Part of this blog will be dedicated to recording the stories of those who have 'been there, done that' before me. This entry is about the great Santa Barbara Scrapbooks store. I'm actually doing a little work there helping with inventory. And absolutely love it! It's so dreamy. Here is the story told to me by the owner, Barbara.
A few years ago, Babara was working at UCSB and loving her job and life. Her husband also works at UCSB. She had no desire to start her own business and had never scrapbooked a page in her life. One morning she woke up her son and told him to get ready for school. As she walked to the kitchen she felt a sensation that was like an egg had been cracked on her head {at this point in the story I thought she was going to tell me that her son had thrown an egg at her}. After that she said she felt as though syrup was running down her head and over her face but when she reached her hand up, there was nothing. Then she hears, in a deep, slow voice "You...will...open....a....scrapbook....store". Cold chills. She freaks out and runs into the bedroom where her husband is getting ready for work and tells him the story. Her husband looks at her and says, "Well, if you heard it that clearly I guess you gotta do it." This was exactly what she did not expect to hear. The next thing she knows, his mouth is moving but all she hears is The Voice saying "It...was...your...vision" {I really like this part. This was her vision and no one's input matters}. After work that same day she's driving home from work and passes her bank. The Voice tells her to go inside and ask about a loan. And she does.
Cut to the end, she leaves the bank with a quarter of a million dollar loan (thanks to a chunk of money she'd put on her home loan several years earlier). I don't know how long after it took her to open the doors of the store but I don't suspect it was long. I'll ask.
Moral: She heard it. She did it. She's successful at it. And she loves it.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Advice on Location, Start-Up & Money Fears
Location: I spoke with a local realtor last night named Barbie. I barely know Barbie but admire her very much - in spite of her name (wink)! She was very encouraging about the concept and agreed with me that downtown area would be best place to start the store. The rent will be higher but the clientle and traffic will be better. And interested Goletians and Carpentarians will make the trek to downtown. She's going to look into some spaces and get back to me.
Start-Up: Barbie also suggested that I start online. I'd thought about this before but mostly figured it would be in conjunction w/the store. However, in speaking with her and later with Kevin I think that starting online first would be a good way to get some funds for the here and now and also be a way to get inventory. Where to store the inventory is another question? So, I should start buying product and selling on eBay or Craigslist.org or wherever. Maybe I'll even sell pieces from my precious maternity collection?
Money Fears: Kevin and I are very security focused people. We think people who quit their jobs w/o having a back-up job are a little nuts. We know this is a very faithless perspective and we're working on it. Trust, trust, trust and DO! At lunch with my darling friend Heather today and boldly told her about my idea. As a mother of 4 (thank you very much) she is well aware of the lack of affordable, nice maternity clothes in SB. She's also very wise and I really really respect her. She told me that if I'm whole-heartedly seeking the Lord and trusting Him completely to guide me through the details then the money stuff needs to not matter. Until God clearly tells me to STOP! then I have to keep moving forward. She said that she doesn't know of a single instance in the Bible where God has used money to stop people from doing His plan for them. And she reminded me to TRUST!
Good words. Need to stay focused, trust and DO!
Start-Up: Barbie also suggested that I start online. I'd thought about this before but mostly figured it would be in conjunction w/the store. However, in speaking with her and later with Kevin I think that starting online first would be a good way to get some funds for the here and now and also be a way to get inventory. Where to store the inventory is another question? So, I should start buying product and selling on eBay or Craigslist.org or wherever. Maybe I'll even sell pieces from my precious maternity collection?
Money Fears: Kevin and I are very security focused people. We think people who quit their jobs w/o having a back-up job are a little nuts. We know this is a very faithless perspective and we're working on it. Trust, trust, trust and DO! At lunch with my darling friend Heather today and boldly told her about my idea. As a mother of 4 (thank you very much) she is well aware of the lack of affordable, nice maternity clothes in SB. She's also very wise and I really really respect her. She told me that if I'm whole-heartedly seeking the Lord and trusting Him completely to guide me through the details then the money stuff needs to not matter. Until God clearly tells me to STOP! then I have to keep moving forward. She said that she doesn't know of a single instance in the Bible where God has used money to stop people from doing His plan for them. And she reminded me to TRUST!
Good words. Need to stay focused, trust and DO!
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Meeting my mentors
Today I went to the free counseling offered by SCORE. So far, I have found SCORE to be an excellent source of aide in creating my business plan. They have tons of great information available to Santa Barbara entrepreneurs.
My experience today was interesting. I met with Vic and David (think Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets). Two men in their 70's (if they're a day) who were absolutely darling. Wise men, for sure. Great business men, for sure. Qualified to give advice on starting a business in Santa Barbara, most likely. But they absolutely couldn't get on board with my concept. David was positive that there were not enough young women getting pregnant in Santa Barbara (he advised me to try LA or the valley where young pregnant women abound apparently). According to Cottage hospital's website there were over 2,000 pregnancies in SB proper last year. Vic felt like my having very little retail experience was a deal-ender. "Huge red flag" he said. I disagree. Obviously, I'll have a lot of learning to do but there are tons of women who've started a retail business with little-to-no experience.
Part of my goal with this blog is to track my pursuit of information. I plan to talk with as many business owners as possible. I plan to 'scout' other resale stores (there are no maternity resale stores in SB). I plan to attend classes, research the web, quiz friends and strangers, and hopefully get some sit-down time with current owners of similar stores in other areas. All of these encounters will be posted to this blog for a few reasons.
(1) To keep me accountable. Knowing that I need to keep up w/this blog will make me search for info. I desperately do not want to get distracted from this blog. I sincerely plan on making a business happen.
(2) To encourage other to-be resale store owners! In researching this industry I've found very little free information on how to get started. There are several books for purchase (online only). I absolutely love the idea that one day someone might get valuable insight from this little 'ole blog. Goose bumps.
(3) Posterity. One day...when I'm a wildly successful resale store owner (wink wink) I might enjoy reading about the days of yore (triple wink).
So stay tuned for more entries of mentorship, interviews, and general advice. I'm so pysched!
My experience today was interesting. I met with Vic and David (think Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets). Two men in their 70's (if they're a day) who were absolutely darling. Wise men, for sure. Great business men, for sure. Qualified to give advice on starting a business in Santa Barbara, most likely. But they absolutely couldn't get on board with my concept. David was positive that there were not enough young women getting pregnant in Santa Barbara (he advised me to try LA or the valley where young pregnant women abound apparently). According to Cottage hospital's website there were over 2,000 pregnancies in SB proper last year. Vic felt like my having very little retail experience was a deal-ender. "Huge red flag" he said. I disagree. Obviously, I'll have a lot of learning to do but there are tons of women who've started a retail business with little-to-no experience.
Part of my goal with this blog is to track my pursuit of information. I plan to talk with as many business owners as possible. I plan to 'scout' other resale stores (there are no maternity resale stores in SB). I plan to attend classes, research the web, quiz friends and strangers, and hopefully get some sit-down time with current owners of similar stores in other areas. All of these encounters will be posted to this blog for a few reasons.
(1) To keep me accountable. Knowing that I need to keep up w/this blog will make me search for info. I desperately do not want to get distracted from this blog. I sincerely plan on making a business happen.
(2) To encourage other to-be resale store owners! In researching this industry I've found very little free information on how to get started. There are several books for purchase (online only). I absolutely love the idea that one day someone might get valuable insight from this little 'ole blog. Goose bumps.
(3) Posterity. One day...when I'm a wildly successful resale store owner (wink wink) I might enjoy reading about the days of yore (triple wink).
So stay tuned for more entries of mentorship, interviews, and general advice. I'm so pysched!
Top Idea: ReBorn
As I said on my home blog, I have plenty of ideas and up to now, I've just been sitting on them and my ever-increasing-in-size rear end. I'm ready to give one of my brilliant ideas (if I do say so myself) a try. At the moment, my favorite idea is ReBorn.
ReBorn is a maternity resale & consignment store located in Santa Barbara, California. I'm saying both for now but I don't really know how we'll run. Time will tell. For now, I'm creating a business plan, seeking advice from local organizations, and actually talking about it out loud. The last one is the hardest for me. Oh, the accountability....oh, the pressure....oh, the fear of negative feedback!!! And the best part is that for the most part, the feedback has been really encouraging.
This blog is dedicated to pursuing the idea of ReBorn. We are at the stage of conception....the rest, as they say, is history.
ReBorn is a maternity resale & consignment store located in Santa Barbara, California. I'm saying both for now but I don't really know how we'll run. Time will tell. For now, I'm creating a business plan, seeking advice from local organizations, and actually talking about it out loud. The last one is the hardest for me. Oh, the accountability....oh, the pressure....oh, the fear of negative feedback!!! And the best part is that for the most part, the feedback has been really encouraging.
This blog is dedicated to pursuing the idea of ReBorn. We are at the stage of conception....the rest, as they say, is history.
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