I'm not dumb, I'm just optimistic.

The nice thing about starting a business from the ground up is that there is no harm in looking toward the future, since there really is nothing but future to look toward.

With that in mind, I am going to make a simple statement: Arizona is ... interesting. You can get a state business/tax license, but it is not necessarilly recognized by all of the state, or county for that matter. Take Mesa. If I were to register my business at my apartment in Scottsdale, I would still need to register it again if I want to do business in Mesa. Now, other than the idea to sell chocolate at 2nd Friday Night Out every month, that wouldn't be an issue. Except that we're (you guessed it) looking toward the future.

I love living in North Scottsdale. I love waking up cradled in the elbow of a maintain range. I love when the hills turn bright green during Monsoon Season, and the moon hangs low, ducking between peaks. I love that everything I need is within a ten-minute drive. But I do not love my apartment or my neighbors or the fact that I only really have 2 usable pieces of counter and one cabinet for my supplies. It's fine for now, for the small projects. But if I intend to take big orders and keep supplies on hand (just the various chocolates take a cabinet, nevermind flavouring components, finishing, packaging, etc.) I am going to need something more.

Which brings us to Mesa, and a house after which I have long lusted and just happened to go on the market a week ago. Now, I consider myself to be a realist. I strive for perfection, but am also painfully aware that, in most cases, it simply isn't 100% acheavable. So keep this in mind when I tell you that this house is practically perfect. That's high praise. Not only does it have a decent sized kitchen, but it connects to a very large dining room type space which could easily be utilized as secondary production area and house an additional icebox for big projects. For instance, if a girlfriend who does wedding cakes decides to make that a more regular gig. It also has a family room with private entrance on the front where we could entertain clients for tastings. Oh, and there's also a whole house, as in someplace to live that isn't my apartment with the snoring neighbor.

I promise, I'm trying to be objective. I even have a CONs column which lists things such as "yardwork" and "lack of on-call maintenance staff". The reality of the situations is this: It's a very long shot. Art school (go ahead, laugh it up) and the associated aftermath did a number on my credit, so I don't even know if I can get a mortgage. And after the horror stories I've heard about people not able to even get kitchen inspections for their home businesses, I might end up buying a house that I can't even use. The Realtor handling the property assured me that, even if I didn't have a license and proper zoning, who would know? And if someone found out, it would just be a fine, so who cares. This, however, did little to reassure me, and only made me question her own business ethics.

By now I'm sure you are wondering why all of this is worthy of an update, and we've finally come to the answer. Not only am I now trying to track down the information I need to launch and properly license my business in the current Scottsdale location, I'm also trying to get the same information for Mesa, with their funky, non-conformist ways. I would tell you it is fun, but even sarcastically that would be a stretch. It is tedious and bureaucratic and frustrating. And right now, I barely know which way is up, let alone what is the best course of action.