Running A Brick and Mortar Business

Learning

• How can this be anything but a learning opportunity, if you’ve never done it before?  What I’ve learned:
• Turning the OPEN” sign on means absolutely nothing.  If it’s not Wal-Mart or a good restaurant, there aren’t going to be people waiting to come in.
• As the owner you have to focus early on…figure out the mission…stay focused on the vision.  If products and services don’t line up with the mission and vision don’t do it just to be doing something.  My vision is to create a space like a “barbershop” for creatives.  A place for the community to come, be productive and creative.
• You have to block out the noise all around you.  Meditation has served me well.  
• The location of your business is important but not as important as the products and services you offer.  I’m on a main road in town, but I’d need some outdoor event or product displayed to get people going 45 miles per hour to stop and notice.
• When I stay focused on where I was when I was “wishing” I was home, “wishing” I had a space for my art, “wishing” I was a business owner is the best place for me to draw from. When you are in the REALITY of owning a business and just focusing on all the hard work you can lose the excitement if you focus just on the REALITY of the day. You have to stay grounded in the fact that your “wish”, your “dream” it CAME TRUE. Don’t let up on THAT reality, because many people won’t have the opportunity to know what this feels like.

People

• People who are benefactors have always shown up in my life when I needed them.  Now is no different.  It’s people who have been business owners, are business owners that are giving me tips and ideas.  Giving me contacts and planting seeds.  Gotta love those people and now that I have the business ownership experience (especially retail)  I get it.  If you’ve never done this…you don’t know…but you don’t know you don’t know.
• Struggling people. Many people are deeply in the struggle. “Life’s a struggle”.  They can’t see or hear non-struggle talk.  I get it.  I’ve been there in the struggle mindset, but I don’t feel like life’s a struggle anymore…and it isn’t. I read a bumper sticker the other day….Don’t delay your joy….I loved that.
• People waiting.  Waiting to see how things turn out.  Hopeful for me, but not willing to help or support, just watching and waiting.
• People supporting.  Doing more than asking but following up.  Showing up.  I think about these people and wonder if they know that I ALREADY know what this venture will be.  I don’t know HOW it will get there, or even WHEN, but I can see it morphing like compound interest….slowly then WOW.   I’m actually enjoying this down time, feeling like “I’ve got space to breathe”, solitude in the space, making it my space, getting out the kinks.  It’s not going to last, this place is going to be busy, full of people.  It will be like the “barbershop” or all the people just showing up to my house at 1215 when I was growing up…it was “The Richardson’s”.  Bringing that back.

Planning

• This is the first business idea that I did not do A BUNCH of PAPER PLANNING for. Good thing because it would have been a waste of time.
• Now that I’ve been in it for a couple of months I have a better idea of what I want to do/need to do.  First thing I need is HELP.  I’m going to try to get summer help (possible with a program for Newport News youths) to help with:

Marketing

• Canvassing the community with information about the shop and what we offer
• Website Development – Research WordPress templates, populate website and mobile
• Social Media Management – Facebook Page Development; Twitter Account Management
• Blog – Update blog with postings…have many blogs for many years now.
• Survey Research – Research and email possible buyers for all the workplace research I’ve been gathering from this blog for four years now.  There are some buyer’s out there…just have to find them.

Retail

• Gift shop retail operation
• Cash register programming and operation
• Pricing items
• Maintaining inventory

Craft Design

• Base and back painting for artwork

Workshops

• Helping set-up for workshops
• Creating flyers
• Posting events on Facebook
• Posting events on Eventbrite

Reading Room

• Organizing Books
• Maintaining reading room

So, if I can get this help during the summer I will feel like the car (business) that I have on the road is better manufactured for the long haul and then I can hire one person to keep it running properly.  I can see that.

Life Style

• Expect not to get much sleep.  Just work around that for now.
• Walk. Not just for health reasons but for helping you plan and un-think.
• Eating Healthy. Actually forget eating and just juice, it’s easier and you get all the nutrients you need. There is no time to plan meals….ha…I think about the billionaire guy  I met and think he -was -on-to-something.

 

The Richardson's Is Open For Business

No one could have told me what is was like to open a real business.  What it would take to open the door.  What it was like to have a soft opening. No one could have told me.

I have started many “businesses” but never one with a building.  This is different.  It’s real.

Maybe someone reading this might have started a business before but not with a building to open. When you do open a business that doesn’t have a building attached one of the first things you do is design and order business cards.  Let me say my business cards came in the day before we opened. It was one of the last things I had time to do.

Business Plans are great on paper but things don’t always go according to that plan. Things feel organic. You can plan all you want but when the rubber hits the road things don’t go according to plan.

We had a great opening weekend. Family and friends came out and supported us. Everyone loved the sign the we were told we could not put up. Don’t ever believe it when people tell you that you can’t do something…even if it is starting a business with a building.

Don't Believe The Hype...

 

See the above sign…I was told that I couldn’t get the letters off of it and even if I did get the letters off that it would then be hard to get the adhesive off and that the letters were probably so baked on it wasn’t worth the effort.

If you have a wooden sign with stick-on letters…don’t believe the hype.  Now it took me some research to figure it out, but figure it out I did.  It also took HOURS to get the letters, the adhesive and the imprint off, but it’s gone and ready for a new sign… THE RICHARDSON’S.

When opening a business as it is in life… if there is a will then there is a way.  

Don’t believe it when people tell you a bunch of hype. 

Keep moving forward.

 

Getting The Keys...Starting a Business

Starting a business is HARD.  It is A LOT of work. It is A LOT of red tape and wondering if things are going to work out and come together in time.

I said I would blog about this: 1. So I could document the process; 2. So it can help others who want to start a business and 3.  To serve as a reminder of how far I’ve come.  So, here is what it took to get these keys:

Step#1: Formed the business as a LLC for liability purposes.  This was as easy as going on the State Corporation Commissions website and completing the information electronically.  Paying the $100 and getting the Certificate of Organization and Articles of Organization.  It is the Articles of Organization that everyone will need to see.

Step#2: Getting the Employer Identification Number or EIN was harder.  At first it seemed like it was going to be as easy as getting the LLC established.  Not so.  First, you can do it on-line BUT with my first attempt I went through most of the screens only to get a message back that you could only do it during the hours the IRS has agents working 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.  It didn’t give me that message until I was half way thru the online forms.  So, do it during those hours.

I waited until the next day and tried it again.  I get thru all of the screens and then got a  NOPE we can’t help you online and they gave me a 101 CODE and a phone number to call (keep that number because it is hard to find it again).  This is where it got red-tape-y.  I called that number, was on hold about 20 minutes, got an agent, gave her the code and she told me that I couldn’t apply on-line because the name of my business was too common.  I needed to either mail (4-5 week turnaround) or fax (4-5 day turnaround) a paper form SS-4 along with the Articles of Organization for the LLC.  Of course I chose the fax option.  Now, with the fax option they want to FAX the EIN number back to you.  I don’t have a fax machine…who does anymore???…so you have to call them back in 4-5 days to get the EIN number over the phone. Red Tape.

Step #3 Getting a bank account.  They want the Articles of Organization and a LTR 147 C from the IRS with the EIN number on it.  Of course I didn’t have the 147 C because I didn’t have a fax number, so I called the IRS back, waited 30 minutes asked the agent to fax the form to the bank’s fax number.  I opened the bank account. I ordered Business Checks.  I got information about Merchants Services to compare it to using Square.  Yet to be determined.

Step #4 Reviewing the Lease. Depending on the complexity of the lease I would recommend you get a lawyer to review it for you.  I happen to have worked in purchasing for 15 years on and off again, so I have read many legal documents, terms and conditions and felt comfortable with it. If you don’t have this experience, get a lawyer.

Step #5 Getting Business Insurance.  I had already been told that with 3 or more employees you need Worker’s Comp. and since it’s only me for now, I was good on that end.  You do however need Comprehensive, Building and Contents insurance.  Apparently $1M comp and $100K building is standard and then for retail something called Plate Glass Insurance is needed.  There were loads of other add-on’s like Terrorism Protection which was only $2 additional per year (I got that since I’m now living in a military town…NASA Langley, AirForce, Army…all of that is here)  I didn’t get a lot of the other add-ons.

Step #6 Insurance Certificate.  Your landlord might ask for that. You get it from the Insurance Company.

Step #7 Business License. If you’re in a building you have to go to zoning first.  Once zoning gives the okay then you can get the business license. The tax rate will depend on what type of business that you are starting.  The business license itself is about $50.00.

I worked on all of the above during the month of January, in order to get the keys…

 

 

New Year, New Venture

How many people want to start their own business?  Many do.

How many actually open their own business?  Some do.

How many succeed in small business. Few do.

After many years of creating business plans, buying business cards, “talking” about starting a business I’m finally going to open a brick and mortar business. It’s not just any building, it’s the same building that my father ran a local barber shop for 40 years. It’s like a dream come true. Walking in the building after all these years was magical for me.

As I sit here over the holiday’s I can still hear my father telling me: “If you know what you want, it’s already there.”   I know that building is it; I know that local artisan concept is it; I know that giving back to the local community is it. It’s almost like there is a pent-up need and the timing is right.  Time will tell.  No matter.  It will be a place that I want to go, a place I want to create and shop and be.  I’ll more than likely be documenting my journey on this blog as I transition to a business owner.

The Richardson’s 512 E. Mercury Blvd. Hampton, VA

Creative Space and Gift Shop

How the space looks today 12/16