Mooloo's "Making my future, one stitch at a time"?

Savvy_sewing

Well as the Saturday course had no takers, I have cancelled the shop help.
DGD is also going to her Mum on Saturday, so that will save me £25 childcare costs.
I shall be doing a lot of cutting back and looking where I can save better.
Hopefully it's just due to after Christmas and the cold weather.
Meanwhile it's a good time to look at all the accounts etc.

Savvy_sewing

whiteguineapig wrote: »

have you other stuff you can ebay?
anything to sell to get you by?
don't forget facebook selling pages if you have anything big to get rid of

I have a lot of clothing that I can start to put up. I will get photographing it!
I will up my Game and get selling what I can from home as well as the shop. But it may be a bit late for this month. But every little helps.

Savvy_sewing

I think the problem is mainly the fuel bill.
It is 4 times higher then budgeted.
Then the extra insurance I had to pay upfront didn't help either.
There is work still in that will bring in Money, and I have stock I can hopefully push.
I will re look at the accounts, and the cash flow forecast etc.
I hope I will be able to sort it out and hopefully when the electric is sorted they may even owe me money.

duchy

grey_lady wrote: »

Might be worth getting your local business link or similar to take a look at your plan/figures for the shop because if you aren't making enough to cover both your and your assistant's wages then it isn't sustainable - a second pair eyes might come up with some useful ideas about increasing income / managing costs.

I think it's a bit sweeping to decide a business isn't sustainable based on the flattest week of the year in retail.

That said obviously any and all outside helping to help build the foundation of the business is important - be it help with the wage bill under something like apprenticeship or some kind of grant or professional advice shouldn't be neglected.

I'm sure there must be small business forums out there which might have some helpful leads.

vandanfc

Keep you eye open on Aldi and Lidl, both sell LED bulbs at good prices, ie 2 for £6 most recent offer at Aldi, yours might still have stock.

Savvy_sewing

I will see what they have in when I go that way again.
DS has finally given me back £250 of the deposit money back. Most had gone on food as they have no cooking facilities at the Travel Lodge.
They are both now out of work! He lost his job due to the bike breaking down, and being relocated 13 miles away from his work. Working evenings in a pub with no transport.

vandanfc

Actually the most recent offer was Lidl, sorry getting my stores mixed up.

Savvy_sewing

ah not got a Lidl here. I shall ask a friend to check their store for me.
I have been juggling things all afternoon. But that's life.
Hopefully wheels are now in motion and the future will not be too bleak!
It's a good job I keep my eye on the bank Balance every morning. So I was able to take action now.
I overheard someone talking to the lady who works with me in the week. She has had an offer on her house, so if it's sold she may be moving away. So I may have to look for different staff in the future. But if I did take anyone else in the future I would look for someone who can sew too.

Anyway for tonight I am done as much as I can. Time for a rest. Tonight's lesson has been postponed, and that also saves me £20 in childcare.
We may be swapping the lessons to a Thursday, as it suits one of the ladies better, and I can get help with DGD for free too.

Errata

I hope you can sort out your electricity bill, but TBH as it seems to work out at just under £7 a day for heating, lighting and powering equipment for a shop covering three storeys it doesn't seem exhorbitant.

Savvy_sewing

Although it is 3 stories, it is actually only 3 small rooms about 14ft x 14ft with a loo and a sink in the corner of one( which is not heated).
But I suppose it was the jump from £64 to £205 that was the shock.
It is so cold that people are not venturing out, which is only to be expected. I am positive it will pick up in a few weeks, once people get paid and the like. It will just be tight unless I get an overdraft to help me float. However is rather live on a tight budget for a while till things improve.
The advert that I had expected to go out just before Christmas is still not gone to print, so the uptake I had expected from that has yet to happen.
The signwriter hadn't got back to me either, so it's still only a picture in the window. People are still coming in with enquiries etc and say they were recommended, or they didn't know I was there etc.
It's still a very young business afterall.
On the plus side it meant that a dressingown I cut out last Wednesdsy for DGD has been seen today.
Only one collection today and a couple of baby clothes sold, so £19 was not exactly a good take for the day.
However there are jobs waiting to be collected and still jobs in the process of being done.

Home now, and time for tea. sausages and Potato Wedges! Not very healthy but there you go!