Today, I cried more than I wanted to. I wasn’t very productive and I stared into nothing a majority of the day, lost in my thoughts.
.
Owning a business is not easy, owning a storefront where you are responsible for other people is twice as hard.
.
Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t work for anyone ever again. I love being self-employed. I love having my own schedule, and earning what I am worth through my work. But it’s not always sunshine and smiles.
.
This definitely is not for the faint of heart.
.
When I opened the storefront, I did it with little to no knowledge with regards to business finances, owning a storefront, and managing over 40 different people with their differences. All the while trying to naively live my dream and help as many people as I can.
.
There’s a lot of things people don’t tell you when you start this venture. The blood, sweat and tears, of course yes. But also the balancing act is a true challenge. Balancing raising my kids, keeping up with my house, keeping up with my custom orders, managing the store to keep it running, managing people’s inventory, payroll, marketing, shipping products, purchasing supplies and materials, paying for the endless amount of utilities and services needed to run the store, planning out store events, and planning out how we will make it next month.
.
Times are REAL hard for small businesses. Prices in lumber and gas are going up. Which means my prices have to go up. The economy isn’t there yet for spending, so it’s a scary time. Rent is also going up for the storefront. So yes, there were tears today because i don’t know what will happen.
.
I feel as if I’m in a fork in the road.
.
I truly love wood working and I’ll never stop doing that and working for myself. And I’d love to keep the store going if possible. But things need to be reconsidered.
.
I feel like I’m failing. But who knows, Spring is coming.