Mooloo's little tapestry of life, 2016

thorsoak

Mooloo - remembering the problems you had with the gypsy before - did you get the fee when you took in the order?? I hope so! x

I was getting over the grief after loosing my DH, almost six years ago when I realised that there were some advantages to living alone ...like putting on my pyjamas at whatever time I wanted, eating when and what I wanted - and not defuzzing the legs, etc etc etc. Small consolations true, but as time goes on and life gets better, they are freedoms that I would find hard to give up :-)
xx

Savvy_sewing

This particular gypsy has been quite regular and is one of the Ines who pays cash without quibbles luckily.
She's going on holiday to Mexico for Christmas so she will be back as she needs these things. But yes I am wary and take deposits from others who I don't know or trust.

I will keep looking for the positive things in my life and try to move on with no regrets.
I gave what I could and it was not reciprocated really. So I am better off becoming single completely instead of the invisible loyalty that kept me where I was.

I am at work, just having a tea break after a little flurry.
I forgot to bring in a costume to copy though so the rest will be done first.

Savvy_sewing

Up at 6am to take DS to his work again.
I can't go back to bed now as I have work at 9.30
Today I have 5 children for a Birthday Party.
But first I have my 3 regular girls in for lessons.
So I will probably make some Christmas Bunting with them as we only have an hour.
First, time for breakfast!

Savvy_sewing

As usual the day did not all go to plan.
I wanted to update my iCloud on my new notebook but it would not open.
I did manage to get the new printer working but only from my mobile phone at the moment.
I started to make a swimming costume prototype but ran out of time.
My 3 girls cancelled 30 minutes before the lesson!
the party went well though and everyone finished their items just about on time.
I am still very tired these days, and was in bed by 8 last night.
DS managed to get a lift from some one else this morning so I also got a lie in for once.
Although I woke several times at least I could go back to sleep.

My plans for today are simply to potter about and keep on top of the housework, change the beds and dig out Christmas paper and cards before I have to go and buy more.
I have 11 days until my Christmas Holiday and I am really looking forward to it.
I need to recharge my batteries that is for certain.

I am also spending too much time thinking about the future of my business and whether I renew my lease next Autumn or not.
Well the landlord wants to know in 3 months time, so I need to know.
I love my little shop, but I am only getting £100 a week from it, and I would need to find new staff when Staff retires in July.
I don't consider her irreplaceable but I do think she will be a hard act to follow. She is very flexible, reliable and effective at keeping me organised and the shop running smoothly.
I would not be able to leave anyone else to run the shop for a while, they would require more than the minimum wage, and would want to have holidays etc that would need to be paid.
I am considering building a summer house in the garden, and down sizing the business back to home.
The material and habadashery are only bringing around £100 a week to the shop, and that's not profit, that's takings.
I don't earn as much teaching as I had expected either, so the work room is empty more than in use.
I think I have enough contacts to still have work enough to do from home. Certainly I expect to easily make £100 worth of work a week, ( I expect a lot more than that, as I do around £800 at the moment), but would be happy enough to not have the restrictions on life that the shop has, and the over heads. I see the benefit of slowing down a little and being able to adjust my work around the family, dgd would not have to go to after school club.
I would have freedom to support my mother as she ages and requires help,
I would be no worse off financially if I still could make £100 a week.
That's only 10 pairs of trousers a week.
Of course more would be great but I just don't want to have less than we have now.

I also started the business to prove to my ex that my sewing was a proper job, and as he had put it, I needed to be self sufficient if we were to have a future.
Well I have a different future now and I don't have a partner to tell me what to do.
I have worked really hard and I still will, but downsizing the business back home doesn't mean that I am a failure it just means that I would have a different business.
I think I have enough regular customers who would not mind coming to my house instead of the shop, and they can at least parkbon my drive, could possibly have fittings after work rather than during shop hours, and as they already have to make an appointment to have fittings etc it's just a different location.
I seem to have persuaded myself just telling you all my thoughts.
I would loose the walk in work probably, but as the overheads and staff wages would be gone, then prorata I think I would be ok.
I would have more time for dgd, and my Mum, unless I get extremely busy but I think I could control it better.
my mind may very well sway over the next few months but I still have time to brain storm etc.
I also have time to source that summer house etc and maybe start having some work from home over the months before The lease ends.
I have until 31st August

trix-a-belle

I have to say mooloo a summerhouse and working from home sounds like a good plan to me
you appear to have a good arrangement with the dry cleaners for them sending people your way so perhaps they could act as a town drop off/pick up point where getting to your house isn't convenient for people & you could have a sign in their window. they would just need some guidance on what can and can't be done/is a reasonable state as you have gone through with your staff but if it gives you some extra bits and another avenue while maintaining flexibility for you it's probably worth trying out for a while

Go for it

Carer

Working from home sounds a great idea, but you need to ask your housing association as you will need permission to run a business from a HA property and possibly planning permission too.

Savvy_sewing

I had permission to work from home when I started several years ago, and did get permission originally for a larger shed, and as my neighbour's have garages, out houses and a conservatory built on their housing association house and run a business from there, there should be possibility for me too.
I have at least got Time on my side to decide and to look into what I will need well in advance.
Obviously if they say no, then I will have to either keep the shop or go work for some body else?
I may even rethink our future here again.
I have a lot to think about.

Brighton_belle

If you do give up the shop Mooloo, you are definitely NOT in any way a failure - you've worked really hard and given it your best shot. Success is the ability to review your situation and make changes that lead to a better quality of life. Financially it also sounds like it makes good sense.
If you are allowed to work from home, then this sounds a very good option to pursue now. A summer house still means the boundaries of 'going to work' and not necessarily having to have clients in your home.
It will also be easier when dgd is sick and looking after your mum.
Coping with the health and energy issues you do is very tough and you do remarkably well.
And ultimately having any friend who sets a high bar of expectation that consistently exhausts you to meet, well they are not the best person for you.

Good luck with your decision making.

dktreesea

If you want to run your business from home, I think it might be an idea to check with the council or housing association first. Our housing associations don't allow home based businesses! I was really surprised to hear this, but it does kind of make sense, public liability wise. That was enough to change my plans re buying one of their flats. Plus, people can be mean. One of my DDs friends runs a small business from her council flat, just running parties for children, and one of her neighbours reported her to the council. They told her she wasn't allowed to run her business from home.

If you renew your lease and keep your shop, then going into the future you have a business you can sell. If you just close the shop you're potentially cheating yourself out of £10k-£20k or more - after all Brackley is quite a nice place - that you could get by selling it. The alterations business below us, just a tiny wee cross between a shop and a hole in the wall, has just changed hands for £15k plus the landlord got some key money. Not really sure why that was as he had agreed to the new tenants.


We gave up our premises a few years ago and moved the business back home. Do I regret it? Mmm... I love not having to dress up and go to work, but our home has become as much of a business premises as it is a home. That certainly didn't please at least one of our children. We did initially lose some sales because we decided we wouldn't have customers coming directly to our home.


I suppose my main regret is I now don't have a saleable business. On reflection we should have just sold the business and the stock, got rid of as much of the business debt as possible and started building up our stock again at home. As it was, we ended up donating the stock that we couldn't bring back because there was no room to keep it in the house.

Savvy_sewing

I will do my homework first.