Another season altogether

I can hear loud noises coming from the mall today. It's been raining a lot these few weeks, but I enjoy being inside. The news is still filled with disasters: earthquake, dead lambs, dead whales, and I don't know when this will stop. Have we angered the Gods, or have we brought this on ourselves?
Dad's been working on an earthquake early warning system, basing his theory on low frequency waves just before the main event. However, there's no reliable earthquake warning systems in place anywhere in the world just yet. This theory, along with other theories such as "animals acting strangely", are not deemed scientifically enough for the general geological community. My opinion on this is that we shouldn't rely on these signs as the only measure to major earthquake events, but we should take these signs as what they are called: warnings, and act accordingly. Sometimes, being slightly paranoid is okay if that means saving lives. I also think that New Zealand general public has been well educated (like dad said), and there was no casualty from this earthquake.
Christchurch is rebuilding. There's no doubt that it will take some time, but sometimes it is good to change the scene a bit. People worry that their houses are sitting on liquefied land. If you can afford to buy another piece of land and move onto it, I am sure this problem will go away. For most people, though, this is not possible, and being told that your house cannot be rebuilt, or the opposite, can both be stressful. How much money will it take to rebuild the whole city? That's the houses that are uninhabitable. How much money will it take to purchase new land? People can't stay in hotels indefinitely. The situation is dire. I am just watching them on TV, and even I feel helpless watching them.
One thing that will be helpful is to ensure that they can still work somewhere so they can help themselves. The other thing that can be done is create shelters that can accommodate people long term. These people needs houses, a roof over their heads so they don't have to worry about not being able to wash their clothes or have a shower.
The shop is doing well, even though it doesn't look like I am going to sell any shoes today. I guess I had a great day yesterday and can't really wish that everyday will be like the last. Although, it will be pretty cool if I can sell two pairs of shoes everyday, but it will be good if we average one pair each day.
The Chinese lady is (finally) gone, and I hope that she will take her antics with her elsewhere and not come back and haunt me anymore. I am so tired of her! She ordered so many shoes that I've already lost a lot of money by doing that, and she wants me to return the shoes that she doesn't want. I had to write to Susie D and apologize profusely. Does she care that I went through so much trouble? No, I am sure she doesn't, and she had the gull to say that it's between me and Susie? If you want to order shoes, then pay the deposit for them! She didn't even want to pay the deposit in full, and now she wants to return the shoes? There's no logic in that, and I will never do this again. My shop is not the charity shop, nor is it a golden hall. She needs to change her mindset, and this is no ordinary shoe shop. It's a wedding and evening shoe shop that is a boutique high end establishment. She was trying to get discount from one pair of shoes, and I gave her two heel stopper to stop her asking more questions. No loss for me there, and if I can't sell the shoes that she ordered then it's my own loss, she's not going to get her paws on those beautiful shoes and tell me that they are worth only 80% of their original price!
I am so angry about that, felt so tired after talking to her and her fiance. What an idiot! I told her in the end to just buy one pair of wedding shoes, and no discount whatsoever! I have to recover my losses from her, and it starts there.
I am glad that my other customer was easier to deal with, even though her mother asked for a discount, she didn't. I managed to sell the jandals to her without too much trouble. It was the right colour and size. Kudos to me that I "guessed" right.
If I can sell one pair of shoes today then I can go home and say this week has been a success. If I don't, I can still say it was an okay week because I worked very hard on every sale I've made.
The weather is still crap. I haven't put in the spring onions yet, better do it some time today, though. I don't want to waste them!
My garden is still in a bit of a disarray, but that's understandable with this horrible stormy weather. I am going to Auckland tomorrow, then meet up with friends for tea, and watch belly dancing in the evening. Great Sunday I have planned. Tonight, I will run with G and maybe with the husband. I am feeling alright after yesterday, not worried about the shop anymore. It will just come right itself.
It is supposed to be spring, but as far as spring go, it is not my favourite one.

When dreams come true

Mum wrote to me last night about making dreams come true. I've had a talk with husband and now it looks that one of my plan has fallen flat. I've planned to go to Fashion Week for months, and when there was some funds before for that, now there is none.
I don't expect anyone to understand this, but I did have a plan. I planned originally to go up as a buyer, but I know I don't have much money. Right now the shop is holding on precariously, I don't think I am going up to Auckland. The main reason is shopping anyway, and we don't need to buy anything at the moment. We can't afford to buy things.
Today has been a good day, though. I did sell a pair of shoes. It was a bit strange to charge one more dollar than the marked price. I think I will have to change the price to $299.99, or have to pay the lady back. I guess I won't give her money back, but I will put the price up? It's funny how I don't put price down in this shop, but it is necessary. I've put the price up for Tiger and Tanza today since Susie mentioned that they are charged $269 in her shop. I am not sure if this is the right move, but the young girl came yesterday to say that these shoes aren't that expensive for this price, is it? No, I replied. I am not selling expensive shoes, I sell affordable good quality shoes.
I don't know why I have to give myself so much pressure. I am going to stop now, but of course, I will long to go to Auckland this weekend. I will want to go next year, this weekend, next year's weekend, and the one after. It is like going skiing. It is like going to Europe. It's like finding the right guy. It's like getting married.
Sometimes, I think I work so hard to make my dreams come true that I have been forced into a corner so I can't be happy when my dreams come true! How sad.

Shop update

I've been really busy setting up my shoe shop lately. I've got the key last Thursday, and vacuumed the shop and wiped the ledge clean on Friday. I went to see my friend who is leaving New Zealand to go to London this Tuesday. She gave me some knives, a very nice lamp, and a crystal plate. I paid her some cash today, and said goodbye to her. I will miss her a lot. She is one of my friend who is probably leaving New Zealand for good, and good on her as well. There are not a lot of opportunities for people in New Zealand, and when you are young, you should go out and find what you really want to do and enjoy your life instead of being miserable.
Enjoying life and being happy is exactly what I am working towards to. I think I am more generous to myself now, spending some money on getting some stamps and card making material, and also some little things such as rings and necklaces to wear. They will become useful when I open my shop, and you can't really live without them.
I've contacted the hosiery factory and the person will send me a catalog soon. I can order the hosiery with wholesale price and don't have to spend so much money buying them any more. I also got a sign writer in today. I have got his quote, and right now, I am thinking about what sign is necessary and what is not necessary. Should I spend all the money on making signs? Or, should I save more money and get other things sorted out instead, and just have a footpath veranda sign? I think the footpath sign is absolutely necessary, and I will write an email to tell him that. This will definitely save money and time. By doing this, I will have more money to get stock, and there are a few things that I may have to get such as the rug and the food and drinks for the opening day. I also have to make flyers and send them out, and send email or call the brides to tell them that my shop is going to be opened on 30 July. I may have to take out a newspaper ad as well.
I got the key to the Women toilets today. It just won't work! I hope I will be able to open the door better when I really need to use it. I will probably get more water from the toilet to do cleaning from now on, though. I don't need to walk so far to the other toilets anymore.
There are still lots of things to do. I have to find cheaper bags to buy, or just buy cheaper bags in Hamilton. I will have to call Eftpos people again to ask why they didn't call me back or when they are coming to install the machine in the shop. I will need to get a telephone for the shop.
I am so busy, and I am so excited about my new shop. I am very happy about what I am doing right now. I hope that I will make some money soon.

Momentous day: Fairytale is born!

Good progress today. I've decided to set up a company on the Companies Office website. I've reserved the name for the week, and will have to fill out the rest of the information and pay $150.
I've talked with Kelly in Centre Place. She drew up the lease agreement today so I can pick it up tomorrow at the Information desk tomorrow. I will go to Sukdeep's house and ask for her legal advice.
Amandeep is very excited and she said that I should set up a marketing plan with her. I will have to get together with her, though. It may be difficult, but I guess I will manage.
I may also ask Lauren to come into the shop to help out in the weekend, however, I cannot really afford to pay her a wage so I think I will make her position commision-based. I haven't talked to her yet, but I am not sure whether she's interested in this kind of job.
Jeanie is excited and liked my announcement on Facebook. Everyone thought my good news is that I am pregnant, but I am not.
This will be a bumpy ride, and I can't find any money in my bank account. Richard is wanting to buy a new speaker, go to Papua New Guinea, and I am going to spend another $150 this month. How are we going to survive? Next pay day: please come quick!
I have so many ideas about my little shop. I think the window display can have some nice pillows (can we rent this from somewhere?), and put the shoes on top of it. And I will need to get some shoe racks/wooden boxes. I will have to get a really nice antique looking chair (for next to nothing since I don't have any money). A mirror is needed as well, Eftpos machine, and a cash register.
On top of that, I will need to pay the Customs people to get an import permit, pay insurance company, find and pay lawyer, and pay accountant (probably not going to pay her that much anymore since I've already paid her $250).
I am considering whether I should buy MYOB basic package. It's $1000, but it's going to automatically register the shoes that I sell. Is it going to help me? If I don't sell any shoes in a day, maybe this is not the package for me? I will just use Excel for the time being, and keep all the dockets.
This is so much fun. I am so excited! I am so scared! I am so pumped! I am very happy about my progress, and hope I won't fail.

Cute, and my shop will be called Fairytale

I was trying to find some cheap white wedding shoes from Taiwan, but I came across this picture on the Taiwan Yahoo auction site. I like this model! I hope it sells clothes, which is the original intention of the photo.
I've decided to rent one of the Ward Street shop on the shady side of the street. It will be a good start point, and the rent is $350 per week. It will officially start on 1 August, and I can get into the shop two weeks before that to renovate the place.
Here's my plan. I will buy a bucket of white paint that looks similar to the paint used in the shop. (This will require some research on my part, and buying the wrong paint is futile.) I will touch the whole shop up, and hope to God that it is the right white. I will look for old racks from Salvation Army and other Op Shop, clean up the racks and repaint them. Put the racks into the shop for shoes. I will put a counter inside myself, probably the one in the spare room since we don't really use that desk anyway.
Items to purchase is a very nice chair for the person to sit on. This will be the main piece of furniture that I need to invest big money in. It can be either a huge sofa with no back, or an antique chair with high back. I think I will try to find an antique chair that's not too expensive. Maybe more Op shopping.
The second item is a shoe mirror. This can be a short and stout one, which will not cost very much. It needs to be able to stand on its own.
The third item is a cash register. Then there's the Eftpos machine. I will need to get some curtains in to hide my stock at the back of the shop.
Apart from these items, I don't really need to purchase anything except the stock.
I will have to get public liability insurance, an import permit for my shoes, set up my company (already did a name search and the name I want is not taken.), talk to a lawyer, talk to my accountant and decide which accounting package I am going to use, sign up for a GST number, keep good record, connect electricity and pay the bills. Away I go!
I've found a shoe supplier from US. However, I am still not sure how much it will take to ship the shoes here. It is really hard to say, but I will have to prepare a quote. Of course, I can just order some shoes and see how that goes! Big risk there.
All in all, I feel that I've accomplished something today. I feel that I am one step closer in starting my new business.