When we were just newlyweds and there was an opportunity for my husband to take out a loan, we jumped at the chance to go into a small buy-and-sell business. We chose to put up a stall inside Divisoria Mall that we named “Teens and Tots.” Knowing very little about the ins and outs of buying and selling RTWs, we made a lot of blunders along the way.
First, we didn’t hire anybody to man the store, but we requested my father instead to be there during weekdays, while my husband and I would be there on Saturdays and Sundays, our days off from work. Because we were trying to juggle between our work and that small business, we found ourselves tired all the time.
It was near Christmas when we opened, so sales were going great initially, but that didn’t last long. We were already worrying how we would be able to pay the monthly rent for the succeeding months if sales continued to dwindle. We were soon running out of funds, so after just a few months in the business, we decided to close shop.
It was stipulated in our contract with Divisoria Mall that we wouldn’t be able to get our two-month deposit if we won’t finish our one-year contract with them. That was a bang on our heads! In the end, we lost much more than we earned because we still had to pay off the loan that we used as business capital. As much as I hate to admit, our first business venture was a big failure.
There was one thing we did right, though, and that was to buy some of our merchandise wholesale. We knew for a fact that it’s much cheaper to buy items in bulk quantity versus individual purchases. That, however, was not enough to save the business.
If we must venture into another business again, that has to be something that we both want and we both have a passion for. We’re not very good salespeople; that was our first big mistake. The biggest lesson that we learned from this experience is not to go into a business that we know nothing about.
First, we didn’t hire anybody to man the store, but we requested my father instead to be there during weekdays, while my husband and I would be there on Saturdays and Sundays, our days off from work. Because we were trying to juggle between our work and that small business, we found ourselves tired all the time.
It was near Christmas when we opened, so sales were going great initially, but that didn’t last long. We were already worrying how we would be able to pay the monthly rent for the succeeding months if sales continued to dwindle. We were soon running out of funds, so after just a few months in the business, we decided to close shop.
It was stipulated in our contract with Divisoria Mall that we wouldn’t be able to get our two-month deposit if we won’t finish our one-year contract with them. That was a bang on our heads! In the end, we lost much more than we earned because we still had to pay off the loan that we used as business capital. As much as I hate to admit, our first business venture was a big failure.
There was one thing we did right, though, and that was to buy some of our merchandise wholesale. We knew for a fact that it’s much cheaper to buy items in bulk quantity versus individual purchases. That, however, was not enough to save the business.
If we must venture into another business again, that has to be something that we both want and we both have a passion for. We’re not very good salespeople; that was our first big mistake. The biggest lesson that we learned from this experience is not to go into a business that we know nothing about.
2 pensive thought/s:
I had a business venture that failed once too. I learned the exact same thing. Passion is key.
ficklecattle.blogspot.com
it's really hard to run a business if one is also working full time. i'm sure when your son is older, you can concentrate more in running your own business sis.
goodluck :)
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