The Art of Non-Conformity: Unconventional Strategies for Life, Work, and Travel

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Lately I’ve had a lot of reasons to think about the relationship between Art and Money. There’s much to say about that subject, and we’ll cover it from different angles over the next few months. To kick off the series, here’s a quick story from the archives of unhappy people on the internet.

Andrea Scher writes over at Superhero Designs, where she also sells homemade jewelry and does commercial photography. For five years and counting, she’s provided regular inspiration for a hyperactive community of women, fellow artists, and self-proclaimed superheroes.

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Before I went to Africa in 2002, I had been working as an entrepreneur for about two years. During the first year, I worked at a $50 plywood desk in a corner of my bedroom that was too small and threatened to fall apart whenever I set anything on it. It did the job for a while, but as I spent more and more time sitting there, it quickly got old.

I finally broke down and decided to upgrade. I went to Office Depot and spent nearly $500, a huge sum of money for me at the time, on what I decided to call The Ark.

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Let’s say you have a decent little business going. Something on the Internet, perhaps—since that’s the way an estimated 24 million of us earn our living these days, just in North America alone.

I’ve found that there are two sets of Big Challenges faced by most Small Businesses. The first challenge is getting some initial cash flow heading into your PayPal account (or however you get paid). Many would-be entrepreneurs don’t pay enough attention to cash flow in the beginning, using a makeshift “if you build it, they will come” approach. Without cash flow, you can’t do anything, so it pays (literally) to focus heavily on your initial sales process.

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My friend Jonathan Fields wrote a post once about how the road to blogging success is paved with insanity. Being a conventional blogger is not only boring, as Jonathan noted, but it also fails to lead to much attention.

The same is true in most small companies and organizations. If you’re running Proctor & Gamble, you might be able to get away with being boring. But if you’re a solopreneur or small business owner, boring is unremarkably average.

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Fed up with work? Not enough time for the things you want to do? Here’s the answer: decide to retire! You don’t have to be 62 ½ years old, and you don’t have to be rich.

In fact, you can usually make plans to retire in about 36 hours. That’s the average time it takes to pack up your office, check on health insurance options, say goodbye to friends, and so on. What are you waiting for?

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