Resources for Jumping from Dreams to Reality

Starting a business is a scary thing, especially if you are not confident about how to start a business. It's great to have ideas, inspiration, a nice concept and name, but how do you actually make your business manifest?

Luckily I am taking a business class so I am learning the nuts and bolts of making a strong foundation. It all begins with being aware of resources and "enlightening" yourself out of ignorance. There are a lot of fears and misconceptions due to lack of knowledge so having a nice collection of resources to combat those fears is the first step.

The main fear has to do with finances and not having enough. So, it is good to look at ways to obtain those finances. A recommendation is to get help from the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) whose objective is: "To help foster growth and success in the business sector."

Another great site for starting a business is: The Small Business Association (SBA). This site will provide almost everything you need to know about starting a business including forms for registering etc., but they also act as guarantors to entrepreneurs looking to start a small business.

www.entrepreneur.com Is another great size that will give you a jump start. So, with this task at hand, I will begin reading and try to come up with a plan of actions to take. There is no other way but hard work! 

How the name "Lavaculture" came to be

It all started in Kolkata, India. It was a misty morning just before noon. I was sitting upstairs and had up to this point been contemplating effective ways to attract people to a spiritual culture and way of life (Bhakti Yoga), yet provide practical products and solutions to every day necessities.

I had always been drawn to and had a magical relationship with: Herbology, Aromatherapy, Ayurveda; a sense of fashion, intuitive healing, and earrings. I used to collect stones and study about gems. These sweet childhood memories and a longing for the creative were weighing me down. Had my life's creativity ended here? Could it be possible that it might have ended?

Sitting in a basket chair just thirty minutes before noon worship (since I was living in an Ashram, a spiritual center in India) and thinking to myself— a culture, a way of life. Bhakti Culture? Devotional Life? Veda Culture? Love. Divine Love. And then I remembered an excerpt from a book I had been recently reading. There was a description of Divine Love of God wherein the internal feelings of Divine Love were compared to Lava and the holder of that love to a volcano. I thought, really our culture and spiritual ideal is to develop pure love of God, this is what the culture is about right? The ultimate goal? So I came up with the name LAVACULTURE. It was perfect. Obscure, yet for my own satisfaction and those who can appreciate it, signified something spiritual; its origin was somehow related to this Divine ideal. At the same time it matches all of my interests and this natural holistic way of life. And there it was. Having said that, the next step is in the development of these products. It will take research, time and knowledge to make all of this work. More on that later.

Rush

Ok, so I am having these super rich inspirational attacks which I would LOVE to share with everyone just because I am a Libra moon and love to judge myself and live through the feedback and added ideas and opinions of others :)

I have boiled shit down towards action plan:

I need to take a few classes, let's face it:
Herbology
Aromatherapy
Ayurveda
Earring making
Soap, Lotion, Shampoo and Conditioner making

And that will be all for now. So, I am in London, will be in Italy in a few weeks, then back in India for two months, and then to the U.S. can anyone help me find places at reasonable prices, where I might be able to take these classes? You can even suggest places in Seattle since I remember there being a very well known school.

From India I will search out and bring back to the states with me:

Ayurvedic base oils for lotions and shampoos etc.,
Essential oils (can anyone recommend any companies or people to connect with?)
Silk cloths (for aromatherapy eye pillows) plus maybe kadi, (cotton weave) for the inside pack
and other cloths for making clothes
precious gems
AND pillow covers, curtains, and bamboo mats to sell for developing all of this


Boiling it down, now I need to find the places to do this and find these things.

I am also thinking about labels, I would love to make organic paper labels that are collage looking...

Selling Selling Selling

So I am trying to sell the stuff on my site. What to do how to do it?
I have opened a facebook page and from there I hope to build on online community of ladies and in the future, gents who are interested.

I also need advice about scents, what sort of smells do people like? What do they need to get through the day? I want to create my first body line call LavaFlow and want to know what keeps people going throughout the day. Which products they need and use all of the time to make a complete kit.

Also, clothing, what materials are most liked? Organic materials? Where to find them?

But back to point A: Sell all things on the site! At least if I could sell all of the purses and winter clothes that would be great.

So check them out!

www.lavaculture.com