A healing doll I made for my sick friend.
Today I am sitting in the sun on my porch looking at my beloved sea through a soft mist. The cockies are still squawking the dog is sleeping and I am feeling relaxed and at peace. Not bad for a girl who was having a screaming match with the landlord and writing complaint letters to suppliers just last week! There was a moment (again) when I wondered if it was all worthwhile. The one great lesson I have learnt from being in business is the absolute need to manage your stress levels and to deal with your fears. Sometimes I really feel like I’ve lost the plot totally. But then I realise it is only when I let my stress levels get out of control that I feel this way.
I had a funny situation whereby one of my main suppliers introduced a 25% surcharge on ‘broken packs’ (minimum numbers for purchase). As a small retailer you often operate on broken packs as you don’t have the turnover of larger or metropolitan-based shops. This would have meant many more of my items would be 25% more expensive than larger shops. We already have to buy a minimum per order to avoid delivery costs. I wailed, paced the room and raged about the unfairness of it all and wrote a very strict email (which I didn’t send). Then I sat back and wondered how I was going to survive with these increasing drains on my cash flow. I let it go and forgot about it all for the weekend. I then remembered my motto for the year (which I had obviously forgotten months ago): there are no struggles only challenges! And so I set about to find a new way. The joke of this sorry tale is that I have rethought my buying principles and realised that there are other ways of doing things. My order decreased dramatically because I am only buying what I need not what I am being pressed to buy. And whilst I still have to pay extra postage, my cash flow is a lot healthier than it was before. So often a situation arises that feels ‘bad’ or makes us feel distressed, but if we keep working with it we can often find a way to ‘appreciate’ the lesson within. Thanks to that new policy I have been stretched to find other suppliers and other methods that have worked to my advantage. Oh yes, and after much meditation and after spending a day with my landlord – we too have found a happy medium.
So folks, the future looks a whole lot brighter this week and we expect to be bigger and brighter in the next 12 months. And yes, at this point we intend to extend our lease and stay in Pier Street. Yes it really is nearly three years since I took over the business! Things are always moving and grooving. The other major change at TA is that both Kay and Samm have moved on to bigger and better things. Kay to retirement and a life dedicated to painting and Samm to new position with Peninsula Community Health in Mornington. Well done both of you and good luck.
Take care and stay well, Cath
