The Friendly Vivarium Handbook

Are you

• an independent thinker and (even though you might not admit it to your friends and family) a creative soul?
• interested in starting your own business, or taking your existing business in a different direction?
• suspicious of advice that suggests you can build a business in a weekend, or a product in a day?
• a person of many interests and talents who’s not sure which direction to take in establishing (or relaunching) a business?
• someone who prefers reflection and processes of discernment over one-size-fits-all business and marketing advice?

If so, welcome.  You’re one of our people.  At TerraFirma Creative, we also find ourselves pulled in a hundred directions by our various interests and loyalties.  During more than a decade of working with small business owners on graphic design and editorial projects, we learned—heck, we’ve experienced ourselves—the challenges inherent in framing a business, in establishing priorities, and in articulating exactly what it is one does to help others.

So we’re writing a handbook to help others reflect on, refine, and launch (or relaunch!) a business, whether it be a retail store, an online art gallery, a consulting practice, a publishing company, homeopathic medicine—or whatever it is you feel called to do.

It’s called The Friendly Vivarium Handbook.

Pssst. . .  We’re still writing the Handbook. Would you like to be sure it meets your needs?  Send us your question about building a business that is true to your authentic self (including questions about how to discover your authentic self!), and we’ll try to answer it in the book.  Simply e-mail Leslie at leslie -at- terrafirmacreative -dot- com.

Friendly?

Well, friendly in two senses: first, it’s accessible.  It takes the approach that maybe you didn’t ever expect to want to go into business, or that if you did know you have an entrepreneurial streak, that you’ve never quite been sure what to do with it.  Accordingly, the handbook will take you by the (ahem) hand and lead you gently through a series of reflections and exercises that will allow you to craft a business that is authentic to you and meaningful to others.

But it’s also friendly in a second way: it draws heavily on the practices and principles of the Society of Friends (AKA Quakers).  Practices like discernment, clearness, and productive silence.  Principles like simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality.  The Friendly Vivarium Handbook is not a traditional how-to manual; rather it’s a way of understanding what you’re meant to do–and once you’ve reached that understanding, how to go about doing it.

Vivarium?

You know about vivaria, yes? On its smallest scale, a vivarium is basically a combination terrarium and aquarium in which grow a variety of plants and perhaps a few animals.  They can be incredibly lovely, and their maintenance ranges from simple to very complex.

Here’s an example:

When you’re building something–be it a website, a book, or an entire business–it often makes sense to take the vivarium approach.  You need to find just the right substrate or rocky niches in which to grow plants–or, speaking less metaphorically, your ideas.  You must be sure you have the right plants in place, and the appropriate temperature and humidity, before adding animals.  You need to be sure those animals you do place in your vivarium aren’t going to compete with one another.  This takes lot of research–online, in the library, at pet stores, and maybe in forums or at conferences with other vivarium enthusiasts.

Sometimes you’ll find you need to let the vivarium sit almost untouched while new plants or animals establish themselves.  Other times, you’ll manage the vivarium more actively.  Sometimes you’ll find that certain plants or animals don’t thrive in your vivarium, and they’ll need to be replaced with healthier, better-fitting specimens.

What you’ll get from the handbook

The Friendly Vivarium Handbook provides

• exercises to provoke reflection on your interests and talents
• activities to help you identify your own guiding principles
• worksheets to help you plan how to grow your business in a way that’s authentic to you, sustainable, and ethical

Once you’ve discerned what it is you’re meant to do, the handbook gives you some options for finding an audience and attracting clients.

When you click “I Want to Build my Vivarium” below you’ll get:

• a downloadable, 50-page handbook (a PDF version)
• reflective worksheets to complete in your favorite word-processing program, or to print and fill out by hand
• a highly visual, easy-to-use Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to help you clarify your vision and determine your next steps

The Friendly Vivarium Handbook isn’t yet for sale.  If you want to know when it is available, sign up to receive e-mail from TerraFirma Creative.   Ours is a low-volume, high-interest list for entrepreneurs driven as much by passion as by profit.

Frog photo by C. Eric Hanson, and used under a Creative Commons license.