general thoughts

uiuiui

“Do you carry your life in this backpack?” , asked me a friend a while ago while we were walking around in town. Sometimes it feels like that. I usually carry paper, pencils,water color, and a box with tools with me. And a pad, a keyboard, some brushes, glasses, adaptors, and a couple of other things that I am too lazy to unpack. Yesterday, after the weekend, I had everything with me, except for the watercolor palette. The most important part was missing. But, necessity is the mother of invention: I used the stuff that I had in the tools box together with black ink to muse during the lunch break in the factor.

While I was inventive in the factory (see today’s picture) I was listening to the radio where an economist, specialized in economic history, talked about Greece. uiuiui. Sometimes, in all the news about billions and quantitative easings and Troicas and more, we tend to forget that there are actually people living there, in Greece. The bottom line of the interview was: No chance for Greece in the Euro currency, except there is an economic union that goes far beyond what folks have these days in the Euro currency area. Because of many things. And another bottomline was: So many suffered and will continue to suffer beyond believe. He actually made the comparison to the great depression in the 30-ies and yes, Greece is there, on that level.

Irrelevant of all the politics and obligations and rules and laws: so many suffer and it makes me feel sad. You know… no job, no hope, no future.

And the Greek are not the only ones. There’s a tectonic shift happening these days; it happens slowly, over years, but it happens.

I mention this here, as besides all the painting and sniffing and mixing, I am running my little business here, in Switzerland. And whether we like it or not: I am sitting on these shifting tectonic plates, too. And, yes, I feel the tremor.

Already in 2014, I was looking into building tauerville, anticipating further changes, opening a gateway to another galaxy, where I can continue to create and offer my creations, in an easy approachable way; easy approachable for both, me -the sender- and you -the recipient-. When doing so, I was evaluating a lot of options: First, it was clear that at least part of the production needs to be done by someone, other than me. Thus, I was looking into production in house by hiring someone, production in France, in Italy, in Germany, in Switzerland, … and in the US. The US won.

Why?

In house: I did not want to hire, rent more room and take the responsibility for a person here in high wage Switzerland.

Italy: Too complicated. Just the idea to get perfume oil (the concentrate) over the border is a nightmare. It is sad, but it is that way. And: Do not even think about getting a company established in Italy.

France: Too expensive. I mean way too expensive.

Germany: Reliable, a real alternative, but: I have little trust in the EURO zone, and midterm, I expect production costs in Germany to go up, comparable to Switzerland’s level, but at a lower productivity level. And I was worried that getting a company established there is not that easy, in comparison that is.

In the end, I decided for the US. It makes economical sense to ship stuff there, get bottles filled there and packed, and ship part of it back. And I have my US company established there already (I did so 2013, with the snip of a finger, within 24 hours). This is all TAUERVILLE. Not Tauer Perfumes. But it is a start, a beginning, to get ready for the tectonic plates shifting even more.

What’s the bottomline of all this (thank you for reading all the way down here): I am really sorry. I so wished to provide job(s), for instance in Italy, on a very small scale, but still… But I can’t. Because the market in the EU is far from unified, because it is too expensive, and because it is too complicated to deal with.

Actually, this part of the post today is very sad. There is a happy note, though. Everything’s changing these days, and I might reconsider tomorrow. Necessity is the mother of invention. And those who know and follow me…. After ten years bending and stretching and adapting: We got super flexible here.