Boutique Blues

I get a lot of women emailing me or stopping in the store who want advice on opening and running a small boutique. How did I get started? Where do I get my inventory? How much money does it take? Where did I get the nerve? While all these questions are good, and I will answer them another time, today, I just want to vent a bit, if that is okay.

While there are many, many rewards in owning a business ( many of them have nothing to do with increasing your bank balance), there are times, frankly, you have to wonder if it is just worth the stress and worries. Take my last two weeks for example.

It is no secret that a small retail store has only a 50% chance of being in business at the end of its first year. Those who make it through the first year - only 40% of those businesses remain open for the second year. And those who make it through the second year, only a percentage of those make it to the third year. I am in the middle of my third year. But I digress...I started out this blog of wanting to share my last two weeks with you.

Due to a lot of factors with which I won't bore you, I had to replace a lot of equipment in a span of four days. One by one, and slowly, my two computers crashed, my printers weren't working, my fax drum wasn't working properly, my phone went on the blitz, and my wireless networking was crashing or freezing up. I had to stop all appointments and projects to buy a new lap top, a new desktop, two new faxes, a new printer, a new phone, wires, cables, router, and a new speedstream. Plus, of course the insurance and extra warranties all to a tune of nearly $5K. I then paid over $100 to get my data retrieved from my crashed laptop and paid almost another $700 to have it all installed, wired, and coded. None of this, and I mean none of this was in my budget.

I then had to download my quickbooks disk for my bookkeeper, only to have the disk break - I mean - how in the world does a disk break?? So I had to spend another $200 to buy a computer program that I already have. Lucky me, my 2003 version was just "retired" and the only way to get my data was to upgrade for a tune of $200. Then after all that my A/C breaks down - just moments before I broke down.

My lovely landlord took 8 days to fix my A/C and then only after I spent an enormous amount of time on the phone trying to talk to a human being, instead of a machine, to come out and fix my A/C. They didn't show any concern that my store's thermostat was reading 92 degrees inside. I had to close my store for business on Friday because one of my employees informed me late in the afternoon only the day prior that it was too hot for her to work, and I, having already having an out of town appointment could not cover the store - thus my business was closed for a day. And of course, that was the day that the landlord was sending out someone to fix the A/C and no one could be here to let them in.

Then on Saturday, my bookkeeper, whom I pay $35/hour arrives to do my books. We down loaded my new quickbooks program only to discover that the backup data disk (that I paid over $100 to retrieve) was missing. So now I, my employee, and my bookkeeper are searching for about an hour for this disk and could not find it. I had just about had it at this point - I had just seen it the day before and now it had disappeared. So, my bookkeeper manually updates my books in a matter of a couple of hours, which if we had found the disk, it would have taken only minutes.

I was trying to get at least something done that was productive and went down to my workshop to sand some furniture- only to have my favorite sander die on me. Yes really. I used my back up sander, which is very hard to hold, especially with my carpal tunnel. (With so much around me breaking down, thank God I don't have a pacemaker!) It was around that time that I discovered that my cell phone wasn't working - it hadn't rang all day, which is very unusual, and I noticed that the screen was blank. So, I stopped what I was doing - drove to the Sprint store to get it fixed. Of course, there was a huge line. I sat in a chair and waited for my turn - but I fell asleep in the chair as I waited and missed my name being called. You see, the last two weeks, I had to work every night until about 4AM, because that is the only time my phone doesn't ring, my clients don't call, my employees don't need me, and I don't have to talk to computer tech people or my landlord -all of which needs to be done, but eats up my entire work day. So I work nights. And days.

On top of all that, it seems lately that I see more bugs in my workshop than I have ever noticed before.
I hate bugs.
Really, I do.

So, not to discourage any of you who are wanting to open a store, because it does have many wonderful moments...just know that there are moments (no, weeks) that can make even the most optimistic store owner question her sanity in wanting to continue. The need to express a creative spirit can sometimes outweigh common sense.

But, whoever said creative people are common?

from my house to your house (which is air conditioned, I'm sure)
Elizabeth
P.S. my next blog will be inspirational - I promise!

New Nostalgia Nursery

The "newness" of an infant, the innocence and purity, usually conjures images of crisp white sterile-looking furnishings in the nursery. But there is something about bringing home the next generation of a family that naturally compels us to reflect on our heritage-our ancestors. Because of this, I find comfort in surrounding not only the infant, but also the new mother (and dad) with mementos of yesteryear. Vintage photos, antiques, and family keepsakes becalm the spirit with the promise of continuity and the soothing balm of familiarity.

I am finding a shift in nursery design is taking place: This is in part because many women are waiting longer to have children. These older, more established moms-to-be want the nursery to be sophisticated and flow seamlessly with the style of the rest of the home. Also, chances are good that today's new mom is employed outside of the home. She wants to feel relaxed and at peace in her surroundings when caring for her infant. In these very tiring first few months, the nursery is as much for the mother as it is for the baby, if not more.

This all changes in due time of course. But it's a good six months before the child begins to crawl. Once the baby is crawling, the nursery can be adjusted to keep curious fingers out of harm's way. Once the toddler begins walking, the nursery is again adjusted. A successful nursery evolves, grows and adapts according to the baby's development and changing needs. But in those first few exciting months, the nursery should bring comfort to the new parents as well as to the new baby.

This particular nursery I designed for a show house and was later bought by a wonderful client and friend who has, in my opinion, wonderful taste! This nursery appeared in the national publication, Country Almanac's 2005 Winter's issue. I designed the bedding using humble ticking, and simple cottons. The vintage rocker, dresser and buffet are painted in a distressed black and the walls painted in a puddy gray. The alphabet, painted in faded black paint adorns the door ways and windows. Sound drab? Not the least! Very sophisticated and very sweet. Vintage wire baskets hanging on the wall near the changing dresser, holds essentials such as diapers, powder and lotions. The iron crib converts into a daybed and certainly becomes a family heirloom. As baby grows and commands a more playful room filled with fairies, super heros or unicorns, the rocker is easily transferred to another room along with the dresser and buffet. The furniture is not traditional "baby" furniture, thus, may be used anywhere in the home....and not to be stored in the attic only to be sold at the fraction of its cost in a future garage sale.

I enjoy designing nurseries simply because the challenge is to step outside the traditional box and create a room that soothes a tired mom (or dad) while they soothe our future generation....and that is what it is all about isn't it? Developing a future full of promise, hope, and most of all...peace.

from my house to your house,
Elizabeth
www.elizabethhouse.us

Girlfriends are God's gift to women

I Thank God for girlfriends....really I do. We so need each other. If we are very blessed, we have an abundance of them...but if we even have one special girlfriend, then we are ahead of the game. Girlfriends are there for you through it all....they cry with you, laugh with you, and are ready to turn their life upside down in order to help out. But to have wonderful girlfriends in your life, you have to be one.

I know I could be a better girlfriend...I am always working and many times have to "take a raincheck" due to my schedule. But for some reason, my girlfriends don't give up on me. They love me - and I love them. I never take them for granted.

During my very painful divorce, I will never forget the time that my friend, Christie, had me over for cocktails and we just cried, laughed, cursed and drank away my woes. She basically initated me into the single world - a world of which I had no part for 26 years.

My sister, Louisa, is a great girlfriend...she didn't let a single day for 365 days straight go by without calling me during my divorce - she loved me no matter how much I vented, cried, swore, or repeated my woes. Since that dark time in my life, my sis and I have gotten tiny tattoos on our lower back (okay, I strong-armed her into getting one). They are Mandrin Chinese symbols and mine is "courage" and her's is "victorious." I also have talked her into piercing her upper ear with me - she and my boyfriend are not liking this "trend" they say. I say I like to keep life interesting.

Sharon, my very good friend and employee has seen and heard it all. She could write a book on the "adventures of Elizabeth." Without her, I would be much less of a person. She "completes me" as the saying goes!

I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends in my life - but my girlfriends, well, they have a very special place in my heart that no others could replace. If you have a special girlfriend in your life - call or email her today and tell her how special she is - then send her this blog and have her read it. I am sure my thoughts about girlfriends are universal.

from my house to your house,
Elizabeth
www.elizabethhouse.us