John Donohue              (Use the Back Button To Return) Work History 1976-1984 Buffalo, NY and San Diego, CA Magic Wind

This period, corresponding to my 25th through 34th years, consisted of the classic business progression from craft/hobby stage, literally in a garage, through the beginning of a true manufacturing firm. At the end it was a successful porcelain factory in San Diego with sales of gift items of $600,000. yearly, employing 20 people.     The idea and propulsion for the startup was that of my wife's. She was a potter, but also a business-oriented person, looking for a way to turn her craft into a strong livelihood. Together we developed a line of gift items made of porcelain. I gradually assumed the office/finance/production side while she held up the design/employee relations side.     As per any such enterprise, the entrepreneur wears all hats. This was "graduate school" for me. I devised a unique program of incentives for pulling receivables 33% tighter than the industry norm. I invented the production process, installed a profit-sharing incentive system on the manufacturing floor, attended trade shows, designed and printed catalogs. It is against my style to use "etc." but were I to slip, this would be the place for it. Business plans submitted with loan applications, negotiations for major equipment, dealing with unjust worker's comp audits, combatting breakage by confronting the UPS driver, enduring the implications of earthquake for a porcelain factory built on the Rose Canyon fault in San Diego, und so weiter.     Near the end of this phase, I began to investigate the fledgling micro computer emergence and acquired my first system. There was no accounting software. There was multiplan, however...     This enterprise was awarded to my wife during the termination of our marriage, not against my will. It lasted several more years, but she returned to more creative pursuits in the mid-80's.