I've decided that eventually, I'll write a book about my experiences opening a retail store. Some of the chapters - "what to do about parking, and how to tow gracefully," "responses when someone asks you what you paid wholesale for something so they can figure out your markup," and today's chapter "find people you trust."
Find people you trust
This can be hard, in life in general. However, having people in your industry or even just general business professionals, whether they're graphic designers, marketing professionals, accountants, a really good printer repairman, etc, I've found to be vital. I don't know how I would have made this journey without them. Well, maybe I do, it would have been not nearly as awesome and significantly harder.
First, I'm lucky because some of my biggest and most trustworthy supporters are my parents. And they've got skills! My mom has owned a business with my step-dad for a very long time and they're quite successful and have been a huge help. My mom is my go to accountant and employee problem solver. My dad owns a bead/leather supply store called Old West Leather and Beads; it's been around since 1988. He gave me a lot of great contacts, where to buy this or that and how much to pay for it.
I've also found friends at other bead stores who were willing to share. The best though, by far, is Dave at The Bead Monkey in St. Paul/Minneapolis. I contacted them about carrying some of their great project kits (I carry them, as an fyi). They're a great bead store; they have a TON of classes (many of which the Colorado Bead Company's classes find their inspiration in), they're clean and well lit and have a great team of Bead Monkeys. :D I also like to call them Bead Monkeys. I should come up with something to call Kody... bead kitten? I'm not sure, I'll work on that. I've never been to the store, but if you're ever in the St. Paul or Minneapolis area, stop in, check things out, tell them I said hello! They have a fun facebook too.
<3anne
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