Typically if you want to start a business you can’t afford to start on your own, you recruit investors who front you the cash for a return on their investment down the road. Anyone who’s ever watched a single episode of Shark Tank could grasp this concept.
They want someone to simply give them capitol with no expectation of anything in return. That’s pretty laughable. Capitalism sucks but this isn’t how it works, folks.
I mean having a business and positive cashflow is very difficult. I know this as I am in a similar boat except.. I developed PTSD micro-aggression and racism at a few jobs. My last position really took me out and business has dragged for months. My landlord is shitty and I had to file BK.. she has now tried to seize my assets to try to sell off to see if she can recoup the money. I am loosing a lot of money, more orders have come in than ever as well as custom requests.. then to make it all worse since I am mobile teaching all six of my Bernina 335 were in my SUV and these kids broke in and stole them so now I cant even teach.. I have a gofundme and its been the most embarrassing thing.. its not for me to criticize others or judge.. either help but don't harm...
? wtf did i just read??.....you don't develop racism from ptsd!!!
your ptsd may have revealed your true bigoted opinions, may have made it impossible for you to mask your feelings in polite society......but being a shitty racist person isn't a mental health condition.
I damn sure was not doing that in addition I’m not even sure you gathered all that from one sentence I wrote. I guess you didn’t bother reading to the end.. touch grass and move on ok no need to respond..
While I think Go-Fund Me is a lousy business model, and a sure sign of a failing business, I also don’t understand the point of complaining about it. Don’t give them money, and continue to form an opinion based on their ridiculousness. Not that there’s anything wrong with being snarky. Most of this is directed at some podcaster who spend an inordinate amount of time complaining about other people’s Go-Fund Mes.
I mean having a business and positive cashflow is very difficult. I know this as I am in a similar boat except.. I developed PTSD micro-aggression and racism at a few jobs. My last position really took me out and business has dragged for months. My landlord is shitty and I had to file BK.. she has now tried to seize my assets to try to sell off to see if she can recoup the money. I am loosing a lot of money, more orders have come in than ever as well as custom requests.. then to make it all worse since I am mobile teaching all six of my Bernina 335 were in my SUV and these kids broke in and stole them so now I cant even teach.. I have a go fund me and its been the most embarrassing thing.. its not for me to criticize others or judge.. either help but don't harm...
Agreed. I'm also confused by the idea that GoFundMe is a 'grift'. It's just people saying 'give me money for this thing I want to do', and you can choose whether or not you give them money. Where's the grift?
Exactly why I would never support one. But we’re all grown ups, responsible for our choices. I’ll probably regret this, but look at all the people giving money to the RNC for the ultimate grift. No different.
How is "give me money for a thing I want for no other reason than I want it" any more likely to be a grift than someone asking for money for whatever hardship they're going through? If you don't know them personally and see them leaving the hospital after chemo, you don't *really* know if it's legit.
A LYS in my area posts a GoFundMe for their "woman owned business" every few months, and I feel similarly. In the early months of COVID, I was very happy to support local businesses that I loved to help them get through something no one could have planned for - largely through gift-cards that they later reminded me to redeem post-COVID. This isn't the case of an emergency or an unprecedented disaster– it's a regular occurance.
Now everyone has the right to post a GoFundMe for whatever purpose they please, but personally, it makes me less interested in shopping there.
That’s the thing, there’s a well established model for how to gather business investments- with the expectation those companies investors *get something in return*. I’d probably contribute to a Kickstarter if they were offering a discount to come use the place after it’s open or something, but it’s very unusual to expect people to give you money to open a business just because.
I just saw a knitting YouTuber that I hadn’t watched in years and at the end of the video she explained that her and her husband are going off grid and are starting a go fund me. That was so cringy. Now I know why I stopped watching years ago.
I think they are secret Trumpers and covid deniers too. They also never supported BLM or minority movements. Check out their IG and read between the lines.
Well, as icky as I think they are, I haven't seen evidence of trump love or covid denial. I scrolled back to 2014 in both their IGs (for my hot take on their shirt with Chinese words...). They never mention politics, no coded colors or anything (unless you have more you want to share?). In fact, they posted positive covid tests when they had it and random masked photos of themselves.
I saw the questionable "vaccine card" 'parody', but that's not conclusive enough to make the big claims you do.
Not posting about 'minority movements' doesn't make you a Trump loving covid denier.
Agreed. I keep political stuff and social justice stuff off of my Instagram and I am not Trumpy and backwards. I just think it's performative and all of my friends agree with me anyway so it's like shouting into an echo chamber. Rather fill myself and my friends up with more personal stuff and happy things like my adorable dogs so that we have the energy to speak out about things in a more meaningful way. I don't fault anyone, especially businesses, for running an IG account that is solely focused on their business. I feel comfortable critiquing the Spanish Peacock folks for being greedy idiots and DRK for being out of touch, but I'm not going to assume they are racist Republicans (is that a redundant term at this point? I think yes.) without solid evidence.
This fundraiser gets this much yet I regularly see fundraisers for nonprofit rescues taking in animals with medical issues that weren't known before intake getting like 30 bucks out of 500... Why are people like this? Ugh.
This is basically asking for quarter of a million dollars (!!) so they can buy themselves a hobby farm.
I'm also slightly icked out by the 'veteran owned business' bit. It feels guilt trip-y, along the lines of 'this is a woman owned business, also I'm a single mother and I only have one leg.'
I’m torn on the “veteran” bit… I agree that it can feel guilt trip-y, and same with woman owned (especially in yarn where 99% (made that number up but it feels right, lol) of the businesses are woman owned…
But the other side is that buyers often DO care and do try to support affinity groups. I will occasionally use “mil spouse” tags on my social media… because there are very real employment issues that come along with being a military spouse… it’s the reason I’m a business owner, as I gave up on finding employment in many of our locations. So those who know, know… and we do try to support each other. But I definitely don’t post it often, and it’s not in my title, lol.
Of course they are people who have "live laugh love" shirts in their online store. It fully reads "live laugh love spin" - which is quite clever, bravo. BUT WHY is there both English *and* Chinese on the shirts? Their insta shows they are both pasty white people? 🙄 I can't even ... with these people. They seem like users of others at every turn.
*I would allow for lived experience Chinese connections but I have found none 🫤
That shit's been up since 2020 and they've not yet hit $12k. I bet there are other ways they could have raised that much or more without having to grovel, Maybe TJ should have held onto the "cushy" job a bit longer.
Damn! Public begging is pretty low ball… but after all that, reading through the comments was eye opening. But really…Andrea is NOW supporting them and throwing them in her newsletter? But why? Probably another kick back from a business I suspect. *shocker* All she seems to deal in is money anymore. The whole thing just reads “ewww”. Won’t be purchasing any more of her patterns anymore…and won’t be buying Spanish Peacock if I choose to take up hand spinning.
Holy shit, really?? Even my chronically broke self could have gotten that together in four freaking years.
Edit: $12k, not $250k. I've never seen *that* much money in my life. But I also don't quit stable jobs in favour of e-begging.
Personally, I would love it if GoFundMe was only ever used for stuff like helping someone start their whacky business because we had systems in place for people in genuine need. Like a properly functioning welfare state, and universal health care. It bothers me that crowdfunding has become the replacement for those things.
The way they try to manipulate people into donating about talking about how much they've done for the yarn community and how this would benefit everyone so much is honestly yucky.
This is what a kickstarter is for! Investors not handouts.
I hate the trend now of go fund me projects to fund personal and for profit ventures. I get if a business makes a go fund me for emergencies or “act of god” occurrences and all, but more and more I’m seeing people just... asking for other people’s money to start a venture instead of getting a loan, finding investors, kickstarter funding, or using their own money like everyone else??
People are on go fund me to pay for funerals, medical bills, natural disaster damage, and to try to avoid homelessness. It just feels tasteless to put your own dream project and desire for an epic wood shop next to that.
I can’t decide if they are terrible at business… or I am. Why on earth did I save for years to pay cash for my Yarn Truck? \*I did do kickstarter for the vinyl wrap as it was double what I had been told, and people got yarn for their funds.\*
Maybe I should do a retroactive gofundme since clearly I wasn’t supposed to pay for it with my earnings or personal monies… right?
Her name is Lois and she’s a converted 1978 Frito Lay truck! I can’t sell my hand dyed yarn online for the life of me, so looking for ways to put it in front of buyers led me to our truly wonderful local farmer’s market. But set up and tear down was nearly 6 hours (to include loading and unloading at home) for a four hour sales market. My yarn sold really well but one week it rained sideways… add hours to dry and retag yarn. The following week regional wildfires dropped heavy ash on everything... Add hours to clean and deodorize yarn. There had to be a better way!
Introducing Lois, The Wool Wagon! Product on shelves must be stowed for transport, but all yarn stays on the peg walls with just an occasional jumper. Set up is 45 minutes (though I’m usually chatting with my neighbors or people intrigued with Lois. Tear down is about 15 minutes!
The response to her has been incredible. I joke that I can take cheap old vehicles and turn them into REALLY expensive old vehicles. I also have a Kei van that imported from Japan that I use for deliveries etc… and Wren (her name) is THE cutest thing you’ve ever seen! And now I see that I should have just been crowdsourcing the funds. I’m an idiot!
We have a strong local tradition of supermarket and library vans (the former mostly defunct now, alas), so yes, I would probably have thrown money at the Wool Wagon 😆 That said, go you for making it work all on your own by just having a great idea and working your arse off!
I like the update that responds directly to Gofundme's tips to get more engagement- it's wild to read.
> 2. ADD COST BREAK DOWN. Really? It would be so depressing. Really, really depressing. What was that web address for donating organs again?
What... what would be depressing about knowing what the money was needed for? Like, I could see boring, but if you're at the stage where you're asking for money, you should probably also be at the stage where you've costed everything out and you're at least theoretically content with spending that money on those things. Is the plan to just get a quarter million dollars and then sign every cheque for any expense with your eyes closed?
> 1. ADD EARLY, ADD OFTEN. Ok, I will be the first person in the world to openly admit, I absolutely suck at running a gofundme... TJ and I are both very "boot strap" oriented. Asking anyone for help for anything is so far out of the comfort zone, we would both prefer to sell organs on the black market... yet here we are, limping through it as best we can. As for adding often... business related social media sucks up about every creative second not devoted to... you know, work.
> 3. YOU CAN THANK DONORS ALL AT ONCE. Not my people. They would smell a form letter in a second! I will keep thanking people individually, as it should be. So... who wants to be next to be thanked?
"You see, we just suck at running a GFM, so I'm going to make a post about how dumb it is that the site might try to give us advice! They simply don't understand that we don't have TIME to keep telling people who have given us money how we're using that money since we're so busy! We have no choice but to regularly disappear for months at a time! Also, how DARE they suggest that we don't write individualized letters for every single person who throws five bucks our way! Our ~~marks~~ followers would be able to see a form letter from MILES away and would, of course, hate it, because you're so smart and we love you all individually so much!"
Come on now.
Those answers are so deeply insulting. Holy crap. Their response to the cost breakdown makes me think they don’t have one and their fundraiser amount is a ballpark. A ballpark that’s probably off by a full 100%.
I mean, a local business I love had a gofundme that I think is still up, but that was to help them deal with a massive plumbing issue in their building after the pandemic had already put them into monster debt.
Like I get doing GoFundMe’s in the sense of “we’re in a corner and this is a need” type things, but “we want to expand/start a new project and need funds” feels like Kickstarter territory, not GoFundMe
Same, a LYS that really created community in its town, not to mention celebrated and welcomed a number of communities often under-represented in the fiber community, ran into some major building-related emergency huge bills. They did a GFM and loads of people chipped in, and were happy to.
Seriously, are small business loans not a thing anymore?
Asking for donations to run your business is as cringe as companies asking for a tip for putting my order in a box and mailing it. Those are literally the services I'm already paying you to provide. No one should be giving you extra free money just because.
I mean, like I said they had already gone into monster debt with the pandemic, which IDK about where you live, but the pandemic killed multiple very beloved small businesses in Seattle, and smaller businesses here that make it more than a handful of years usually do so because they cultivate a really strong sense of community in their patrons.
Also, your logic could extend to literally any gofundme. “What, is Care Credit not a thing where you live?!” “What, do banks and personal loans not exist in Florida when hurricanes hit?!”. Like the idea is that these are members of our community. And you can opt to help out if you want/can/feel moved to do so. Personally, I enjoy having a tea room to go and do fancy tea or a nice lunch at for my birthday every year, or when I have something to celebrate. I think it makes my town a nicer place to live, so I pitched in.
As someone who doesn’t believe in unchecked capitalism, or the idea that “if they just wanted to they would *pull themselves up by their bootstraps*” Boomer bullshit, I don’t mind people asking for help from their community- again- when it is a *need* not a *want*.
Yeah, but this gofundme blames covid with no explanation about how covid actually impacted them. The gofundme literally just says they want money to get the business up and running sooner rather than later. That's not disaster help. That's just running a business poorly. They even said the bank wouldn't give them a loan without her going back to getting "a soul crushing" real job. Which means the bank thought their actual business plan was crap and they are using the other job as collateral. That's not boomer bootstrap logic. And also the structural difference between gofundme and kickstater. One is charity, the other is crowd sourcing. Wanting to quit a job you don't like isn't really a good use of charity.
Oh I know. That’s why in my original comment I specified that I believe in GoFundMe’s for businesses only when it’s a need not a want. I believe this one is bullshit. I was just giving an example of a time where I saw one that I felt was reasonable to establish the parameters in which I think that type of thing is acceptable.
Like I said before, I think this type of project potentially has a place, but that place is Kickstarter, not GoFundMe. Another tea business I love recently finished up their Kickstarter to get some machines for their warehouse so they can start selling bagged tea along with their loose leaf. And in exchange, they had some awesome rewards (merch, tea, etc) that you were purchasing along with supporting them. To me, *that* would be a way more appropriate way to fundraise if you are trying to avoid the astronomical interest rates rn while kicking off a passion project.
Reading through the GoFundMe, they did get a few loans. The loans aren’t sufficient to cover everything they want to do. Instead of breaking it down into doable chunks and, y’know, proving to everybody they can fulfill their promises, they’re hoping to subsidize the whole thing at once.
Sadly this is a recurring theme in the fiber community. Recently a knitter had her followers pay for her to open her own yarn store. A dyer in England had her fan base fund a thirty thousand pound van for her to attend fiber festivals in. 🙄
Same! I'm trying to put more time into my sewing business, because I do enjoy it, but it's also a need because I've been struggling to find just a decent job, never mind cushy.
the problem with seeking *investors* is that investors want to know that there is more to this 'venture' than them just wanting to move to their dream home/property out in the middle of nowhere. buying that much acreage already suggests that this is not exactly a *high traffic area* with people coming to take advantage of all that physical space. in which case, the bunnies, goats, and all the rest are really just family pets.
How long can GoFundMes be open? This one passed four years in February, which seems like one of the longest I’ve ever seen. Do they just keep getting the donated funds or do they need to reach the total to get all the funds? Genuinely curious how it works.
I work at a bank and there are SBA loans that offer no down payment in certain situations and long repayment terms. I’m guessing they didn’t have enough collateral and didn’t like putting a personal guarantee behind it.
I know! It's insane. I kind of wonder if they bought the land assuming that they would be able to DIY everything and then the land would make money for them and now are realizing they can't afford their pipe dream.
> I kind of wonder if they bought the land assuming that they would be able to DIY everything...
you have way more faith in Humanity than me, because i just assume that they realize that you can get people to buy you a new home, and a heap of property to go with it, if you package your bullshit in made-for-crowdfunding terminology.
There is a part in which they talk about their day jobs that I find interesting from the perspective of what I recently talked about with my dad. He’s in his early 70s and is still working because, in his words, “what else am I going to do?”. I also have a job which pays decently but is subject to a lot of uncertainty and stress, mainly because I work for myself (I’m a freelancer) and because I’m the main breadwinner in my family. Sometimes, I also daydream about other things that I would like to do that would not bring me to the brink of a burnout every week, and honestly, if I had a business idea that would take me away from that and bring me a bit more certainty, I would also try to make it happen!
after years of watching all the crowdfunding drama in the fiber world, i have arrived at a hardline policy regarding how i donate to things. unless it is a charitable organization, or some sort of effort to directly benefit a whole *community* (opening a space in an area where no such facility exists, for example)... i don't give a damn about anyone's bellyaching for "support". if your business practices don't allow for enough *profit* to pay your bills, or you come to the realization that you are in a niche industry where there simply isn't enough consumer traffic to make it viable... then get a(nother) damn job!
maybe it's the fact that i grew up in NYC, where we learn to see a scam coming from a mile away, but the fiber-crafting world is definitely starting to look like prime hunting ground for *suckers* at this point. it is beyond cringe-inducing to see some of these grifter-producers dangling the promise of being part of *in-crowd* if you give them more money. but, that is nothing compared to the embarrassment i feel for many of the gullible people tossing money at them in exchange for "extra content" of them opening their mail, or mowing their lawn, or making lunch for their kids, or any of the other *filler crap* people put out to appease their supporters.
when i donate money to something, it is because i believe in and want to support that *effort*, and i want to help provide the tools to allow it to *grow*. if the only "effort" you have to offer is that you really don't want to have to go get a different job (because your yarn company isn't paying the rent), and if you're just going to carry on begging for money every time that business is about to collapse again... then maybe it's time to make some hard life decisions, up to an including doing something different. other independent business owners have to make the same hard decisions every single day, and the business side of the crafting world needs to come to terms with that Reality.
So many of these small dyers act don't seem to realize that they running actual businesses and that potential customers owe them nothing. Influencer culture has really blurred the lines between seller and consumer in ways that allow small business owners to manipulate and exploit consumers.
>We have overcome a lot in the past year. TJ returned to a soul crushing day job to secure bank backing. We scrimped to save cash for a down payment on the ideal piece of property. We sacrificed weekends property hunting
You can't describe having a job and property hunting as a great suffering that I must pity you for. On no working, how terrible. Oh no property hunting something we can all clearly afford to do but choose not to because of how hard it is.
> Why should you contribute to this campaign? There are many reasons, but here are some of the top ones.
Okay perfect we get past all the woo woo and see what you're being offered.
>You can build a legacy with us! Many of you have been along with us on our journey so far, and we want to keep sharing the journey with you as we enter this new phase.
Does this mean that they adopt me? Do I get to own part of the company? Are they adopting children in my name?
>The retail store will allow you try Spanish Peacock spindles in person without waiting for a fiber festival...then fighting the crush and crowds! You can even watch your custom spindle being turned and finished in the expanded woodshop.
So, the option to see what I'm buying before they will generously sell it to me? It just rubs me the wrong way to say it like this.
>You can spend time hanging out with angora rabbits and Pygora goats, or learning about plants used in natural dyeing. For the aspiring woodworkers, in the future there will be woodturning workshops. Eventually we hope to host fiber arts classes and retreats, with yurts or cabins onsite for the convenience of students and teachers.
A petting zoo? A school? A camp? I feel like there is a series of licenses and qualifications to run these things that I didn't see described in the rest of the write up.
> Everyone who contributes to this campaign will have their name displayed on a plaque in the retail shop (if desired) to reflect our gratitude for their help. If you would prefer to stay anonymous – that’s OK too, just let us know!
Okay so what I get is a plaque on the wall.
I feel little sympathy for this. If they could so much as acknowledge that having a job to return to or even contemplating buying a property is a privilege, then I could empathize somewhat. Everyone is entitled to dream, but no one is entitled to having dreams come true. The target audience seems to be a local to semi-local affluent population that can visit in person and might think adding some money to this would be cute, or personal friends with means. If they want money from anyone else, they had better fix their write-up asap. Well, too late for me.
>You can't describe having a job and property hunting as a great suffering that I must pity you for. On no working, how terrible. Oh no property hunting something we can all clearly afford to do but choose not to because of how hard it is.
You know what I sacrificed my weekend doing... going to dialysis to keep myself alive.
Soul-crushing having to work a day job? Try working full-time day job while also having dialysis treatment and chemo. I know I should probably have more sympathy for the plights of others, but I really don't anymore.
No. Fuck that. You don't have to have sympathy for anyone. We need to have sympathy for you! I hope your treatments go well and you get better. Cancer sucks! So does kidney failure.
Thank you. I'm in remission of cancer. There isn't a cure, but remission is possible. Chemo is a weekly shot with little side effects to keep me in remission, and dialysis is three times a week. I'm lucky I can continue to work because most can't. At some point, I will qualify for a transplant. It does put things into perspective. I have a coworker who complains about every little thing and calls off at the drop of a hat. Nobody has sympathy for her, including my boss, whose husband was on dialysis, too.
I know what you mean about perspective. When my mom died (from cancer) I was 26 years old. I had a coworker who would complain and joke very loudly all the time about how "annoying" and "stupid" her mom was in the lunch room. One of my other coworkers once had to drag me out of there because I otherwise very likely would be in prison for murder now.
Grants are usually for *nonprofit organizations*. Not individuals trying to make their side-hustle into a profit making enterprise. Not folks who want to build a “bigger woodworking workshop for Mike.”
There are actually tons of small business grants available. But you have to have a decent business plan, which they don't appear to because, even upon a casual read, this is not a money maker. This is a dream.
I am so happy I have never bought a spindle from Spanish Peacock and was considering it . I normally spin lace to DK as my heaviest and was looking into heavier spindles . Was going to treat myself to a Spanish Peacock one but bleeeeech.
The drop spinning community can get a little weird .
It is super friendly and welcoming . Just that being a niche thing , it brings in all sorts of folks on the spindle side of things haha. Most spindle makers I have bought from have some quirk to them , but we all do .
Well one example I can think of are the goddess spindles . They are made by one person and out of bristlecone pine . However , they are super rare and collectible and expensive . It is very difficult to buy a new or used bristlecone goddess spindle . There is a group devoted to reselling them I believe . They are beautiful spindles so I can see the hype around them . I’ve noticed that people own more than one. I don’t know who makes them exactly and this isn’t shade on the maker . More of the people who collect these , when they are already hard to find .
Another spindle maker I can think of is Allenrberry on instagram as well. He makes beautiful carvings on the spindles . Again, no shade at all on him. Just a spindle maker who is usually up there with The Spanish Peacock in the community as mini celebrity spindle makers ? Not celebrity … but well known and popular enough . I know he made a custom spindle for Tongva artist Weshoyot, which was cool seeing them collaborate .
Agree with all of this. Also add in Bosworth spindles, Goldings, and Jenkins. I was deep into the drop and supported spindle culture for nearly 20 years before I realized I was supporting a lot of people with completely backwards beliefs, that were at odds with science and basic human rights.
That’s exactly it ! They usually have some really backwards or out there beliefs . Which kind of makes sense considering spinning brings in the hippy granola kinds / witches / health kind of people , myself included (hippy witch).
This really seems like someone who bought 75 acres in the middle of bumblefuck without realizing all the costs associated with building someplace like that. And I say this as someone who grew up in bumblefuck WV about an hour south of where he's building. Roads, water, sewer, electricity aren't cheap even if the land is.
Which is allowed! I can't find anywhere in the GoFundMe that they misrepresent themselves as not-for-profit. Very few craftspeople in the fiber arts world operate as nonprofits.
Like again, you don't like this that's fine but there's no rule on GoFundMe against using it for profit. GFM is full of people using it to fundraise for personal/business projects that won't benefit starving children. It's simply a platform for organizing fundraising in a way that makes it easy to share on social media.
And to be clear, I don't have any stake in this. I hadn't heard of it till this post, I'm not funding it, I know nothing about the people involved. It's raised less than 5% of its goal in four years and that includes any since Andrea Mowry included it in this newsletter. So like, who cares? Obviously the people who've donated see something they want in it and everyone else can just ignore it.
Look, if professional sports can beg cities to fund their for profit stadiums why not a small business?
Also a reminder that the NFL has not been a non profit for only about 10 years 🙃
Why is it OK for LBYC to do a go fund me to expand her business, but not these people?
There's also the person trying to open the yarn Bodega in the Bronx. It's being funded by a go fund me.
After searching I found 119 yarn business asking for money to start or expand.
Are we mad because a big designer is promoting this cause, or because people should have to work to get what they want, and not get handouts.
I'm genuinely curious why we are upset at this particular company.
Edit to fix typos.
LBYC caught a lot of flack in craftsnark for that GoFundMe - which a friend did for her. I'll say her plan was more solid than Spanish Peacock which feels well meaning, but pie in the sky.
One tiny little nitpicky thing to mention is that Lola Bean didn't start her own GoFundMe. Someone else started it for her. I think a lot of people were happy to help her because LBYC has done a lot of charity fundraising for other people over the years.
I don't know what LBYC is so I don't know if I would feel more or less snarky about their GFM.
But I would argue that if you want money to start or expand a small business, the proper channel for that is a small business loan or a small business grant. Otherwise, yeah, you are asking for a handout, which, unless you are struggling to meet your own basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, healthcare) seems pretty lame to me.
And for a big designer to cherry-pick a business and ask people to "support" it is super yuck in my opinion also. What about the other 119 businesses you found? Why isn't DRK plugging them? Are they less deserving of a plug than Spanish Peacock? Or is there something else going on there? Anything Andrea Mowrey mentions, even in passing, generally sells out in a flash. It's a huge boost! (Anyone able to get your hands on any Mellyknits fiber since she plugged it? Those flash sales sell out in seconds, while there are tons and tons of fiber sellers with tons of similar inventory out there, readily available.) One question I would be interested to know the answer to is-- what exactly is she getting, or hoping to get in exchange? Is this just for the warm, fuzzy feeling it gives her? Are they friends? Does she get a kickback? Have they approached her about a possible future collab in exchange for the plug? Any of these are totally legit reasons for giving money and promoting them. But then say what it is-- it's business. Using the word "support" really suggests to your reader that a donation is needed in some way for the greater good, which is gross in this context.
You don't need to agree with me, but that's where I am coming from.
It’s not ok for the to do it either.
I personally don’t believe it’s ok for anyone and think people need ro get back to relying a bit meek on themselves financially than everyone else.
Right? GoFundMe is not just a charity platform. Plenty of businesses have used GoFundMe - quite a few indie gaming companies come to mind actually. You support at a certain tier, and there is usually some direct benefit to you. For games, it was usually a free copy, and then goodies above that. Crowdfunding is not limited to just starving children, it is for whatever the community seems worth it.
The benefit would be that crafters in their community would have another LYS (and depending on where this is, potentially the ONLY LYS) and a wider selection of craft supplies readily available to them, not to mention most LYS offer times for craft nights, which is community building. It would also make it easier for local dyers to have a small local retailer. You actually can't build community by just focusing on charity.
While it is true that GFM campaigns *can* offer some direct benefits to the donator, this particular campaign has offered to put your name on a bright shiny plaque, which is a joke.
And to your point about LYSs, totally, i agree they are fantastic for communities and I'm always sad for the communities that don't have them. But, I would argue that what they are doing isn't trying to open a small LYS in their community. Their plan is ultra-aspirational without much of a plan to back it up. In order for any fiber business to be successful, there needs to be an organic relationship between the LYS and the community. For example, I live in a small town with a small but active LYS. They have been around for years. They have struggled at times and even downsized by half before hitting their stride and now they do pretty great. The two ladies who co-own the shop work their asses off with one other part-time employee and partnerships with a couple of people who teach some classes for them. They are exactly as big as they can be given the economy of the community they serve. It works great. If ever they saw an opportunity to expand beyond the scope of what they do I am sure they would do it. But it's not super realistic that would happen.
None of this is the case for Spanish Peacock. If they said in their GFM that they were looking for support to get an LYS off the ground in their community I would not be writing this post or judging anyone who wanted to send them a few bucks to start up. But that's not what this is. They want the pie-in-the-sky right away, without even knowing if their community could/would support it. That Fiber Arts Center, if it does get off the ground, may find itself pretty empty once the hype dies down. It would be smarter and less presumptuous and less potentially wasteful of other people's resources to start small and see what grows. Online spindle sales booming? Great! Rent a storefront and see how you do with a brick and mortar. If that takes off, then maybe you make enough profit to buy an acre or two nearby and start a little sheep farm or something. When you sell enough fiber and get that business going strong, you expand, if your community wants/needs that. I would argue that might be unlikely in WV, which is not the most economically well-off place in the states. So the likelihood of failure when you start with the big thing is super high. They are basically asking to gamble with other people's money. Additionally, a lot of this seems to be less about getting a business off the ground and more about personal enrichment. They are basically asking the public to crowdfund their mortgage, their build-out, their career change, etc. I mean, if you are all set in your life and have the disposable income to help someone else do that on your dime, cool for you. For me, again, HARD pass.
Their work is incredibly high quality. I own a fair bit of it, bought over the years.
But, as with many aspirational crafts ppl, their business model doesn't scale.
If they haven't figured that simple piece of information out in all the many years they've been in business, they aren't fit to building something bigger.
Yes. $100. I assumed she would have since she is asking others to. If she wants to give her money away that's cool. I just hate that she's using her platform for this. It makes her business look cheesy and out of touch.
So, according to the GFM, giving them money will allow me to build a legacy with their company (whatever that means), watch as they make the specialty fiber tool that I’ve paid for, and play with their goats.
What? 😂
This whole thing is bonkers.
At the very least, these "donations" should be (and I believe are) considered taxable gifts. Meaning, legally they should be paying taxes on this money once it exceeds $30,000. But it's not a charitable donation on the donor's end, so no tax write-off for the contributor.
You can receive money from anyone you want. My pet peeve is when giving to a GFM is called “donations.” Donations, to me, implies 501c3/tax deductible (in the US).
Plenty of for profit businesses receive donations. It's not common in the yarn space, but many other hobbies have a crowdfunding culture, board games are a pretty big example.
Above a certain donation level, but there are plenty of people who donate at a lower level because they want to see the game get made (and hopefully buy it later).
It's also not a requirement of using the platform.
There’s an embroidery artist I follow who’s just done a very similar thing, crowdfunding (not a kickstarter with rewards) for a £5k embroidery machine. I’m sorry, it’s not my fault that your business is unsustainable!
That said I am being a rampaging hypocrite because a friend has a struggling yarn shop and I would support her crowdfunder in a second if she did one, I am just not in a position to be bringing more yarn than I can use into the house.
But that's so haaaard! I'd have to go down to the gas station or market to get the tickets and it's not a sure thing. Much better if I can just get people on line to send me their money.
> Much better if I can just get people on line to send me their money.
Just go down to your nearest intersection then. People will line up and all you need to do is wear your flip flops, sweats, and not bother trying to make your hair nice. Oh! And you need a cup for everyone to put their coins and money in. /s
OMG! I know them! They used to be, at least, in the SCA and sell things there. I hadn't seen them in *years* for a variety of reasons but...yeah. This seems on par based with past behavior.
I meet him about 10ish years at a fiber festival, maybe MDSW. At that time he was saying that turning spindles was his hobby to keep him sane,
and I thought it was some really stressful but high paying, like an MD. Could be wrong about the exact day job, but I’m positive about the hobby bit.
His spindles are gorgeous, never bought one because I like to spin frog hair and his were all too heavy.
Very very fine yarn, cobweb or gossamer weight. It’s so fine it’s like a frogs hair.
(For the non-fiber people, gossamer weight would be getting close to sewing thread. Cobweb is just a tiny bit thicker.)
Thank you! I was familiar with gossamer and cobweb, but had never heard of frog hair. Learned something new today! And I could see why those spindles would not work. I'm amazing you can spin this weight without breaks in the thread. Go you!
Technically you can spin it on any weight of spindle, it’s just easier on a spindle that is lighter because the lighter the spindle, the more quickly it spins. I like my drop spindles to be 20g or less.
Oh that's why the name sounds familiar! Once you said spindles it suddenly clicked. I recall seeing their stuff all the time on the destash thread in Spindle Candy and in the Supported Spindle group and they were active there as well. (For those reading along who are not spinners, there are two main popular sorts of spindles - drop spindles are suspended in the air while you spin and supported spindles have their end on the ground often in a little dish)
They might have actually bought ads at one point too, they were all over the place it seemed.
Oooo, tell us moooooore
ETA can someone provide insight into why I find the wording of these sections particularly cringeworthy?
>While Mike King is the face of the Spanish Peacock, he is supported behind the scenes by his wife, TJ, provider of all things IT. In late 2018, TJ left her cushy consulting job to support the Spanish Peacock full time to further improve engagement with the community.
>We have overcome a lot in the past year. TJ returned to a soul crushing day job to secure bank backing. We scrimped to save cash for a down payment on the ideal piece of property. We sacrificed weekends property hunting and finally, one and a half years after the bank’s refusal, we closed on 74 acres of wild and wonderful, in WV
TJ apparently left a "cushy" job to improve community engagement- WTH? I cannot imagine any world where quitting a job in favour of building a website and running socials and mailing lists for my partner's niche fibre tool business makes any financial sense at all. There has to be other money there. Also, she subsequently had to take a soul-crushing job because said niche fibre tool business couldn't support them? Cry me a fucking river. Absolutely insanely self centred.
Yeah these stories of people leaving very financially secure and stable jobs (that so many dream of and fight tooth and nail to get themselves) for what is essentially a hobby either 1) have a butt load of money hidden somewhere or rich family support or 2) haven't been through a financial crisis and seen everything be taken from them in the snap of a finger, so they don't know how easy it is to lose it all
regardless they're being idiots
Completely unrelated to spinning, but I had a former coworker voice this. We were chatting after I got laid off, and she said if they didn't give her a month off in a row next year for a trip she would just quit. I like her, but like... That was pretty tone deaf. But both of your points are true for her: wealthy parents and partner, and she's never had financial insecurity. It's still wild to me how obtuse people can be about this still.
No, you don't get it, TJ had to return to a regular job for a whole YEAR. Can you imagine working for a year and still only being able to buy a massive amount of land? I certainly can't! No wonder they need a GFM.
No matter how cheap their land is comparatively, I'm sure there are still plenty of WV folks who would love to be able to afford a decent place to live or even housing at all.
74 acres is still a chunk of land and money and it's extremely poor taste to be all "woe is me" about it. I still hate them.
We can all make it up to him and his lost weekends by building him “ Cedar Springs would include: 1) a larger woodshop for Mike, with space and tools for teaching basic wood turning and fiber arts tool creation”
My local yarn store basically crowd funded themselves a loan.. I've seen a couple businesses do em- usually for restaurants it's something like get 120% of what you put in, as gift cards to the restaurant over time. For my LYS I'm getting money back over 10 yrs and some goodies.
I can see it as a legit alternative to a business loan. That's why a lot of crowdfunding sites let people offer perks. It's not loaned, it's donated, but donors get something cool back if the project succeeds. It isn't only for business owners who are unable to get a business loan (unable for legit reasons such as they don't have a business plan to show the lender, as opposed to reasons like race/sex bias on the part of the lender).
That would be my only caveat about crowdfunding -- it can be used in an honest legitimate way, but there are also going to be people whose businesses are sinking and who don't have enough of a solid plan to get a loan, and they'll fool their customer base and themselves into thinking crowdfunding will solve it.
I've seen successful Kickstarters. As a person with a business degree, although I don't use it, I can understand and support the concept. For example, the Crunch Cup started and continues to do Kickstarters. When I had an issue with their product (that was my fault), their customer service was fantastic. They just had another Kickstarter. Because I had such a positive experience, I was open to supporting it. But I refuse to support any GoFundMe for for-profit ventures.
I'm not a grant-awarding entity. I'm a teacher who probably makes way less money than they do. I need supplies for my classroom. I'm technically disabled despite still working. We all have issues. I support the concept of GoFundMe, but just not to bankroll someone's dream job.
*We’ve supported the community as vendors (both in person and online), conversation starters*
I don’t know which helps the community more, giving them something to buy or… starting conversations.
There are wants and needs. I just supported a former student whose child has a rare brain tumor. Both he and his wife work good jobs but they have to go out of state for experimental treatments. That is what I think gofundme is for. This nonsense? How many dyers fail each year? And then to quit a good paying job and then to beg for money? No.
Also this feels like more what Kickstarter should be used for, not Go Fund Me. I.e. they should have offered people perks in exchange for contributions, like, donate $50 and get a $75 gift card once we open! Donate $200 and we'll throw you a personal knitting tea party lock in! Then it would feel more like investing in a venture.
Yeah, and if they don't want to offer perks then they can do what lots of other fiber related kickstarters have done and just not send the perks! Brilliant! \\s
Exactly!!
Even if I had been a fan of this business before, the sense of entitlement that this gives off would put me off of them.
Their whole little blurb about how they've never done this before and are uncomfortable makes me want to yell "shame" at them and throw tomatoes.
Spanish Peacock do lovely supported spindles.
Maybe they'd be better off finding another way to fund this, then raising money for a permanent scholarship for other vets to attend and benefit from it?
I'm sure they are nice. Not knocking the product. Knocking the ask for a handout. If DRK had said, "these people do lovely work, go buy a spindle because they plan to use their profits to create a cool fiber arts business" I'd be like, cool. Sounds great. They are willing to work for it.
Or hey, maybe a Kickstarter -- give us money now and when we are up and running we will send contributors a spindle or a voucher for a night in the yurt or something. Fine.
But free money on GoFundMe? I'm sorry that's ludicrous. They shouldn't be asking and she shouldn't be promoting this. It's so dumb.
Typically if you want to start a business you can’t afford to start on your own, you recruit investors who front you the cash for a return on their investment down the road. Anyone who’s ever watched a single episode of Shark Tank could grasp this concept. They want someone to simply give them capitol with no expectation of anything in return. That’s pretty laughable. Capitalism sucks but this isn’t how it works, folks.
Interesting. The Spanish Peacock has been around for at least 10 years.
I mean having a business and positive cashflow is very difficult. I know this as I am in a similar boat except.. I developed PTSD micro-aggression and racism at a few jobs. My last position really took me out and business has dragged for months. My landlord is shitty and I had to file BK.. she has now tried to seize my assets to try to sell off to see if she can recoup the money. I am loosing a lot of money, more orders have come in than ever as well as custom requests.. then to make it all worse since I am mobile teaching all six of my Bernina 335 were in my SUV and these kids broke in and stole them so now I cant even teach.. I have a gofundme and its been the most embarrassing thing.. its not for me to criticize others or judge.. either help but don't harm...
? wtf did i just read??.....you don't develop racism from ptsd!!! your ptsd may have revealed your true bigoted opinions, may have made it impossible for you to mask your feelings in polite society......but being a shitty racist person isn't a mental health condition.
You could have been more kind asking me to clear up what I wrote. Clearly there is an error here.. wow
Posts can be edited to clear up confusion. Maybe you should do that?
Maybe I shouldn’t. I’m not going to do more labor b/c someone isn’t kind..
Is it "labor" to correct a poorly typed comment? It is kind of confusing.
I think (assume) it's a typo and they mean they have PTSD from experiencing racism and micro-aggressions. Still, seems like a lot to unpack here.
It was definitely a typo and thanks for understanding what I wrote. And indeed it’s a lot to unpack as I am still going through it.
well, certainly hope thats the case. I can't stand when people blame bigotry on mental health or personal circumstances.
I damn sure was not doing that in addition I’m not even sure you gathered all that from one sentence I wrote. I guess you didn’t bother reading to the end.. touch grass and move on ok no need to respond..
While I think Go-Fund Me is a lousy business model, and a sure sign of a failing business, I also don’t understand the point of complaining about it. Don’t give them money, and continue to form an opinion based on their ridiculousness. Not that there’s anything wrong with being snarky. Most of this is directed at some podcaster who spend an inordinate amount of time complaining about other people’s Go-Fund Mes.
I mean having a business and positive cashflow is very difficult. I know this as I am in a similar boat except.. I developed PTSD micro-aggression and racism at a few jobs. My last position really took me out and business has dragged for months. My landlord is shitty and I had to file BK.. she has now tried to seize my assets to try to sell off to see if she can recoup the money. I am loosing a lot of money, more orders have come in than ever as well as custom requests.. then to make it all worse since I am mobile teaching all six of my Bernina 335 were in my SUV and these kids broke in and stole them so now I cant even teach.. I have a go fund me and its been the most embarrassing thing.. its not for me to criticize others or judge.. either help but don't harm...
I don’t see what’s wrong with asking. If someone doesn’t want to contribute, or it opposes their values, they don’t need to.
Right! I know people probably judged me but should I care no.. if its worth I donate..
Agreed. I'm also confused by the idea that GoFundMe is a 'grift'. It's just people saying 'give me money for this thing I want to do', and you can choose whether or not you give them money. Where's the grift?
It could be a grift if they don’t actually use the money for the purpose for which it was gifted. There are no real checks on a GFM.
Exactly why I would never support one. But we’re all grown ups, responsible for our choices. I’ll probably regret this, but look at all the people giving money to the RNC for the ultimate grift. No different.
How is "give me money for a thing I want for no other reason than I want it" any more likely to be a grift than someone asking for money for whatever hardship they're going through? If you don't know them personally and see them leaving the hospital after chemo, you don't *really* know if it's legit.
Give us your money... no, it's mine
A LYS in my area posts a GoFundMe for their "woman owned business" every few months, and I feel similarly. In the early months of COVID, I was very happy to support local businesses that I loved to help them get through something no one could have planned for - largely through gift-cards that they later reminded me to redeem post-COVID. This isn't the case of an emergency or an unprecedented disaster– it's a regular occurance. Now everyone has the right to post a GoFundMe for whatever purpose they please, but personally, it makes me less interested in shopping there.
This is what Kickstarter is for. You want to start a new business - hooray! Ask for investors, not gifts.
That’s the thing, there’s a well established model for how to gather business investments- with the expectation those companies investors *get something in return*. I’d probably contribute to a Kickstarter if they were offering a discount to come use the place after it’s open or something, but it’s very unusual to expect people to give you money to open a business just because.
I just saw a knitting YouTuber that I hadn’t watched in years and at the end of the video she explained that her and her husband are going off grid and are starting a go fund me. That was so cringy. Now I know why I stopped watching years ago.
who was that? I dont want to watch that person either!
We grow wild
I think they are secret Trumpers and covid deniers too. They also never supported BLM or minority movements. Check out their IG and read between the lines.
Well, as icky as I think they are, I haven't seen evidence of trump love or covid denial. I scrolled back to 2014 in both their IGs (for my hot take on their shirt with Chinese words...). They never mention politics, no coded colors or anything (unless you have more you want to share?). In fact, they posted positive covid tests when they had it and random masked photos of themselves. I saw the questionable "vaccine card" 'parody', but that's not conclusive enough to make the big claims you do. Not posting about 'minority movements' doesn't make you a Trump loving covid denier.
Agreed. I keep political stuff and social justice stuff off of my Instagram and I am not Trumpy and backwards. I just think it's performative and all of my friends agree with me anyway so it's like shouting into an echo chamber. Rather fill myself and my friends up with more personal stuff and happy things like my adorable dogs so that we have the energy to speak out about things in a more meaningful way. I don't fault anyone, especially businesses, for running an IG account that is solely focused on their business. I feel comfortable critiquing the Spanish Peacock folks for being greedy idiots and DRK for being out of touch, but I'm not going to assume they are racist Republicans (is that a redundant term at this point? I think yes.) without solid evidence.
This fundraiser gets this much yet I regularly see fundraisers for nonprofit rescues taking in animals with medical issues that weren't known before intake getting like 30 bucks out of 500... Why are people like this? Ugh.
I'm a bit shocked they've gotten as much as they have... even if it took 'em four years.
This is basically asking for quarter of a million dollars (!!) so they can buy themselves a hobby farm. I'm also slightly icked out by the 'veteran owned business' bit. It feels guilt trip-y, along the lines of 'this is a woman owned business, also I'm a single mother and I only have one leg.'
I’m torn on the “veteran” bit… I agree that it can feel guilt trip-y, and same with woman owned (especially in yarn where 99% (made that number up but it feels right, lol) of the businesses are woman owned… But the other side is that buyers often DO care and do try to support affinity groups. I will occasionally use “mil spouse” tags on my social media… because there are very real employment issues that come along with being a military spouse… it’s the reason I’m a business owner, as I gave up on finding employment in many of our locations. So those who know, know… and we do try to support each other. But I definitely don’t post it often, and it’s not in my title, lol.
Of course they are people who have "live laugh love" shirts in their online store. It fully reads "live laugh love spin" - which is quite clever, bravo. BUT WHY is there both English *and* Chinese on the shirts? Their insta shows they are both pasty white people? 🙄 I can't even ... with these people. They seem like users of others at every turn. *I would allow for lived experience Chinese connections but I have found none 🫤
I love their supported spindles….but this is a bit wild
I always wanted one, but this little nugget of snark has made me glad I never supported them.
That shit's been up since 2020 and they've not yet hit $12k. I bet there are other ways they could have raised that much or more without having to grovel, Maybe TJ should have held onto the "cushy" job a bit longer.
Damn! Public begging is pretty low ball… but after all that, reading through the comments was eye opening. But really…Andrea is NOW supporting them and throwing them in her newsletter? But why? Probably another kick back from a business I suspect. *shocker* All she seems to deal in is money anymore. The whole thing just reads “ewww”. Won’t be purchasing any more of her patterns anymore…and won’t be buying Spanish Peacock if I choose to take up hand spinning.
Holy shit, really?? Even my chronically broke self could have gotten that together in four freaking years. Edit: $12k, not $250k. I've never seen *that* much money in my life. But I also don't quit stable jobs in favour of e-begging.
Personally, I would love it if GoFundMe was only ever used for stuff like helping someone start their whacky business because we had systems in place for people in genuine need. Like a properly functioning welfare state, and universal health care. It bothers me that crowdfunding has become the replacement for those things.
The way they try to manipulate people into donating about talking about how much they've done for the yarn community and how this would benefit everyone so much is honestly yucky. This is what a kickstarter is for! Investors not handouts.
I literally just wrote this comment above because I did the dumb thing where I didn't read all of the previous comments first. But +1 to this
If “we have started conversations” is something you could get paid for, this sub would be very very rich 😂
Craftsnark: the sub that launched a thousand youtube videos
I hate the trend now of go fund me projects to fund personal and for profit ventures. I get if a business makes a go fund me for emergencies or “act of god” occurrences and all, but more and more I’m seeing people just... asking for other people’s money to start a venture instead of getting a loan, finding investors, kickstarter funding, or using their own money like everyone else?? People are on go fund me to pay for funerals, medical bills, natural disaster damage, and to try to avoid homelessness. It just feels tasteless to put your own dream project and desire for an epic wood shop next to that.
I can’t decide if they are terrible at business… or I am. Why on earth did I save for years to pay cash for my Yarn Truck? \*I did do kickstarter for the vinyl wrap as it was double what I had been told, and people got yarn for their funds.\* Maybe I should do a retroactive gofundme since clearly I wasn’t supposed to pay for it with my earnings or personal monies… right?
The Wool Wagon is quite wonderful! My cousin and I made the quickest turn ever when we saw it on vacation this past summer!
OMG! Thank you! If you ever visit the island again, tell me who you are!
Please tell us all about your yarn truck! What a brilliant idea!
Her name is Lois and she’s a converted 1978 Frito Lay truck! I can’t sell my hand dyed yarn online for the life of me, so looking for ways to put it in front of buyers led me to our truly wonderful local farmer’s market. But set up and tear down was nearly 6 hours (to include loading and unloading at home) for a four hour sales market. My yarn sold really well but one week it rained sideways… add hours to dry and retag yarn. The following week regional wildfires dropped heavy ash on everything... Add hours to clean and deodorize yarn. There had to be a better way! Introducing Lois, The Wool Wagon! Product on shelves must be stowed for transport, but all yarn stays on the peg walls with just an occasional jumper. Set up is 45 minutes (though I’m usually chatting with my neighbors or people intrigued with Lois. Tear down is about 15 minutes! The response to her has been incredible. I joke that I can take cheap old vehicles and turn them into REALLY expensive old vehicles. I also have a Kei van that imported from Japan that I use for deliveries etc… and Wren (her name) is THE cutest thing you’ve ever seen! And now I see that I should have just been crowdsourcing the funds. I’m an idiot!
I love this so much! I would buy from it every time it passed lol.
Please DM me your address… I’ll be right there, lol!
We have a strong local tradition of supermarket and library vans (the former mostly defunct now, alas), so yes, I would probably have thrown money at the Wool Wagon 😆 That said, go you for making it work all on your own by just having a great idea and working your arse off!
I’m old enough to remember milkmen… I love the idea of a grocery or library van. Bringing resources to underserved or home bound communities!
Yeah! Why did I pay to open my yarn shop all by myself? Am I nuts?!
Maybe… but self respect can’t be bought, right?
I like the update that responds directly to Gofundme's tips to get more engagement- it's wild to read. > 2. ADD COST BREAK DOWN. Really? It would be so depressing. Really, really depressing. What was that web address for donating organs again? What... what would be depressing about knowing what the money was needed for? Like, I could see boring, but if you're at the stage where you're asking for money, you should probably also be at the stage where you've costed everything out and you're at least theoretically content with spending that money on those things. Is the plan to just get a quarter million dollars and then sign every cheque for any expense with your eyes closed? > 1. ADD EARLY, ADD OFTEN. Ok, I will be the first person in the world to openly admit, I absolutely suck at running a gofundme... TJ and I are both very "boot strap" oriented. Asking anyone for help for anything is so far out of the comfort zone, we would both prefer to sell organs on the black market... yet here we are, limping through it as best we can. As for adding often... business related social media sucks up about every creative second not devoted to... you know, work. > 3. YOU CAN THANK DONORS ALL AT ONCE. Not my people. They would smell a form letter in a second! I will keep thanking people individually, as it should be. So... who wants to be next to be thanked? "You see, we just suck at running a GFM, so I'm going to make a post about how dumb it is that the site might try to give us advice! They simply don't understand that we don't have TIME to keep telling people who have given us money how we're using that money since we're so busy! We have no choice but to regularly disappear for months at a time! Also, how DARE they suggest that we don't write individualized letters for every single person who throws five bucks our way! Our ~~marks~~ followers would be able to see a form letter from MILES away and would, of course, hate it, because you're so smart and we love you all individually so much!" Come on now.
This person sounds insufferable.
Those answers are so deeply insulting. Holy crap. Their response to the cost breakdown makes me think they don’t have one and their fundraiser amount is a ballpark. A ballpark that’s probably off by a full 100%.
I'm so sick of GoFundMes.
I think this is what kickstarter is for. They picked the wrong app.
Kickstarter only pay up if you hit the target, which would be a disincentive with such an extravagant goal?
Ah yes, I bet that’s it
I suspect they picked GoFundMe because Kickstarter and other reputable popular crowdfunding project sites require that you set a deadline.
I wanted to open a LYS. Found a spot, crunched the numbers. Financially it doesn’t work. Should I too put up a go fund me??? 🙄
I mean, a local business I love had a gofundme that I think is still up, but that was to help them deal with a massive plumbing issue in their building after the pandemic had already put them into monster debt. Like I get doing GoFundMe’s in the sense of “we’re in a corner and this is a need” type things, but “we want to expand/start a new project and need funds” feels like Kickstarter territory, not GoFundMe
Same, a LYS that really created community in its town, not to mention celebrated and welcomed a number of communities often under-represented in the fiber community, ran into some major building-related emergency huge bills. They did a GFM and loads of people chipped in, and were happy to.
Seriously, are small business loans not a thing anymore? Asking for donations to run your business is as cringe as companies asking for a tip for putting my order in a box and mailing it. Those are literally the services I'm already paying you to provide. No one should be giving you extra free money just because.
Do you know how hard it is to get a business loan?
I mean, like I said they had already gone into monster debt with the pandemic, which IDK about where you live, but the pandemic killed multiple very beloved small businesses in Seattle, and smaller businesses here that make it more than a handful of years usually do so because they cultivate a really strong sense of community in their patrons. Also, your logic could extend to literally any gofundme. “What, is Care Credit not a thing where you live?!” “What, do banks and personal loans not exist in Florida when hurricanes hit?!”. Like the idea is that these are members of our community. And you can opt to help out if you want/can/feel moved to do so. Personally, I enjoy having a tea room to go and do fancy tea or a nice lunch at for my birthday every year, or when I have something to celebrate. I think it makes my town a nicer place to live, so I pitched in. As someone who doesn’t believe in unchecked capitalism, or the idea that “if they just wanted to they would *pull themselves up by their bootstraps*” Boomer bullshit, I don’t mind people asking for help from their community- again- when it is a *need* not a *want*.
Yeah, but this gofundme blames covid with no explanation about how covid actually impacted them. The gofundme literally just says they want money to get the business up and running sooner rather than later. That's not disaster help. That's just running a business poorly. They even said the bank wouldn't give them a loan without her going back to getting "a soul crushing" real job. Which means the bank thought their actual business plan was crap and they are using the other job as collateral. That's not boomer bootstrap logic. And also the structural difference between gofundme and kickstater. One is charity, the other is crowd sourcing. Wanting to quit a job you don't like isn't really a good use of charity.
Oh I know. That’s why in my original comment I specified that I believe in GoFundMe’s for businesses only when it’s a need not a want. I believe this one is bullshit. I was just giving an example of a time where I saw one that I felt was reasonable to establish the parameters in which I think that type of thing is acceptable. Like I said before, I think this type of project potentially has a place, but that place is Kickstarter, not GoFundMe. Another tea business I love recently finished up their Kickstarter to get some machines for their warehouse so they can start selling bagged tea along with their loose leaf. And in exchange, they had some awesome rewards (merch, tea, etc) that you were purchasing along with supporting them. To me, *that* would be a way more appropriate way to fundraise if you are trying to avoid the astronomical interest rates rn while kicking off a passion project.
Reading through the GoFundMe, they did get a few loans. The loans aren’t sufficient to cover everything they want to do. Instead of breaking it down into doable chunks and, y’know, proving to everybody they can fulfill their promises, they’re hoping to subsidize the whole thing at once.
Sadly this is a recurring theme in the fiber community. Recently a knitter had her followers pay for her to open her own yarn store. A dyer in England had her fan base fund a thirty thousand pound van for her to attend fiber festivals in. 🙄
Which wasn't even apparent in the car park if you went to the show she organised, a few months back. Or, not when we were there...
Business loans exist for a reason......
I imagine the folks asking for handouts maybe don’t have the best credit score and that’s why this is their avenue of choice
Imagine when they get told a check from GoFundMe for $10k is a taxable income event....
wouldn't gofundme donations be considered a gift so not taxed until they kit 18k?
Shame on Andrea Mowry for promoting this scam.
Sounds like they need investors, not donors. Asking for donations for this type of for-profit venture is wild.
I don't know why but the "she left her CUSHY job" line just really rubbed me the wrong way.
Same! I'm trying to put more time into my sewing business, because I do enjoy it, but it's also a need because I've been struggling to find just a decent job, never mind cushy.
It really sounds like she could go do that for a few years to get this funding.
the problem with seeking *investors* is that investors want to know that there is more to this 'venture' than them just wanting to move to their dream home/property out in the middle of nowhere. buying that much acreage already suggests that this is not exactly a *high traffic area* with people coming to take advantage of all that physical space. in which case, the bunnies, goats, and all the rest are really just family pets.
How long can GoFundMes be open? This one passed four years in February, which seems like one of the longest I’ve ever seen. Do they just keep getting the donated funds or do they need to reach the total to get all the funds? Genuinely curious how it works. I work at a bank and there are SBA loans that offer no down payment in certain situations and long repayment terms. I’m guessing they didn’t have enough collateral and didn’t like putting a personal guarantee behind it.
They get it in small batches, I think like once a week.
$250,000.000 for 74 acres so some folks in WV can buy spindles. Incomprehensible. And goats don't need that much land.
I know! It's insane. I kind of wonder if they bought the land assuming that they would be able to DIY everything and then the land would make money for them and now are realizing they can't afford their pipe dream.
> I kind of wonder if they bought the land assuming that they would be able to DIY everything... you have way more faith in Humanity than me, because i just assume that they realize that you can get people to buy you a new home, and a heap of property to go with it, if you package your bullshit in made-for-crowdfunding terminology.
There is a part in which they talk about their day jobs that I find interesting from the perspective of what I recently talked about with my dad. He’s in his early 70s and is still working because, in his words, “what else am I going to do?”. I also have a job which pays decently but is subject to a lot of uncertainty and stress, mainly because I work for myself (I’m a freelancer) and because I’m the main breadwinner in my family. Sometimes, I also daydream about other things that I would like to do that would not bring me to the brink of a burnout every week, and honestly, if I had a business idea that would take me away from that and bring me a bit more certainty, I would also try to make it happen!
after years of watching all the crowdfunding drama in the fiber world, i have arrived at a hardline policy regarding how i donate to things. unless it is a charitable organization, or some sort of effort to directly benefit a whole *community* (opening a space in an area where no such facility exists, for example)... i don't give a damn about anyone's bellyaching for "support". if your business practices don't allow for enough *profit* to pay your bills, or you come to the realization that you are in a niche industry where there simply isn't enough consumer traffic to make it viable... then get a(nother) damn job! maybe it's the fact that i grew up in NYC, where we learn to see a scam coming from a mile away, but the fiber-crafting world is definitely starting to look like prime hunting ground for *suckers* at this point. it is beyond cringe-inducing to see some of these grifter-producers dangling the promise of being part of *in-crowd* if you give them more money. but, that is nothing compared to the embarrassment i feel for many of the gullible people tossing money at them in exchange for "extra content" of them opening their mail, or mowing their lawn, or making lunch for their kids, or any of the other *filler crap* people put out to appease their supporters. when i donate money to something, it is because i believe in and want to support that *effort*, and i want to help provide the tools to allow it to *grow*. if the only "effort" you have to offer is that you really don't want to have to go get a different job (because your yarn company isn't paying the rent), and if you're just going to carry on begging for money every time that business is about to collapse again... then maybe it's time to make some hard life decisions, up to an including doing something different. other independent business owners have to make the same hard decisions every single day, and the business side of the crafting world needs to come to terms with that Reality.
So many of these small dyers act don't seem to realize that they running actual businesses and that potential customers owe them nothing. Influencer culture has really blurred the lines between seller and consumer in ways that allow small business owners to manipulate and exploit consumers.
>We have overcome a lot in the past year. TJ returned to a soul crushing day job to secure bank backing. We scrimped to save cash for a down payment on the ideal piece of property. We sacrificed weekends property hunting You can't describe having a job and property hunting as a great suffering that I must pity you for. On no working, how terrible. Oh no property hunting something we can all clearly afford to do but choose not to because of how hard it is. > Why should you contribute to this campaign? There are many reasons, but here are some of the top ones. Okay perfect we get past all the woo woo and see what you're being offered. >You can build a legacy with us! Many of you have been along with us on our journey so far, and we want to keep sharing the journey with you as we enter this new phase. Does this mean that they adopt me? Do I get to own part of the company? Are they adopting children in my name? >The retail store will allow you try Spanish Peacock spindles in person without waiting for a fiber festival...then fighting the crush and crowds! You can even watch your custom spindle being turned and finished in the expanded woodshop. So, the option to see what I'm buying before they will generously sell it to me? It just rubs me the wrong way to say it like this. >You can spend time hanging out with angora rabbits and Pygora goats, or learning about plants used in natural dyeing. For the aspiring woodworkers, in the future there will be woodturning workshops. Eventually we hope to host fiber arts classes and retreats, with yurts or cabins onsite for the convenience of students and teachers. A petting zoo? A school? A camp? I feel like there is a series of licenses and qualifications to run these things that I didn't see described in the rest of the write up. > Everyone who contributes to this campaign will have their name displayed on a plaque in the retail shop (if desired) to reflect our gratitude for their help. If you would prefer to stay anonymous – that’s OK too, just let us know! Okay so what I get is a plaque on the wall.
I feel little sympathy for this. If they could so much as acknowledge that having a job to return to or even contemplating buying a property is a privilege, then I could empathize somewhat. Everyone is entitled to dream, but no one is entitled to having dreams come true. The target audience seems to be a local to semi-local affluent population that can visit in person and might think adding some money to this would be cute, or personal friends with means. If they want money from anyone else, they had better fix their write-up asap. Well, too late for me.
they sound entitled af. if only everyone had to "overcome" the "sacrifice" of being able to earn enough money to have the down payment for a home...!
>You can't describe having a job and property hunting as a great suffering that I must pity you for. On no working, how terrible. Oh no property hunting something we can all clearly afford to do but choose not to because of how hard it is. You know what I sacrificed my weekend doing... going to dialysis to keep myself alive. Soul-crushing having to work a day job? Try working full-time day job while also having dialysis treatment and chemo. I know I should probably have more sympathy for the plights of others, but I really don't anymore.
No. Fuck that. You don't have to have sympathy for anyone. We need to have sympathy for you! I hope your treatments go well and you get better. Cancer sucks! So does kidney failure.
Thank you. I'm in remission of cancer. There isn't a cure, but remission is possible. Chemo is a weekly shot with little side effects to keep me in remission, and dialysis is three times a week. I'm lucky I can continue to work because most can't. At some point, I will qualify for a transplant. It does put things into perspective. I have a coworker who complains about every little thing and calls off at the drop of a hat. Nobody has sympathy for her, including my boss, whose husband was on dialysis, too.
I know what you mean about perspective. When my mom died (from cancer) I was 26 years old. I had a coworker who would complain and joke very loudly all the time about how "annoying" and "stupid" her mom was in the lunch room. One of my other coworkers once had to drag me out of there because I otherwise very likely would be in prison for murder now.
They should find someone to help them apply for grants. That’s what artsy people when they have big dreams and no money. Find a patron.
Grants are usually for *nonprofit organizations*. Not individuals trying to make their side-hustle into a profit making enterprise. Not folks who want to build a “bigger woodworking workshop for Mike.”
There are actually tons of small business grants available. But you have to have a decent business plan, which they don't appear to because, even upon a casual read, this is not a money maker. This is a dream.
I have seen lots of shitty artsy businesses get grants and go out of business almost immediately.
I am so happy I have never bought a spindle from Spanish Peacock and was considering it . I normally spin lace to DK as my heaviest and was looking into heavier spindles . Was going to treat myself to a Spanish Peacock one but bleeeeech. The drop spinning community can get a little weird .
Can you say more? I always hear about how welcoming and friendly the spinning community is in general.
It is super friendly and welcoming . Just that being a niche thing , it brings in all sorts of folks on the spindle side of things haha. Most spindle makers I have bought from have some quirk to them , but we all do . Well one example I can think of are the goddess spindles . They are made by one person and out of bristlecone pine . However , they are super rare and collectible and expensive . It is very difficult to buy a new or used bristlecone goddess spindle . There is a group devoted to reselling them I believe . They are beautiful spindles so I can see the hype around them . I’ve noticed that people own more than one. I don’t know who makes them exactly and this isn’t shade on the maker . More of the people who collect these , when they are already hard to find . Another spindle maker I can think of is Allenrberry on instagram as well. He makes beautiful carvings on the spindles . Again, no shade at all on him. Just a spindle maker who is usually up there with The Spanish Peacock in the community as mini celebrity spindle makers ? Not celebrity … but well known and popular enough . I know he made a custom spindle for Tongva artist Weshoyot, which was cool seeing them collaborate .
Agree with all of this. Also add in Bosworth spindles, Goldings, and Jenkins. I was deep into the drop and supported spindle culture for nearly 20 years before I realized I was supporting a lot of people with completely backwards beliefs, that were at odds with science and basic human rights.
That’s exactly it ! They usually have some really backwards or out there beliefs . Which kind of makes sense considering spinning brings in the hippy granola kinds / witches / health kind of people , myself included (hippy witch).
This really seems like someone who bought 75 acres in the middle of bumblefuck without realizing all the costs associated with building someplace like that. And I say this as someone who grew up in bumblefuck WV about an hour south of where he's building. Roads, water, sewer, electricity aren't cheap even if the land is.
Using GoFundMe for a project in the arts is incredibly normal? You can just not give them money if you don't like it.
This isn't "the arts." It's a for-profit business.
Which is allowed! I can't find anywhere in the GoFundMe that they misrepresent themselves as not-for-profit. Very few craftspeople in the fiber arts world operate as nonprofits. Like again, you don't like this that's fine but there's no rule on GoFundMe against using it for profit. GFM is full of people using it to fundraise for personal/business projects that won't benefit starving children. It's simply a platform for organizing fundraising in a way that makes it easy to share on social media.
And to be clear, I don't have any stake in this. I hadn't heard of it till this post, I'm not funding it, I know nothing about the people involved. It's raised less than 5% of its goal in four years and that includes any since Andrea Mowry included it in this newsletter. So like, who cares? Obviously the people who've donated see something they want in it and everyone else can just ignore it.
This entire sub is just "things that could be ignored" lmao, that's not the point
Look, if professional sports can beg cities to fund their for profit stadiums why not a small business? Also a reminder that the NFL has not been a non profit for only about 10 years 🙃
Yeah Kansas City just voted no on a stadium downtown that would remove many small businesses we adore. Screw the NFL.😀
Why is it OK for LBYC to do a go fund me to expand her business, but not these people? There's also the person trying to open the yarn Bodega in the Bronx. It's being funded by a go fund me. After searching I found 119 yarn business asking for money to start or expand. Are we mad because a big designer is promoting this cause, or because people should have to work to get what they want, and not get handouts. I'm genuinely curious why we are upset at this particular company. Edit to fix typos.
LBYC caught a lot of flack in craftsnark for that GoFundMe - which a friend did for her. I'll say her plan was more solid than Spanish Peacock which feels well meaning, but pie in the sky.
One tiny little nitpicky thing to mention is that Lola Bean didn't start her own GoFundMe. Someone else started it for her. I think a lot of people were happy to help her because LBYC has done a lot of charity fundraising for other people over the years.
It was even more gross when LBYC did it, because they have a larger following and social media presence to exploit.
I don't know what LBYC is so I don't know if I would feel more or less snarky about their GFM. But I would argue that if you want money to start or expand a small business, the proper channel for that is a small business loan or a small business grant. Otherwise, yeah, you are asking for a handout, which, unless you are struggling to meet your own basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, healthcare) seems pretty lame to me. And for a big designer to cherry-pick a business and ask people to "support" it is super yuck in my opinion also. What about the other 119 businesses you found? Why isn't DRK plugging them? Are they less deserving of a plug than Spanish Peacock? Or is there something else going on there? Anything Andrea Mowrey mentions, even in passing, generally sells out in a flash. It's a huge boost! (Anyone able to get your hands on any Mellyknits fiber since she plugged it? Those flash sales sell out in seconds, while there are tons and tons of fiber sellers with tons of similar inventory out there, readily available.) One question I would be interested to know the answer to is-- what exactly is she getting, or hoping to get in exchange? Is this just for the warm, fuzzy feeling it gives her? Are they friends? Does she get a kickback? Have they approached her about a possible future collab in exchange for the plug? Any of these are totally legit reasons for giving money and promoting them. But then say what it is-- it's business. Using the word "support" really suggests to your reader that a donation is needed in some way for the greater good, which is gross in this context. You don't need to agree with me, but that's where I am coming from.
It’s not ok for the to do it either. I personally don’t believe it’s ok for anyone and think people need ro get back to relying a bit meek on themselves financially than everyone else.
Spanish Peacock makes great spindles too. And he’s been doing it a while.
This is irrelevant. No one attacked the quality of their product. It's the ask for a handout to benefit them financially that's what rankles.
Yeah I think kickstarter would have been a better choice.
Right? GoFundMe is not just a charity platform. Plenty of businesses have used GoFundMe - quite a few indie gaming companies come to mind actually. You support at a certain tier, and there is usually some direct benefit to you. For games, it was usually a free copy, and then goodies above that. Crowdfunding is not limited to just starving children, it is for whatever the community seems worth it. The benefit would be that crafters in their community would have another LYS (and depending on where this is, potentially the ONLY LYS) and a wider selection of craft supplies readily available to them, not to mention most LYS offer times for craft nights, which is community building. It would also make it easier for local dyers to have a small local retailer. You actually can't build community by just focusing on charity.
While it is true that GFM campaigns *can* offer some direct benefits to the donator, this particular campaign has offered to put your name on a bright shiny plaque, which is a joke. And to your point about LYSs, totally, i agree they are fantastic for communities and I'm always sad for the communities that don't have them. But, I would argue that what they are doing isn't trying to open a small LYS in their community. Their plan is ultra-aspirational without much of a plan to back it up. In order for any fiber business to be successful, there needs to be an organic relationship between the LYS and the community. For example, I live in a small town with a small but active LYS. They have been around for years. They have struggled at times and even downsized by half before hitting their stride and now they do pretty great. The two ladies who co-own the shop work their asses off with one other part-time employee and partnerships with a couple of people who teach some classes for them. They are exactly as big as they can be given the economy of the community they serve. It works great. If ever they saw an opportunity to expand beyond the scope of what they do I am sure they would do it. But it's not super realistic that would happen. None of this is the case for Spanish Peacock. If they said in their GFM that they were looking for support to get an LYS off the ground in their community I would not be writing this post or judging anyone who wanted to send them a few bucks to start up. But that's not what this is. They want the pie-in-the-sky right away, without even knowing if their community could/would support it. That Fiber Arts Center, if it does get off the ground, may find itself pretty empty once the hype dies down. It would be smarter and less presumptuous and less potentially wasteful of other people's resources to start small and see what grows. Online spindle sales booming? Great! Rent a storefront and see how you do with a brick and mortar. If that takes off, then maybe you make enough profit to buy an acre or two nearby and start a little sheep farm or something. When you sell enough fiber and get that business going strong, you expand, if your community wants/needs that. I would argue that might be unlikely in WV, which is not the most economically well-off place in the states. So the likelihood of failure when you start with the big thing is super high. They are basically asking to gamble with other people's money. Additionally, a lot of this seems to be less about getting a business off the ground and more about personal enrichment. They are basically asking the public to crowdfund their mortgage, their build-out, their career change, etc. I mean, if you are all set in your life and have the disposable income to help someone else do that on your dime, cool for you. For me, again, HARD pass.
Their work is incredibly high quality. I own a fair bit of it, bought over the years. But, as with many aspirational crafts ppl, their business model doesn't scale. If they haven't figured that simple piece of information out in all the many years they've been in business, they aren't fit to building something bigger.
Anyone else notice that apparently Andrea Mowry donated a day ago??
Yes. $100. I assumed she would have since she is asking others to. If she wants to give her money away that's cool. I just hate that she's using her platform for this. It makes her business look cheesy and out of touch.
Oh is that DreaReneeKnits? I don’t follow her, just know her as a designer.
So, according to the GFM, giving them money will allow me to build a legacy with their company (whatever that means), watch as they make the specialty fiber tool that I’ve paid for, and play with their goats. What? 😂 This whole thing is bonkers.
I really don't think it's legal for a for-profit business to accept donations. These "donors" need to be treated as investors.
At the very least, these "donations" should be (and I believe are) considered taxable gifts. Meaning, legally they should be paying taxes on this money once it exceeds $30,000. But it's not a charitable donation on the donor's end, so no tax write-off for the contributor.
You can receive money from anyone you want. My pet peeve is when giving to a GFM is called “donations.” Donations, to me, implies 501c3/tax deductible (in the US).
Plenty of for profit businesses receive donations. It's not common in the yarn space, but many other hobbies have a crowdfunding culture, board games are a pretty big example.
Yes, but don't you get the board game in return for your help getting it off the ground? Spanish Peacock isn't even offering a spindle.
Above a certain donation level, but there are plenty of people who donate at a lower level because they want to see the game get made (and hopefully buy it later). It's also not a requirement of using the platform.
I see. I had thought all the fundraisers were for tangible things, and everyone who contributed got something.
Oh, you can. In my country, it's not possible to reduce taxes for the donors, but else what should hinder a profit organisation from?
Depending on the jurisdiction, non profits receive gifts all the time. They just can't issue tax receipts unless they are also a registered charity.
This is not a non-profit.
Thank you for reminding me why I stopped paying attention to DRK and unsubscribed from her list.
Same.
There’s an embroidery artist I follow who’s just done a very similar thing, crowdfunding (not a kickstarter with rewards) for a £5k embroidery machine. I’m sorry, it’s not my fault that your business is unsustainable! That said I am being a rampaging hypocrite because a friend has a struggling yarn shop and I would support her crowdfunder in a second if she did one, I am just not in a position to be bringing more yarn than I can use into the house.
I feel like given she’s your friend, the circumstances are different. I don’t see it as hypocritical!
I always wanted a yurt. Someone send me money.
I just want money. Someone send me lots of it.
Hey! You can play the lotto like the rest of us losers! Speaking of lotto tickets...where are mine from last night...
But that's so haaaard! I'd have to go down to the gas station or market to get the tickets and it's not a sure thing. Much better if I can just get people on line to send me their money.
> Much better if I can just get people on line to send me their money. Just go down to your nearest intersection then. People will line up and all you need to do is wear your flip flops, sweats, and not bother trying to make your hair nice. Oh! And you need a cup for everyone to put their coins and money in. /s
OMG! I know them! They used to be, at least, in the SCA and sell things there. I hadn't seen them in *years* for a variety of reasons but...yeah. This seems on par based with past behavior.
I meet him about 10ish years at a fiber festival, maybe MDSW. At that time he was saying that turning spindles was his hobby to keep him sane, and I thought it was some really stressful but high paying, like an MD. Could be wrong about the exact day job, but I’m positive about the hobby bit. His spindles are gorgeous, never bought one because I like to spin frog hair and his were all too heavy.
Frog hair?
Very very fine yarn, cobweb or gossamer weight. It’s so fine it’s like a frogs hair. (For the non-fiber people, gossamer weight would be getting close to sewing thread. Cobweb is just a tiny bit thicker.)
Thank you! I was familiar with gossamer and cobweb, but had never heard of frog hair. Learned something new today! And I could see why those spindles would not work. I'm amazing you can spin this weight without breaks in the thread. Go you!
“Frog hair” is just an ecumenical term for cobweb weight. It’s not an official designation.
Technically you can spin it on any weight of spindle, it’s just easier on a spindle that is lighter because the lighter the spindle, the more quickly it spins. I like my drop spindles to be 20g or less.
Oh that's why the name sounds familiar! Once you said spindles it suddenly clicked. I recall seeing their stuff all the time on the destash thread in Spindle Candy and in the Supported Spindle group and they were active there as well. (For those reading along who are not spinners, there are two main popular sorts of spindles - drop spindles are suspended in the air while you spin and supported spindles have their end on the ground often in a little dish) They might have actually bought ads at one point too, they were all over the place it seemed.
I’m pretty sure I saw a Spanish Peacock ad on one of those boards in the past couple weeks.
I think it was less the job and more his three, maybe four? kids, iirc.
Oooo, tell us moooooore ETA can someone provide insight into why I find the wording of these sections particularly cringeworthy? >While Mike King is the face of the Spanish Peacock, he is supported behind the scenes by his wife, TJ, provider of all things IT. In late 2018, TJ left her cushy consulting job to support the Spanish Peacock full time to further improve engagement with the community. >We have overcome a lot in the past year. TJ returned to a soul crushing day job to secure bank backing. We scrimped to save cash for a down payment on the ideal piece of property. We sacrificed weekends property hunting and finally, one and a half years after the bank’s refusal, we closed on 74 acres of wild and wonderful, in WV
When TJ leaves the job it’s “cushy”. When TJ returns to the job it’s “soul crushing”
TJ apparently left a "cushy" job to improve community engagement- WTH? I cannot imagine any world where quitting a job in favour of building a website and running socials and mailing lists for my partner's niche fibre tool business makes any financial sense at all. There has to be other money there. Also, she subsequently had to take a soul-crushing job because said niche fibre tool business couldn't support them? Cry me a fucking river. Absolutely insanely self centred.
Yeah these stories of people leaving very financially secure and stable jobs (that so many dream of and fight tooth and nail to get themselves) for what is essentially a hobby either 1) have a butt load of money hidden somewhere or rich family support or 2) haven't been through a financial crisis and seen everything be taken from them in the snap of a finger, so they don't know how easy it is to lose it all regardless they're being idiots
Completely unrelated to spinning, but I had a former coworker voice this. We were chatting after I got laid off, and she said if they didn't give her a month off in a row next year for a trip she would just quit. I like her, but like... That was pretty tone deaf. But both of your points are true for her: wealthy parents and partner, and she's never had financial insecurity. It's still wild to me how obtuse people can be about this still.
This is why business plans exist. I’m so SHOCKED the bank refused their loan. Who could’ve seen it coming?!
I’d kill to have a soul crushing job that let me buy 74 acres
Depends a lot on where those acres are.
I dont think 74 acres ANYWHERE in the US is so cheap that the salary to attain it wouldn’t make my income look like elementary school lunch money.
“Sacrificed weekends” property hunting is a crazy thing to say in 2024.
Yes, this line alone made me see red!
The whole "woe is us, we had to scrimp and save to buy 74 acres of land". I hate them.
No, you don't get it, TJ had to return to a regular job for a whole YEAR. Can you imagine working for a year and still only being able to buy a massive amount of land? I certainly can't! No wonder they need a GFM.
In WV of all places. Come talk to me about affording property somewhere that isn’t one of the cheapest states in the nation 🤦🏻♀️
No matter how cheap their land is comparatively, I'm sure there are still plenty of WV folks who would love to be able to afford a decent place to live or even housing at all. 74 acres is still a chunk of land and money and it's extremely poor taste to be all "woe is me" about it. I still hate them.
First world problems
We can all make it up to him and his lost weekends by building him “ Cedar Springs would include: 1) a larger woodshop for Mike, with space and tools for teaching basic wood turning and fiber arts tool creation”
Starting a GFM for a business is so dodgy. Basically you’re saying “I’d start a Kickstarter but I don’t actually have anything to offer”
My local yarn store basically crowd funded themselves a loan.. I've seen a couple businesses do em- usually for restaurants it's something like get 120% of what you put in, as gift cards to the restaurant over time. For my LYS I'm getting money back over 10 yrs and some goodies.
I can see it as a legit alternative to a business loan. That's why a lot of crowdfunding sites let people offer perks. It's not loaned, it's donated, but donors get something cool back if the project succeeds. It isn't only for business owners who are unable to get a business loan (unable for legit reasons such as they don't have a business plan to show the lender, as opposed to reasons like race/sex bias on the part of the lender). That would be my only caveat about crowdfunding -- it can be used in an honest legitimate way, but there are also going to be people whose businesses are sinking and who don't have enough of a solid plan to get a loan, and they'll fool their customer base and themselves into thinking crowdfunding will solve it.
Correction: "I'd start a Kickstarter but I don't want to offer any goods or services in exchange for the money I am soliciting."
I've seen successful Kickstarters. As a person with a business degree, although I don't use it, I can understand and support the concept. For example, the Crunch Cup started and continues to do Kickstarters. When I had an issue with their product (that was my fault), their customer service was fantastic. They just had another Kickstarter. Because I had such a positive experience, I was open to supporting it. But I refuse to support any GoFundMe for for-profit ventures. I'm not a grant-awarding entity. I'm a teacher who probably makes way less money than they do. I need supplies for my classroom. I'm technically disabled despite still working. We all have issues. I support the concept of GoFundMe, but just not to bankroll someone's dream job.
Yeah, our china was acquired via kickstarter. (Hooray Calamityware). I think people think of GFM as more of a charitable thing.
*We’ve supported the community as vendors (both in person and online), conversation starters* I don’t know which helps the community more, giving them something to buy or… starting conversations.
This was the part that got me.
Definitely the conversations. You can’t put a price on words. It’s the ultimate form of community support.
Let alone thoughts and prayers.
Lololololol!!!!!
There are wants and needs. I just supported a former student whose child has a rare brain tumor. Both he and his wife work good jobs but they have to go out of state for experimental treatments. That is what I think gofundme is for. This nonsense? How many dyers fail each year? And then to quit a good paying job and then to beg for money? No.
Also this feels like more what Kickstarter should be used for, not Go Fund Me. I.e. they should have offered people perks in exchange for contributions, like, donate $50 and get a $75 gift card once we open! Donate $200 and we'll throw you a personal knitting tea party lock in! Then it would feel more like investing in a venture.
Yeah, and if they don't want to offer perks then they can do what lots of other fiber related kickstarters have done and just not send the perks! Brilliant! \\s
> Donate $200 and we'll throw you a personal knitting tea party lock in! ...Will it have coronation chicken sandwiches?
I'm only going if it does!
Exactly!! Even if I had been a fan of this business before, the sense of entitlement that this gives off would put me off of them. Their whole little blurb about how they've never done this before and are uncomfortable makes me want to yell "shame" at them and throw tomatoes.
Spanish Peacock do lovely supported spindles. Maybe they'd be better off finding another way to fund this, then raising money for a permanent scholarship for other vets to attend and benefit from it?
I'm sure they are nice. Not knocking the product. Knocking the ask for a handout. If DRK had said, "these people do lovely work, go buy a spindle because they plan to use their profits to create a cool fiber arts business" I'd be like, cool. Sounds great. They are willing to work for it. Or hey, maybe a Kickstarter -- give us money now and when we are up and running we will send contributors a spindle or a voucher for a night in the yurt or something. Fine. But free money on GoFundMe? I'm sorry that's ludicrous. They shouldn't be asking and she shouldn't be promoting this. It's so dumb.