I love owning and operating my own business, but there are times when I just wonder what it's all for.
These two punk kids walked by my store window this morning, and stared inside for several minutes. They didn't really move or say anything, but they just sort of kept looking. I finally waved at them to come on in (they might be young, but hey, a sale is a sale), at which point they both gave me "the finger." Laughing, they took off down the street on their skateboards.
Now I don't mind a good joke now and again, but my question is this: what if I'd been waiting on a customer at the time? Fortunately I had no customers right then (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), but what if the store had been full of people? Just how much respect would I have commanded from my patrons if they had seen that kind of behavior directed toward me? Not much, I guarantee you.
Most of my career as a businessman and entrepreneur has been very good. While a few bad apples won't spoil the whole bunch, I have to say it really irked me, and made me question for a moment or two why I do this day after day.
If patience is my biggest virtue, then it just jumped up several tax brackets!! (As in, "they are taxing my patience").
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Sales are way down
I may have to shorten my store hours. After exactly ZERO typewriter sales over the past three months, and with the cost of energy so high, I'm losing money hand over fist.
The last actual typewriter sale I made was in January, and it was one of my older models (from 2004). The woman admitted that she only needed it as a prop for a play, and that it wasn't going to be put to use very much. She said this after I'd explained all of the nice features of the IBM Selectric XE, which took me a while. What a waste of my time.
Anyway, it was a sale, and it counts toward the bottom line. Oddly, about a week later, she tried to return it, saying she didn't need it anymore because the play was over. I told her about my "No Refunds" policy, and as angry as she was, she still didn't get her money back.
During normal times, I might have allowed her to return it, but I really needed that sale, since it was one of only three transactions all that month. I'm glad I stuck to my policy, because we are REALLY hurting right now.
For those who are wondering where my older posts went, the answer is: I don't know. I messed something up when our power was off for a couple of days in March, and I somehow obliterated all of the previous entries dating back to last June. I don't think there were any comments in any of the "comments" sections, though, so the only things that were lost were my posts.
The last actual typewriter sale I made was in January, and it was one of my older models (from 2004). The woman admitted that she only needed it as a prop for a play, and that it wasn't going to be put to use very much. She said this after I'd explained all of the nice features of the IBM Selectric XE, which took me a while. What a waste of my time.
Anyway, it was a sale, and it counts toward the bottom line. Oddly, about a week later, she tried to return it, saying she didn't need it anymore because the play was over. I told her about my "No Refunds" policy, and as angry as she was, she still didn't get her money back.
During normal times, I might have allowed her to return it, but I really needed that sale, since it was one of only three transactions all that month. I'm glad I stuck to my policy, because we are REALLY hurting right now.
For those who are wondering where my older posts went, the answer is: I don't know. I messed something up when our power was off for a couple of days in March, and I somehow obliterated all of the previous entries dating back to last June. I don't think there were any comments in any of the "comments" sections, though, so the only things that were lost were my posts.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The View From the Window
Owning a store in the middle of a downtown business district really gives you a sense of what is going on in your town.
I spent a few hours today standing in front of my store window, and had plenty of time to just watch and observe. The people of Alta Coma, at least the ones I saw, seemed to be in such a hurry! While nobody was buying typewriters, they were keeping the district busy with their patronage of the yogurt shop, the stationery store, and the Wal-Mart across the street.
It was the first nice day we've had in a few weeks here, weather-wise, so I spent the afternoon sitting in my favorite lawn chair outside the front of the store. I noticed that there were some leaves in the doorway, so I swept those all up, then kind of sprayed the entire front walk with cement cleaner. What a difference! It looks great.
On a business note, the 2008 IBM Selectrics are finally in stock, despite my objections to the IBM distributor. I simply have no more room for the new inventory. And while they were able to hold them in their warehouse for a couple of months, they said they can't do that anymore because they were out of room too. I find that hard to believe, since my typewriter store is probably WAY smaller than the IBM distributor's warehouse, but that's the way it goes.
So the upshot is that I need to clear out the old inventory, PRONTO! You can choose from the models from 2005 - 2008 now, and as a "bonus" for this month only (April), I will do a "buy-one-get-one-for-half-price" deal on both black and red ink ribbons with the purchase of any IBM or Smith-Corona. Call or come on by, we're open all day!
I spent a few hours today standing in front of my store window, and had plenty of time to just watch and observe. The people of Alta Coma, at least the ones I saw, seemed to be in such a hurry! While nobody was buying typewriters, they were keeping the district busy with their patronage of the yogurt shop, the stationery store, and the Wal-Mart across the street.
It was the first nice day we've had in a few weeks here, weather-wise, so I spent the afternoon sitting in my favorite lawn chair outside the front of the store. I noticed that there were some leaves in the doorway, so I swept those all up, then kind of sprayed the entire front walk with cement cleaner. What a difference! It looks great.
On a business note, the 2008 IBM Selectrics are finally in stock, despite my objections to the IBM distributor. I simply have no more room for the new inventory. And while they were able to hold them in their warehouse for a couple of months, they said they can't do that anymore because they were out of room too. I find that hard to believe, since my typewriter store is probably WAY smaller than the IBM distributor's warehouse, but that's the way it goes.
So the upshot is that I need to clear out the old inventory, PRONTO! You can choose from the models from 2005 - 2008 now, and as a "bonus" for this month only (April), I will do a "buy-one-get-one-for-half-price" deal on both black and red ink ribbons with the purchase of any IBM or Smith-Corona. Call or come on by, we're open all day!
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