So...I'm kinda new at this whole blog thing, and I'm not sure where to start. But first off I have to say that I have the hardest time relaying my feelings about my business, life, and everything else to anyone b/c no one is in my shoes..atleast no one around me, and it is extremely frustrating. Another thing I must mention before I start this entirely is that my fingers type way faster than my mind can process, and I am aware that I misspell, or type everything incorrectly, so I appoligise to those reading ahead of time.
So, I guess the best way to start is by telling you that I am 23, married and a mother of a 4 year old. I also am the owner of a small retail clothing and accessory store in a S.W. Florida mall, and work like 70+ hours a week, which is that cause of most of the choas in my life. We opened only 6 weeks ago, but started planning on July 4th of 2007. It was only 4 1/2 months ago that my idea began to take place, but it seems like atleast a year...mostly because we crammed a years worth of work into only 4 1/2 months. It started off that I was going to open a kiosk in the mall that sold body jewelry, specializing in gages (those big earrings people wear that range in size from like 14g and up). Some where along the lines we ended up also wanting to sell accessories like hats, sunglasses, bags, hair dye and maybe some t-shirts. (When I say "we" I mean myself and my step-mother, Laury, who is my financer and accountant). We emailed the mall, and finally they got back to us after about 3 weeks. I set up a meeting, and found out that not only could I not sell t-shirts on a kiosk, but that a small store was only $200 more a month that a 5x5 kiosk. So, to make things short, we went with a 652 sq ft store. And, ofcourse with this change our $10,000 budget, unknowing to us at the time, had just jumped up to about $30,000. The extra cost came from having to remodel the entire store. It needed a wall taken out, drywall replaced, a new carpet, paint, fixtures, manniquins for the front windows, and ofcourse LOTS more inventory that a small kiosk would need. We signed the lease on Sept. 10, 2007, remodeled the entire store and openned on Oct. 15th of 07. When we openned 50% of our inventory had no come in yet. We had to set up the entire store diffrently than we had originally planned just to make it Look full. We've been ordering more an dmore inventory ever since we opened to fill out the store and get ready for Black Friday, and now Christmas. Thats usually the fun part...Picking our new inventory...except when it comes to ordering.
Orering is the Second biggest stress in my life. There are companies out there that make me want to pull m hair our, and screem on th ephone every time I talk to them. Companies that are so stupid, it make you think who is running them, and how they even stay in bussiness. I haven't lost my cool with someone on the phone yet.. but I have def. been close. Those time are like when we call up to find out that a company has lost an order we expected in days ago. That same company that sent us a confirmation email that they recieved our order, now telling us that we never even placed an order with them...Yeah, it gets that bad. Or like the company that was closed of invenotry 2 weeks before Black Friday until the first week of Dec. and couldn't get out our order until after Christmas? WHAT? How can a hugh distributor close at the bussiest time of the year? I have no idea...but that was def. a bad day.
These days are going a little bit better. We still have not reached our weekly goals, and are ordering merch by credit card instead of by profits. Basically, were digging ouselves into a bigger hole, but I'm hoping once things pick up, and more people relise we are here our hole won't be so big, and maybe no even a hole at all. These are the statements of a dreamer, I'm sure you can tell...But you just never know.
We are currently is the middle of starting a business deal with a local screen printer who is going to screen print our logo and other designs on t's for the store, and also start up a website for us where customers can pick out either our logo or other designs, and pick which style t-shirt, hoodie, or l/s shirt to put it on. He'll then screen print it, and ship it out, and we just profit from it. It all sounds good, but I guess we'll see what happens. We're really want to come out with our own line of clothing, instead of ordering out, so hopefully this will be a step in the right direction. Laury (my accountant, and financer/business partner) has this crazy idea of finding an angel or silent investor and openning up a bigger store in a bussier mall location....but that def. in the future. The near future??? maybe...I really have no idea...I guess it depends which way the cards fall for us this holiday season.
Also, I just hired someone to work Mondays 3-9, so that I can finally have some time off. We really don't have a ton of money coming in to pay him...but can afford to have him here one day, just so I can spend some time with my daughter, Brooke, and my husband, Aaron.
I haven't mentioned Aaron too much through out this whole thing, but he really does try to be supportive. He works 40 hrs a week, and then picks up Brooke at school, brings here home for dinner, and puts here to bed at night, all before I get home. He does come in on Friday nights after he gets out of work to work with me at the store, and my mom picks up Brooke. And also, will give me a night off and work the store by himslef, so I can go home to have dinner with Brooke and put here to bed. So, thankfully I do get to see them both, Aaron and Brooke, through the week...Just not as muc has I'm used to, which really sucks. I feel like such a terrible mother sometimes...but I just hope everything will work out, and in the end it'll pay off so I can have more free time, and provide a comfortable lifestyle for her.
Well...I guess thats enough for now. I am working, and there is always something to be done here. I'll try to post as new things happen...I guess it just depends on how busy we get. Def. send me a message so I know I'm not the only crazy one, living a life of choas.
Thanks,
Katie