I have come to realize that the store, or "Reading Room" as I had called it is something that is best left to die. It's not a painful death, just a slow one.
That type of business is best done "outside of the home" due to the "type" of people that it attracts. That type generally attracts those slightly off-center. :)
If I could find a 200 square-foot store-front for dirt cheap in uptown SJ, I would move the "store" to that in a heart beat. The problem lies in that my main source of income is a bit of a "hodge-podge" job. Sometimes I work at 10am, sometimes I work at 1pm. Funerals are a no-notice deal, but good money if you can get one. Then I teach 2 - 9pm Mondays, 1 - 6pm Tuesdays, 3:30 - 8pm Wednesdays, 3:30 - 8:30pm Thursdays. Not exactly easy hours to be able to have your own business fit around. Most people work daytimes, which is when I would be able to "open" say 10am - 1pm before teaching.
I could be open 3 days a week - Friday through Sunday, but again if a Funeral pops up, it could be any day of the week. PLUS I have just agreed to take on a church full time as of January 1st, 2010. While I don't have a choir to be responsible for, I will have more time and duties involved than just 2 hours on a Sunday anymore.
Plus, the few times that I have posted open hours for the store, no one showed up except my mother or sister. :( Even those that asked for special order items haven't come in to pick them up yet!
I will keep selling things as long as I have them. I may even try taking a cart at the bottom of the city market in the new year on a Friday at some point, but I won't be putting as much energy toward this endeavour as I had been...which admittedly could have been more, hence the lack of business. I acknowledge that. It is just very difficult to pass up guaranteed money (teaching and funerals) for the unknown (yes, I realize that has multiple contexts for this! LOL!).
1 comment:
It's the lack of focus, for sure. If you were to devote 100% of your time and efforts, you could likely find a store front and be much more successful. But you have diverse interests and a desire to explore and do more than just this-- so it suffers.
In the end, doing the weekend cart business may be the best way to go.
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