Open for Business?
Amount of Effort Exerted = success in business. So many people say to me that they would also like to have a shop or store like ours. But so few are willing to put out what it takes to succeed. I always tell them the romantic notion of owning a store and OWNING A STORE are two different things. Below is from an article on why many shops fail, as well as my comments. This example was listed as the biggest blunder of all — amount of effort exerted!
“The single most important factor in determining who succeeds and who doesn’t is simply the amount of effort exerted. If you aren’t ready and willing to work and work hard – being an entrepreneur is probably not for you. For starters, most people are used to working and 8-to-5 job, with a “boss” directing them. When you’re in business for yourself, you must have the discipline to work independently. You must maintain the same work schedule of the same number of hours virtually every day even if you don’t have anything scheduled.
Also, many people assume that when they own their own business, they’ll be able to work less and take more time off for recreation. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. When you run your own business, you usually have to work more hours, not fewer. You have to be willing to put in long hours and, if necessary, work weekends as well.”
I LOVE this… That’s one of the many things I am asked when I place an ad. Either, “where are you located” or “what are your hours” or “I am at an address and all I see is a UPS Store” (where I have all of my things sent to).
Opening up a brick and mortar place is FAR less easy than just finding the location. There is electric, water, insurance, security systems, not to mention rent of the place on top of that as well as maintaining an inventory.
Plus, being able to sustain everything in that store month after month so not only you pay all of THAT, but also have a profit enough to pay your own living expenses, food, fuel… and on and on.
Not to mention, that you have to make enough to restock and replenish the things you sold that month. Or, to have enough stock to be able to breathe for a moment.
I make soaps, salves, tinctures and other remedies. All of those came out of my pocket at some point of time, and, it starts to trickle back in and what funds that come back in goes back out to replenish my product line(s) or choose to end them.
Fortunately, Earth Circle Creations makes enough month after month that I can pay rent on an environmentally controlled storage unit so I can have a living room, plus some extra to replenish materials I have used for that month (mostly lye, and oils for soap). I also stash a little back each month into savings to help buffer the slower months (winter) and to pay for some of the more expensive events I do very well at. In comparison, I am able to pay forward 2-3 events at a time with what I make at one event putting a deposit down or paying off a deposit for another event. Or, investing on displays and clothing to have the air of professionalism as a professional herbalist. In short, Earth Circle Creations is self-sustaining.
I also have a regular Monday-Friday, 9-5 job that pays my rent. This is the job I have that keeps food on my table, lights on in my home and a roof over my head. At current, I don’t have the luxury to quit this job to pursue the endeavor of Earth Circle Creations full time. Most people don’t know that when I go home from my regular 9-5 job and get home at about 6, I also have another 4-5 hours of work to do for Earth Circle Creations. Just in soaps alone, I start a batch, I cut soap, I wrap them, labels… there’s a lot of processing that comes from a batch of soap, I could probably turn that into a full time job on it’s own.
This is a fun game where I, as an entrepreneur where I can go from despair at a bill that is coming due to total and complete elation when something sells.
In almost 8 years in doing this, I can’t think of anywhere else I would be happier.
