What is your business ?

Savvy_Sue

chugalug wrote: »

My dream would be to own my own bookshop where I could spend all day pottering and debating with my obviously interesting and diverse customers........................

Having worked in a bookshop, DH would say the reality is not quite like that. Many conversations start with "I'm looking for a book ..." which is promising, but they then go on to say what size or colour it is, rather than any useful information like its title or author!

And alas, these days you will get many browsers who then go home and order the book they've looked at in your shop from Amazon ...

chugalug

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Having worked in a bookshop, DH would say the reality is not quite like that. Many conversations start with "I'm looking for a book ..." which is promising, but they then go on to say what size or colour it is, rather than any useful information like its title or author!

And alas, these days you will get many browsers who then go home and order the book they've looked at in your shop from Amazon ...

I know, that's why it remains a dream.:D Always did wonder how Bernard Black could afford to eat, drink and employ staff

~daisy~_2

im a remedial massage therapist with a small but hopefully expanding client base - i have funds to advertise but im wary in case i advertise in the wrong places so im taking my time and seeing what happens

i also work in a gym as an instructor part time

nooksky

Me and my partner run a Dog walking and Pet Sitting service in our local area..

Tea3

I run a couple of websites selling alternative dyes, jewellery and accessories

Rossy2692

I am self employed as a Courier

artfulBuyer

In my day job, I develop and optimise technical solutions and manage data integrity and availability - mostly Microsoft SQL 2000 & 2005.

Outside of that, I provide contract services for creating and managing web sites, application development and custom scripting. I'm also a proliferate blogger.

I think of it as helping my clients achieve their vision by translating their wishlist to techie-speak!

(Ha! that sounds so posh now I read it back!)

artfulBuyer

Just a thought, all of us on this thread and this board would benefit from linkedin.com or even our own networking here. I'm not suggesting we simply give each other the thumbs up on linkedin.com if we join, but it seems a shame we don't have a greater sense of community on this board.

~~~ looks wistfully at debt free wannabe and old style boards ~~~

treadinwater

Hi, Ive been lurkin' for a while and this is my first post:o .
Great thread, interesting to know what business everyone is in.

My partner and I run our own Marine Specialist outlet. We've been trading for just over 4 years now, very hard work, long hours sometimes but because we are passionate about what we do it is very satisfying. We also run a website and mail order company linked to the shop, it's currentley under redevelopment but will be very exciting when relaunched in the next few weeks.

Just a quick question to all those running businesses from home, inparticular mail order/retail. We are looking at relocating ourselves, possibly to our home. We have been told we need to apply for full planning permission for change of use. We are only going to be using 3 rooms, the rest will remain living quarters. Do we really need the permission? Did anyone else have to go down this road and if so how good/bad was your experience?

I know this is probably the wrong place to ask but if you have any info/advice that might help please pm me.

Thanks

artfulBuyer

chugalug wrote: »

My dream would be to own my own bookshop where I could spend all day pottering and debating with my obviously interesting and diverse customers........................

Ho hum..

Have a friend who'd love to do the same, but like savvy_sue mentioned, it's not easy competing with Amazon. I try to support my local bookshop, run by an ex-colleague but find it's harder to get books from her. A lot of times waiting 2 weeks only to be told it's not available from her distributors when Amazon has stock. Shame really, as I spend about £25 - £50 a month buying for myself and others in my community / book club.