What's New at TKB Trading

... back in 2010. I thought I'd share that story.


Like everyone else, TKB started out in a basement.  That was way back in 1995.  Over the years, the basement expanded into a bedroom and then from a bedroom into a flat. 

We were in that flat for a long time. Van studied for her citizenship exam there. I would yell to her over the boxes "What are the three Branches of government?" or "Who are our...

Even the SBA likes to spread the rumor: Most startup businesses "fail" within the first five years. You've heard that, right? From the web, from your well-meaning friends, from your family.

This oft-repeated platitude has no doubt discouraged 1,000's of hopeful entreprenuers from making the leap towards self-employment and for this reason I consider it a bit evil.

The nay-sayers tell you that it is...

This year has been my tipping point. It is the year that I have gone from sleeping well at night to tossing and turning. The year that my jaw began to clench. I have my eye on a couple culprits:

• My iPhone. I can pick it up at 2:00 a.m. and do a quick check of the emails or read up on the forum or check a twitter feed. I no longer come home at night and shut the door on the day's activities.
  

• So...

I have been following the growth and changes at 100% Pure and I received some interesting responses. You can revisit that post and those responses here: http://tkbtrading.blogspot.com/search/label/100%25%20pure

Long Story Short: This Berkeley-based company makes natural cosmetics and has a patent pending on using fruit and flower pigments to color them.

Yesterday the broker who sold TKBthe...

Long ago I learned to compartmentalize some of my small business owner activities so that they don't overwhelm.

• I order new supplies once a week (Wednesdays) and I don't even think about it in between.
• When bills come in, I immediately tuck them into my "pink folder". I only sort through and pay bills on Friday.
• I come in at 9:00 and leave at 6:00 and weekends are not for working.
  

It's like Maslow's...

Recently I attended a Green Expo in San Francisco and it was interesting to see the number of booths dedicated to various different enterprises. Surprising to me was the number of independent organic chocolatiers. Seems that hand crafted chocolate is just as dynamic an entreprenuerial industry as hand crafted soap, toiletries and cosmetics.

Locally, we have several chocolatiers many of them quite...