LOL :) Thanks for your nice comments and vote of confidence Chuck!
I must say though, it does feel like a huge step in the right direction and I'm sure my business will grow much faster with a storefront. I have been EXTREMELY fortunate as far as opening the showroom; I'm able to keep AND run my day job AT THE SAME TIME and believe it or not, I have $0 overhead on the showroom for the time being. It's almost too good to be true. I run all aspects of the office of a construction business (http://www.johnsongolfcourseconstructioninc.com) for one family member and another family member owns the building that houses the construction office/shop and my new showroom.
That was the offer I couldn't refuse - fix up a run down section of the shop and use it as my showroom. (I'll try to post some "before" photos - I NEVER thought it would look like a real store!) As long as I keep up with the work from the day job I'm free to run my business and still collect my regular paycheck. Now I feel bad for all the times I complained about working for family, *almost* ;)
Of course it's never easy; I'm pretty much on call 24/7 for both companies. I have to run both offices and answer two sets of phones all day and run back and forth to the different offices to grab files and whatnot. Then when I "leave for the day" I go home to my workshop to engrave and still field calls on my cell phone for the guys in our crews.
Plus, my husband also works for the golf course construction company so he works out of state leaving me to handle our house and two dogs. :S (Thank goodness we don't have kids.)
Setting up the storeroom was my bosses bribe...er...um...excuse me..."idea". :) He knows I'm growing tired of my husband being away so much so I think he figured if he could help me build my dream I wouldn't make my husband quit building his dream. (Or maybe he thought I'd be too busy to realize he's not home?!) He's right to a certain point, but he knows my goal is to eventually do well enough so my husband can take a lesser paying local job anyway.
I'm totally upfront and honest about it but I don't think he realizes the potential in the engraving industry. From his perspective, my business, compared to his business, is small potatoes however, so are my debts. Although I am extremely appreciative of his generousity, I get the feeling like he's patting me on the head when we discuss my business. (devil) This just fuels the fire for me to be more successful even faster. I don't want to bite the hand that feeds me, but I can't wait for the day I can honestly say "I'm not sure I can afford to keep working for you, my business has grown too much." :) Even if, no, WHEN that day comes I'll just hire myself an assistant (to do my work for HIS business!); no sense in giving up additional income. ;)
Laura DeMeyer, President
Workaholics 4-Hire
"The first step is admitting it" :) |