Attached is final report for the Main Street Org Small Business Grant which was issued on June 18, 2024.

We did send an email on 8-6-2024 indicating we needed to adjust the grant spending plan. We are proud to say that we lived up to the final spending plan as noted.

Due to changes in the Market and other Factors we needed to make some spending adjustments for reasons listed as follows:

1. One of our main Artists, Jordan Toledo RIP, who made our Native American Hand carved Apple Charging stations and stones passed away in late July 2024. We had $500 dollars allocated for Native American Apple Charging Stations.
2. We have not been able to find any Native American Weavers to make our Mini Rugs for Apple Accessories. $1000 had been allocated for mini rugs.
3. We have not found any pottery at this point that is acceptable and $500 ad been allocated for Native American Pottery.
4. Although price of silver has dropped in recent days, the price of silver rose significantly recently when we were having Watch bands made causing our Native American Silversmiths to demand more money for their silver work hitting a recent high of 31.50 per ounce. So we had to pay more for our Signature Product Native American Apple Watch bands to be made by the Native American Artists.
5. A local supplier of silver, turquoise and findings in our area has shut down permanently. Monster Slayer provided our local economy and Artists with Silver, Turquoise stones and other products needed to create our products and operate our stores. They had a going out of business sale so we purchased stones and other supplies for making watch bands at discount prices.
6. Because our signature product is the Sterling Silver Native American Apple Watch band, and because the Watch band does not take up much shelf space in our small store, It seems more logical to invest in Watch bands as opposed to Rugs and Pottery which take up floor and shelf space we do not have and also because we cannot find makers of those products. And the Watch bands are better sellers.
7. And because we can barely keep up with current production levels, we seek to adjust the marketing spending as word of mouth and basic free social media is keeping us working to capacity. More marketing and increased customer buying would strain our current production levels so a reduction in Marketing is in order.
8. We do make bands for the Samsung watch also and Samsung recently released a new version of their Watch. We have nearly sold out our inventory of Samsung bands so some Bands for the New Samsung watch are being requested by customers.
9. Also it does take considerable time to finish our Signature products, The Native American Sterling Silver Apple Watch and Samsung Bands, as sometimes it takes the Artist 1-2 months to deliver 4 bands. They are contractors and not employees and so they are on their own time schedule which is not always optimal for our business. Also once the bands are finished by the Artists, business owner Charles Lynch spends many hours finishing up the bands for retail sale by filing tubing and leather band holes, attaching adapters and laser cutting, dying and attaching leather bands, cleaning and polishing and finally taking photos for online store and sale in our brick-and-mortar store.

Here are some of the details on what we accomplished:

Item	Phase I	Status	Category
Native American Sterling Silver Apple Watch Bands	5633	completed	Inventory
Turquoise and Coral Stones and findings for watch bands and jewelry	1000	completed	Inventory
Leather, Buckles, Tubing, Pins and Adapters to be used for Apple watch bands	742	completed	Inventory
Native American Samsung Bands	550	completed	Inventory
Native American handmade Rugs	0		Inventory
Native American Indian Jewelry	620	completed	Inventory
Native American Carved Charging Stations	0		Inventory
Pottery	100	completed	Inventory
iPhone Accessories Cables, USB Plugs	426	completed	Inventory
Cabbing Machine Rock Grinder Lapidary Equipment to cut and polish stones	0		Equipment
New Laptop Computer to manage Finances	1000	completed	Office Equipment
Office Furniture	0		Office Furniture
Display Cabinets and Tables	0		Store Fixtures
New Window Neon Signage, old ones have burnt out sections	323.5	completed	Store Fixtures
Outdoor Sign	0		Marketing
Camera System and Computer	0		Security
Marketing	744
Social Media
Facebook
Instagram
X
Tiktok		completed	Marketing
Local Radio
Sun Ray Casino Billboard Sign
Highway Billboards Farmington, Bloomfield, Shiprock, Gallup
New! Laser Printer toner for making flyers distributed to customers who come into the store and which are distributed with online sales
Security Alarm System	0		Security
Phone System	227	completed	Office Equipment
Macbook Computer to update Apps	0		Office Equipment
Mainstreet America Membership	0
Leather Sewing Machine	0		Product Equipment
Laser Cutter(Sell old one get better one)	0		Product Equipment
Total	11365.5

 

We had a spectacular month of August with sales of $7812, $2725 of that was from consignment jewelry we sell to help fill up the store shelves. That leaves approximately $5087 of sales from Bilasaana Native American Apple Accessory products.

For the time span of the Grant was deposited into our account on from July 18, 2024 we had total sales of $16,802. Remember some of this sales goes to our consignment seller.

Here are some of the details on spending and work involved:

Laptop Computer

The owner Charles Lynch in his previous life was a successful software developer and always had a powerful up to date super computer laptop computer for work. His old HP laptop was over 14 years old and had the memory maxed out, latest windows 10 software it could upgrade to and a Solid-State hard drive. The computer back in the day cost around 3000. The new laptop Lynch upgraded to with the Grant Money is a Powerful Dell Workstation laptop with 2gb hard drive and 16g memory. The Dell Workstation cost nearly 3000. Lynch opened a Dell credit account to buy the Workstation Laptop then used $1000 of the grant money to pay down on the interest free loan. Have about 1 year to pay off the loan in interest free before accrued interest would kick in. So hopefully will repay this loan before the accrued interest deadline kicks in. The laptop is very fast and saving much time in managing the finances, documents, Illustrator designs and the online store.

Signage

Our old window signs were blackened and burning out. With the grant we spent less than 500 to replace the existing LED neon window lights and also added lighting to a new large window at the store front. The owner Lynch did all the work himself pulling out the old lights, cleaning up the windows and installing the new lights on 4 windows. Lynch spent about 30 hours doing the work saving hundreds in hiring a company or contractor to do the work. The new neon lights are spectacular and look great at night and on cloudy days. The new lighting really brightens up the street and gives the store and downtown a Las Vegas like atmosphere.

Inventory Supplies

A local shop, Monster Slayer provided silver, wire, turquoise, boxes, bags and many other supplies needed for our business. They recently closed their doors as the property has been sold and they are going to build a McDonalds at that location. We took advantage of the situation and purchased many items including turquoise, coral and other stones needed to make our Signature Native American Apple Watch Bands.

Inventory Watch Bands

We are creating a new industry for the people of the Navajo Nation. With the grant money we were able to put a number of experienced silver smiths to work as contractors making watch bands. Artists like Jeanette Dale, Ronnie Spencer, Nelson Morgan and Tony Chino each made watch bands for us using the grant money. Making the bands is only part of the job required. The owner Lynch spends many hours preparing the orders, working on basic designs and specs, cutting tubing and laying out stones. The silversmiths then take the order and do their work from their home and return the order upon completion. Some artists take months to deliver their orders. Once the orders are received back to the store Lynch has much work to do still before the bands are ready for sale. First we cut leather bands for the different style watch bands using a laser cutter. Then we dye the leather different colors and allow them to dry. Once the leather bands are dry we clean and condition them using a buffer, leather conditioner and resolene for some water resistance capabilities. Once the bands have dried then they are attached to the bands. The bands usually need to have the leather holes detailed so they are square and smooth. Also we fine tube the tubing which by design is a little larger than needed so we can fine tune them with a file and make sure the adapters fit snuggly with the tubing, so they do not giggle around. Once the adapters and leather bands are attached then we have to take photos and upload the products to our Shopify store for online sales. The Shopify system handles online sales, and we have a POS in the shop that all works together to maintain the sales and inventory. Basically, Lynch spends about 4 hours on each band. We were able to complete nearly 32 bands with the grant money and Lynch was working 17-hour days to assure the work was completed on time. Also take note that on many sales we have to change the leather band again to assure the band fits properly.

 

Phone System

We successfully upgraded or phone system. Our old phone system was nearly 20 years old which I had in my house when I lived in California decades ago.

Marketing

We had allocated some spending for marketing. Since our sales are at a pace, we can barely sustain at this point we spent the funds not on advertising but on some basic needs. We use a HP printer to print our own brochures, and the ink is not cheap. It costs almost $500 to replace the ink cartridges in the printer. So we spent our marketing money on ink cartridges for the printer, so we are able to pass out brochures to our in-store customers and to send as inserts with our online sales. Also we ordered $250 worth of pens with our company information and logo shown on the pen and we hand out to in store customers and send them in the package with our online sales. They are very nice pens. We also spent some marketing funds on improving the appearance and efficiency of our show case lighting by replacing the outdated halogen bulbs with cost saving LED bulbs. We are also in the process of replacing our old in store overhead lights that are dingy and yellow with more efficient and cost saving LED tubes.

Results

We had some great results from working with the grant money. We met all of our set goals and did much to increase our inventory, increase efficiency, increase our downtown store front appearance and also put many Native American Artists to work helping us. We were also able to use some of the realized profits to help reduce our debt. Just a note that Charles Lynch does not take a paycheck from the company at this time. I do pay my basic expenses like car insurance and home energy costs. I manage the property I live at by pulling weeds and keeping the place clean in place of having to pay rent. We thank American Express for giving this opportunity to grow our business, improve our downtown area and create work for local Artisans.

 

New Mexico True

New Mexico True is a program that works to promote the Tourist industry throughout New Mexico. They have a website that shows among other things businesses like Bilasaana. They also provide a New Mexico True Certification process in which they authenticate your products are of high quality and made in New Mexico. We are proud to report that we have been accepted into the program and have begun the work with the State of New Mexico to provide quality, very unique and functional Native American Apple Accessories to the tourists and residents of the state of New Mexico.

Potential

A few potential opportunities that are on the table of possibilities for Bilasaana. Apple has a $50,000,000 diversity investment fund that could be tapped into on behalf of the Navajo Nation. I have approached Navajo authorities about a possible partnership, but I don’t think they understand. And I could be the world’s biggest dreamer, but I do believe that if the Navajo Nation were to take an interest in the Bilasaana project Apple would surely make the project a part of their diversity program. We would use the funds to work on creating a new industry for the Navajo People including opening stores in key areas like Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Gallup and Phoenix. We would create jobs for the old school Artisans including Silversmiths, beaders, weavers and sculpturers while also creating work for the new generation using social media marketing, software, website and online store development. We do have an Apple iPhone App we built called Faceplates that downloads from the Apple Store which does Native American images on the Apple Watch Face and Wallpaper on the iPhone. Yes, Bilasaana could be a great opportunity for the Navajo People. In fact, Buu Van Nygren, President of the Navajo Nation, and a number of council members already wear our watch bands so they are aware of the company but may not understand that the possibilities are abound.

One other investment opportunity I have imagined is Shark Tank. I can see Bilasaana going on Shark Tank showing our Native American Apple Watch bands and Accessories and explaining to the Sharks how the company could be scaled and become the first Navajo Company on the US Stock Market. I dream all five sharks will take an interest in the company and join together to help Bilasaana create a new industry including jobs and opportunities for the people of the Navajo Nation.

Note

In my initial application I had mentioned the I Charles C. Lynch had been under federal prosecution for nearly 17 years for operating a city sanctioned medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay California. As a result, I was essentially disenfranchised from the professional world because of my ongoing case and was not able to find gainful employment for many years. Around 2015 I sold the domain names pharmacann.com and medicanna.com names which I had considered using for my dispensary name in morro bay. Interesting to note that Pharmacann has become a billion-dollar company. I chose a less corporate sounding name, Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers, to be a more local sounding business. I used the proceeds to start up the business I operate today, Bilasaana. I was decades ahead of most others in the emerging cannabis industry and have been treated very unfairly. In fact, there is a recreational marijuana store right next door to my beautiful Bilasaana in Farmington New Mexico. I am no longer a part of the cannabis industry as celebrities, politicians, stockbrokers and state officials have all taken over the industry conspiring to distribute a schedule I drug. Under federal law it is even illegal for states to tax the sales of a schedule I drug but everyone does it with impunity at this point. I feel my Bilasaana store is much more unique than the over 25 marijuana stores located in Farmington New Mexico alone. Also may I mention that eTrade closed my IRA years ago for the ‘marijuana arrest’ relating to my federal prosecution while now they sell marijuana stocks that are still illegal under federal law. Yes every marijuana store in America operates in felonious violation of federal law because THC>.3% is still a schedule I drug. Go ask Charlie. And I am very thankful that American Express and Main Street Org see the potential value of the Bilasaana project so much so to make us a part of the Main Street Org Grant Program. And I am very happy, very relieved and very proud to report that my federal case USA vs Lynch and my felony convictions were all dismissed on 4-23-2024. I am no longer a drug felon. Free at Last, Free at Last! USA vs Lynch the longest most expensive Federal Prosecution in US and possibly world history. I estimate the Federal Government spent over 56 million taxpayer dollars trying to lock me up while Cannagarchs build illegal ill begotten schedule I empires with impunity. All my energies will now go into creating a new industry for the people of the Navajo Nation as I understand the plight and challenges of Native Americans better than the average white man. Bilasaana, where culture and technology meet.