The Challenge is ON!!!!

ok...SO springbreak is here and this is my goal before i depart for ST. MAARTEN!!!! thank god! i better enjoy a bit of fun in the sun or i will completely lose it!

eitherway...the count down for vacation is on full throttle, but the challenge until my departure is hard hardcore as well...

nyc is filled with hundreds of clothing boutiques. since i currently help out at Tikabou, an upper east side "diamond in the rough," i am extremely interested for when i open my own business about the importance of location. Tikabou is located in the midst of a slew of deli's, grocery stores and restaurants. unless you leave near or around first avenue, many people don't make their way over here. many of the other boutiques such as SADA, Pookie and Sebastian, Crave, Scoop and Big Drop are all located on second and third avenue. With a better location, comes a higher rent. Will i ever be able to afford such rents and other costs? 

my job for the next few days will be to visit these stores and ask managers or employees about how they started, invested and means of marketing. I will also ask for their permission to ask their customers a few questions about where they shop and how they usually find these types of stores.

well then...wish me luck!!!

T MINUS 3 DAYS!!!! 

Business Plan....who needs one? I DO!!!

....20years old....who do you know has enough money to start a business? NOT ME!!! i can tell you that much...college alone has literally burned the largest hole in my pocket....god bless financial aid...but sometimes that's just not enough. So what...i get out of college and have a few grand worth to pay....once that's all gone then how on earth am i expected to finance a business?



BUSINESS PLAN!!!!!! although many think that business plans are made for the sole purpose of investment....this is less than the case. any smart entrepreneur would make a business plan as means of setting goals. quite often the undertaking of a new business can be overwhelming to one without the proper planning. a comprehensive business plan can satiate any anxiety that goes along with the stresses of starting a new business. What is most important in a business is that your idea resonates well with others and not just yourself. anything that you find important or innovative will always sound good in your head. what needs to be done is to promote similar interest in those around you. if others cannot share a somewhat similar passion towards the business that you are going to start, ultimately there is no hope.

next to step to success: ELLA G BUSINESS PLAN

NEW YORK CITY RETAIL PLUMMITS

So...as the aforementioned posts may suggest...my goal in life is to own my own boutique and hope that it becomes successful enough to hold my own personal line of clothing as well as possibly open up more than one location with my name on it. this of course would be a dream come true, but hearing from friends of mine who own their own companies and learning more and more about monthly retail sales lower than imaginable...i find it hard to believe that once i am out of college, have finished paying off any outstanding loans and am at the end of the month paying phone, credit card or any other bill on the list, that i could possibly even think about the option of owning my own store.

the obvious costs that go into owning anything start adding up and the numbers become so large that i just sink with the influx of statements. from owing rent/maintenance, to utilities of gas or electric, to phone bills and Internet...the numbers have me wanting to pause my dreams and get a real job like everybody else...these are just the obvious costs that if i just chose to live in the space i was utilizing i would have to pay. this obviously doesn't take into account that i would be paying for my company website, for costs from vendors for seasonal clothing orders, for online orders to customers, for bags, tissue paper...and so on and so forth. i feel like i am falling into the deepest darkest never ending tunnel and i can't take the thought of sitting behind a computer in a cubicle from 9 to 5. been there, done that!!

In a blog i recently read regarding holiday sales...which from experience i know were awful in the retail industry...it states that there is a one in seven chance of a good selling season.
if retail companies cannot even pull through and use the holidays as means of making up for a wacky fall, what will? with the fall having been so warm, consumers were confused for what season they were shopping for. If sales are worse in December, then what does that say for the direction of the industry. with the economy entering possible recession i can only pray that i would have better luck when the time comes for my business to open.

my apologies fellow readers

So, as it has become overwhelming evident, i have not been maintaining my blog posts. With that said, from here on out, i promise to stay consistent with something that is extremely important to me. This post will ultimately stand for everything that I hope will be seen in my company when it comes to life. Without consistency...there is absolutely no feasible way that i can build something out of nothing...so with that...i solemnly swear to continuously post blogs...not only for my readers but for my profit as well!!!!!! keep an eye out....many more goodies to come!