SMALL BUSINESS TRAVAILS

I am new to this blogging business.
It seems everyone writes a blog these days, I just wonder  who reads them.

But I guess I should introduce myself to whoever has the time to read my blog:
I own a small interpreting agency.
For years, my agency has been intentionally small: 1 major client who feeds me, a few smaller ones, and hardly any overhead, no employees needed. I was working about 20 hrs / wk, making about $100 / hr, and it was good. I have a young child, and time spent with him is more dear than $.

Having 1 major client at a time is problematic though. My first major one went bust, and I almost went bust with him.
Luckily, I soon landed an even better one.
But then there was a major management change, and I almost lost that client. I survived, and became their favorite interpreting agency.

But every nail that sticks out gets hammered. And this fall it happened  to me: because clerks were ordering from me 99% of the time, and their boss wanted to show them who is the boss, she decided to cut my agency off once and for all.

I live in expensive city, my rent is 1/3 of my monthly take, kids are expensive, and my child support is $250/mo. Waitressing is not an option. So I've decided to expand instead. I am getting website soon, I am networking like crazy. Any one needs a translation or an interpreter out there? I have all languages and choice interpreters. Seriously. You can send a request to speak_at_ease@yahoo.com.

I have also decided to sell to the government. After all, I am a small woman-owned business, their favorite type of vendor.
And that's where it gets funny:
In order to prove that I am a woman, I needed to produce 4 years of income tax returns with every schedule, including residential ones; plus a thick file of all kinds of other documents. I needed a luggage on wheels to wheel all that in. Now I have to wait 180 days to see if the government agrees with me that I am indeed a woman....:)

To file for GSA was easier, I just had to change my printer's ink twice, copying about 200 pages a few times. Luckily, UPS goes by size, not by weight.... Now I just have wait about 60 days for approval. I've been told though that I should designate someone in my office to do all the government business stuff. I realized that when government says "small business" it does not mean "tiny" like mine :(

Meanwhile, I've checked FBO.gov to see what's out there.
They actually reserve all their interpreters requests for small business. But their requests are interesting:
For example, they are looking for a sign language interpreter for someone who requires top level security clearance, and, while this interpreter would be traveling with this top level person, no per diem will be paid, and all the initial expense (of getting interpreter there, clearing him/her and doing all paper work, etc.) is at the expense of the small business interested in getting this account... Well, this would have never worked in real world.
But this is our government - so all things can happen...:)
Dear reader, drop me a comment:)
KINDLE: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device

 My Space
BizzyBlogs

Like it