Proverbs 31: 10 - 31

You are probably going, "HUH?!" but I am ever striving to be this woman and this scripture has been especially dear to my heart. Only another Fiber Artist would relate to these verses.

Proverbs 31:13
"She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

31:19 & 20
"She percieveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands on the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff."

My story starts back in 1988. I was in my senior year of college working on my BFA in Fiber Arts (Surface design & textiles). I was preparing my portfolio for Miami's Famous "Designer Row". My professor was making his plans to set me off with personal references and everything I needed to get my foot in the door, designing fashionable, "must have" fabrics. All the while, I noticed that Fiber shops were far and few between. There was one woman who owned a shop, but she was kind of "out there" and always closed for one reason or another. My mom, who was a spinning enthusiast, and I were very frustrated at the lack of supplies and kind of haughty attitude we came across in the fibers realm of the city in which we lived. So, we me made a plan. We were going to go into business together and open a yarn and fiber shop of our own. We started planning and talking. As soon as I graduated, we would go to the bank, find a building or store to lease and open shop.

Late October of 1988, I came home one day and my mom and her husband broke the news to me. They were moving! Moving back to our home state, over 4 states away. Everything changed in an instant. I was dating my husband and told him about the plans. I told him, "it's either find a roomate or move back with them". Moving back was not an option, I was so CLOSE to graduation. He proposed marriage, mainly because he was afraid I would leave and never see him again; my parents were all but throwing my bags in the back of his car! There went my dreams with my mom. I was displaced. I wanted that shop more than anything else.

The years rolled by; 4 children & 17 years later, the dream had never left me. I love being a SAHM, I love my husband and his new business, but a part of me still yearned for that lovely little shop.

About a month ago, my husband & I were in the city, hitting all of the yarn shops in town. I told my husband on the way home with a deep sigh. "I wish I could have a shop in our town. I have always wanted to do that." My husband gave me a knowing look and said, "Boy, now would be the time to do it too. Our town is growing by leaps and bounds. It is the fastest growing county, I think in the country." I played it all over in my head. He was right. There is a Guild in the next town over, I have lots of fiber friends who get tired of Wally World yarn and the drive is too far to the city to just "pop in and look and around". I could start small and grow as our once sleepy little community is now growing. But, it was a dream, I didn't have a lot of money, and I didn't have my husband's blessing. I know that may sound strange, but if he wasn't going to support me on this, well, it just isn't going to work.

The weeks had gone by and the subject was brought up again. My husband called me from work while he was on break and asked, "So what is keeping you from starting a yarn shop?" I was taken of guard for a bit and answered, "Money? A place to set up? I don't know?" He paused and then said, "I can't get it out of my head. I have been thinking about it constantly. I really think you should go for it. I also hate to think someone else would come in and open a shop before you." I said what was on my heart at that moment. "I guess, I am just waiting for your blessing." He laughed and said, "Bless you! Bless you! Now, start making some phone calls, checking real estate and doing what you have to do to get started."

I hung up and started crying. The kids thought daddy had fussed at momma about something. ( my children range from 13 down to 8)But I assured them, that these were happy tears. I told them the news and they actually danced and were excited for me! My 13 year old gave me a huge hug and said, "You go for it MOM!" My dream was now taking shape, slowly it was now more than a whimsical little dream in the back of my brain.

I first called the Chamber of Commerce for our town. She gave me the name of the man I would need to speak to, but of course, he was gone. LOL There is a huge Fall Festival in our town every year and he was in and out working on that. He will call me back next Monday or Tuesday. He also is the Uncle of one of the boys in our Scout Troop and I know him pretty well. I had forgotten he was with the Chamber. DUH ME! The lady was taking information down and asked me, "What kind of a business are you planning to open?" I told her and she literally started squealing! "OH THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL!" she practically yelled at me. She got all excited and told me how there use to be a yarn shop in town back in (get this) 1988! It folded because the town was fading out. New malls and progress in the city was overshadowing small towns like ours. Since then, everyone is moving from the city out to the counties surrounding it. We have subdivisions and stores coming up all over the place. Our sleepy little town is waking up! She took my name and email address and said she should would email any and all info (banks, lending companies and real estate agents) to help. She talked to me excitedly for a good 30 minutes or more. LOL

Ok now, I am going to share with you how it progresses. Hopefully, I can take you from dream to reality with lots of info and tips along the way. I will share what works and definitely what does NOT work. Maybe it will help you someday!

I think it is a good thing to get involved with your local Chamber of Commerce. These are the people who help to promote your business, help you with your grand opening (they call the press and do the ribbon cutting ceremony)as well as providing names and numbers for the Commercial Real Estate Agents, Banks & Lenders. Call them.

Next, look for Real Estate. Do you want to rent? Own a building? (Which is what my husband wants to do.)Do you want a shop front and live in the back? (Another thing my husband wants to do.) There is an advantage to Owning the building. If you ever decide to go out of business, you can always turn around and rent the space to another business. If you decide to live in your building with a store front, you can buy the building under your business name, then "rent" your living space from the business. This way you are not being taxed with "personal income" by renting the store front. The business just puts this back into, well the business. Especially if you make yourself a LLC. You are also absorbing some other costs; utilities, etc. This is very popular in the downtown area of the city.

LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!
Remember, this is a shop where we need good foot traffic, is seen from the road, has good parking and is easy to find and get to. If they can't see or find you, you might as well not try.

If you decide to just lease or rent, there are 2 options and maybe more. The 2 most obvious to me are the condition of the store. You can rent a business that already is set up for you. This means, paint, counters, carpet or linoleum, things like that. All you have to do is, move in. Usually, the rent is a lot more! A lot more. But, if you get what is called a "Vanilla Shell", it is a lot cheaper. Unfortunately, you will have to sheet rock, paint and carpet everything yourself remember, you will probably have to have somethings approved by the landlord first. Now, I have an advantage over many other people. My husband is a carpenter and can do a lot of this work for me. (Big grin.)You will need to compare costs for that. You may luck out and get into an older building that is established. You might still want to give everything a fresh coat of paint.

Consider the space. We are talking Yarn and Fiber Shops here, so we won't go off on any rabbit hunts. LOL Of course you are going to want to have space, bins, racks for all of your scrumptious yarns, but when looking at a space, remember, you want people to be able to sit and work on their projects, hold your classes etc. Then, if you are like me, you'll want space to set up the floor loom and spinning wheels. You don't want to be cramped, but you don't need to be too big (especially with starting off, you might not have a lot of inventory until after you have been in business for a bit and the place would look not well stocked.)You can always find another bigger space after you have grown! Then you might want an office and you will need a store room for merchandise. This is the biggest part too. Ask about how much the utilities run. When you go to the bank, you will need an approximate amount with a break down for how the money is to be used. Then figure in the phone, will you need 2 phone lines? You might have a web page to sell via internet too. So you will need that second phone line. Figure in the cash register, computer, credit card machines etc. as well as the inventory.

So, I am at the Real Estate crossroads right now. I am thinking that for now, I may be leasing, but eventually buying a building. So hopefully the next time I post, I will have some pictures of promising building spaces and I will discuss what I think will work best for my needs. I have 1 additional thing to add about what I need in a building. I need an extra room where my kids can hang out. We homeschool, so they will have to be with me daily. So that is one very important feature I will be looking for.

I hope I have helped. If you have any suggestions or questions, please let me help you.
God Bless~
katcha