Cascade Advanced Design ~ Greetings to All

[CADesign]

Cascade Advanced Design (CAD) is a sole-proprietorship, service oriented business located in the Pacific Northwest.

I do drafting and design and have consulting as a tag as well to cover the rest of what I do.
I'm a relatively young business but, hopefully, I'm getting my roots firmly implanted in this neck of the woods. I've been a draftsman for over 16 years now but finally broke loose of those corporate bonds and started my own business a few years ago.

I was, of course, terrified about the uncertainty of "going it alone" but, to be truthful, found working as an employee to be nearly as uncertain. As our economy changed, so changed the structures of the companies that I worked for. I got laid off several times due to corporate downsizing and it seemed to happen every 5 years or so. The last employer that I had simply retired and I had little choice but to find small jobs since I live in a rural setting here in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington.

I had many contacts through my work for the Architect that retired so in using these contacts I was able to network locally and get the word out that I was open for business.
I was really "wingin' it" for a while but eventually things started to click. I was now working from home, so no commute (as gas prices started to rise). I maintain a nearly paperless office by sending data either directly to clients or, if hard copies are needed, I send files to "Service Bureaus" like Kiko's or The UPS Store for customer pickup.

My only real costs are for software and general office supplies with some travel expenses and marketing. With low overhead I have managed to make things work so that I can get through the down times and save during the upswings.
At 55, I want to be able to wind down somewhat and ease into retirement (which will also include working, but at a bit slower pace).

Owning my own business is the best way I know to take control of my destiny. Through hard work and some planning and endurance I have no doubt that things will work out.

It's the funniest thing that, just when I start to doubt or worry about making ends meet, I get a few more calls and am suddenly too busy and worrying if I bit off more than I can chew.

I'd love to have a much greater margin to buffer tough times but know that I can gradually work toward that end. If you are young, start saving now, you'll never regret it. Fortunately our humble home is nearly paid off and we are virtually debt free so at least we are able to keep our heads above water in this souring economy. By keeping an open mind and drawing on past experiences it's surprising how smoothly things go in the long run.

I wish you all well in your business pursuits, follow your heart and your gut feelings and you'll never go wrong.

With Best Wishes,

Dave
(CADesign)

[vangogh]

Welcome to the forum Dave and thanks for sharing your story.

I couldn't help but notice a few similarities we share. I was working in different tech jobs before starting my business and saw the same thing about a lack of security. For me the layoff cycle was about a year. Somewhere in this generation employers stopped being as loyal to employees as they were in earlier generations. Working for someone else is no guarantee and I agree with you that the best way to control your destiny is to be in business for yourself.

I also have a mostly paperless office. Everything I do is online and rarely if ever do I need to print anything. It took me several years to get through one large pack of printer paper. In fact I still haven't gone through it.

I have the same low overhead too, which helps a lot during slow times. I don't need much money to keep my business running, though the money can always be put to some use or another.

I'm glad you found us. We know there are still a number of people who weren't around when we moved so it's nice to know people are still able to find their way here.

[KristineS]

Welcome to the forum. It's always nice to see new faces.

[CADesign]

Great to be here Steve!
Sure is nice to have a good sounding board and support mechanism, so easily accessed.

It took me about 3 min. on the 'other' board to see that there was some kind of tension, then I saw a reference to the ".net" forum on a post dealing with editing of links.

I'm a true believer that forums don't (or at least shouldn't) need to "control" members, but rather guide discussions and just filter the total rubbish out. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." I think you've got a better mousetrap here, I like the quality of discussions. I've got ya bookmarked!

Thanks to you and your Co-Owner(s) for providing this forum.
I'm not great at being a regular on any forum but I'll certainly try to touch bases and share in the business experience. I appreciate that opportunity.

Dave
...CADesign

[CADesign]

KristineS,

Appreciate the warm welcome - look forward to reading more and learning here.

Thanx,

Dave
...CADesign

[vangogh]

Interesting that you could see the tension on the old forum so quickly. A few of us have been banned at the old placed. I get to claim the honor of being the first. We think people visiting will think it odd that many of the people who had been there the longest have all been banned.

One thing I forgot to mention before is I've experienced the same thing where there have been moments along the way where little was coming in and I wondered if I'd be able to sustain a business. Just at those moments new clients appeared and old clients needed work and next thing I knew the revenue was there again. It's important to stick through some of the rough times and hold on because something good is usually going to follow.

No worries if you aren't going to be around all the time. We're still happy you joined the community however often you're able to post.

[CADesign]

Interesting that you could see the tension on the old forum so quickly

The posts that I did read were on the front page so I didn't need to dig deep at all.

Funny (true) Story:

It may also be that, for a short while, I was a moderator on a troubled forum (VisforVoltage.net)
Several of us (moderators) and the webmaster were concerned about the direction the forum was going and we all jumped ship to VisforVoltage.org ... (amazingly similar situation ... :)).
I certainly found that being a moderator (my first and only time) can be somewhat stressful under the wrong conditions ... I resigned after the new ship was sailing straight and back on course.

Dave
...CADesign

[cbscreative]

Welcome, Dave. That's a great intro and I also share the same perspective on controlling your own destiny, and the insecurity of working for the man. I'm glad you found us, and I'm the second one to be banned about a day after vangogh. I expected that some members would sense the problem when they see the goings on of that forum. Many of the members here were on the other forum for years. I was over 3, and some here were there much longer.

That was actually a very good forum until earlier this year. What we set out to do here is keep what was left before it got any worse, and this one is actually better now. Thanks for your compliments.

[vangogh]

Sounds like a very familiar situation. Moderating the old forum was becoming a chore. I didn't have much privileges to really do anything and the owners never communicated anything about how they wanted to see things done. Even if the owner didn't post publicly he should have been communicating with staff.

I think in the end it worked out for the best. I already like what we have here more than what we ever had there.

[cbscreative]

Amen to that, vangogh. Even though the forum was very good at one time, I think this one is much better. We may be in the driver's seat here, but it's the member response that has made this forum such a success.

[CADesign]

I just tried logging on to that forum and doing a search for my posts there.
Message says "Invalid Username" and won't let me log on any more, yet my posts are still there. I'm not on their Member List any more.
Strange, very strange indeed.
Seems like extreme paranoia or a total lack of common sense to me. :rolleyes:

Perhaps I should feel honored ... lol
... at any rate, I'm very glad to be doing business here in the real world.

Dave

p.s. dot com spy :p

[cbscreative]

Even if you were a spy, Dave, we've got nothing to hide. :)

In fact, they did seem to learn a few lessons from us bailing on them, so that's good. They're paying closer attention now, and that's good too. The sad part is, that didn't happen until we bailed. But everything is now for the better. If they succeed, that's great. The Internet's a big place and there's room for both of us.

The really funny thing is that prior to the site going down for over a week in late July, neither vangogh nor I were planning on having our own forum. We put this together as a response to their neglect (and the fact that all of vangogh's inquiries and offers to help went unanswered). We had to act fast, so we went from having no plans or even thoughts of starting our own forum, to going live with this site in approx 10 days.

We had both been there long enough to know that the members wanted a well run forum. There was no question about the need for it. Since they were not filling that need, we knew if we didn't do this, the community would fall apart.

If you never read the Thanks to the Admins thread, it's quite interesting. Vangogh and I were already actively planning this forum by the time the site came back online, but we were not revealing our plans. For one, we didn't know IF the forum would come back, nor if the database would be in tact if it did. Their database still has some noticeable issues.

Anyway, if you read that thread, you would see that members began asking about a new forum we could all go to. When that happened, we felt that if we didn't reveal our plans, the members might scatter before we had this ready, so we made the announcement, and the response was very enthusiastic.

BTW, today makes exactly one month since we opened the doors here, which was done accidently a little over a day before we planned on.

[vangogh]

I'm surprised they banned you. Their answer isn't to ban everyone who posts here, but I guess it's their forum to run their way.

Steve I'm not really sure all that much has changed over there. The did manage to get the forum integrated back into Business Leader and there is a new moderator there, but otherwise I suspect things are mostly the same as they were before. If they do great, but either way it really has nothing to do with us at this point.

[cbscreative]

I tend to agree, vangogh. What goes on over there is not something I think much about. I only hope that everyone who doesn't like what happened will find us here, and that we'll keep attracting the best through all the other channels like we have been doing.

[CADesign]

:) I for one think it's great that you were able to recapture the true spirit in developing the new site. I see a lot of positive vibes as I read posts here and that, IMO, is an essential ingredient in running a successful small business.

Being chief cook and bottle washer of a relatively new business means that I have a lot to gain from listening and sharing with those who are going through or have been through similar experiences.

So, Great job! I have no doubt that many others will soon find this site and be glad they did.

Dave

[vangogh]

Thanks Dave. One of the things I like about our community is we have such diverse backgrounds and experiences that you can learn something from most anyone here.

None of us knows everything, but together we do know a lot.

[cbscreative]

None of us knows everything
There you go underestimating me again. :D

[Paul Elliott]

Welcome, Dave. I think you'll love it here. There's a lot of help and support.

Paul

[CADesign]

Thanks Paul,

I can tell that this is a wonderful site. The straight answers, helpful attitudes and can-do spirit along with dash of common sense and mutual respect makes it a pleasure to visit and participate here.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Dave