signs and though this is not the main thrust of my business, I’m gradually learning the process as they ask for gradually more complicated projects. This week I was working on an Oak carved sign for a local jeweler.

My other income source is my rental property. I decided to hold onto my 5 bedroom house after recently moving to my new home/shop location. After paying the bills, the house rental still provides a decent amount of income. The arrangement I’ve made is to rent out rooms individually. This is helpful to me in earning a greater income from the house. But it requires more work especially when I’m looking for new roommates. It also is both an opportunity and a task in that it gives me more ability to look after what is going on with the house so as to upkeep the property. In an effort to make the rental run more efficiently last week, I switched out 30 bulbs in the rental, my house and my shop from regular to energy efficient fluorescent. Each bulb is supposed to save $45 over its five year life. That’s a $1350 savings on my electric bill over the next five years.

Signs of spring this week. We received orders for 4 trailers and a CELLO.

Other projects started and completed during the week:
1. I signed up Wandertec to become a Plug-In Partner, an association trying to convince automakers to manufacture plug-in hybrid vehicles.
2. I finalized an account with UPS where we will be receiving discounted business rates.
3. I placed multiple orders for our BikeTrailerShop inventory.

Plug-In Partners is a coalition of businesses, government, utility companies, non-profit organizations and private individuals joining together as a unified voice in an effort to demonstrate that a market exists for Plug-In Hybrids.

For those not yet familiar with the idea, a Plug-In Hybrid is a vehicle that utilizes the combined propulsion of electric and gas motors ,as found in the popular Toyota Prius, and adds larger capacity batteries that can be charged up overnight at home. The great advantage of a Plug-In Hybrid is that it can be run mainly from the electric grid for the majority of driving such as commuting to work. When the vehicle needs to be driven longer distances, it can still be fueled up with gas. A promising move in the right direction was at last weeks auto show with the introduction of the GM’s concept car, the Chevy Volt.

Despite the promising momentum towards cleaner vehicle technology, the major auto makers are still dragging their feet on plans for developing a Plug-In. While the concept is being explored, there are no current plans to start production. Plug-In Partners is trying to raise the profile of this issue by creating a coalition of supporters who pledge to purchase Plug-In Hybrids once they are made available.

I was very pleased to find that a movement is being developed around bringing into existence a better vehicle for our economic, international, and environmental future. Along with Plug-In Partner’s efforts to gain pledges of commitment to make purchases, I feel that it would be possible to encourage auto makers to build Plug-In Hybrids by setting up investment accounts for individuals to put down large financial investments that would be locked into purchasing a Plug-In Hybrid at the time that those vehicles were made available. I’m currently investigating if Mutual Funds would be capable of setting up this type of investment account. I then intend to inquire if the organizers of Plug-In Partners have considered this direction.