I have been MIA for some time now and my blog hasn’t been far from my thoughts.
After losing my job I took a bit of time to weigh my realistic options – which are a little restricted when you have a family and live in a location with limited career and education options. I did what I had been looking into doing for years, opening my own business.
This was a frightening endeavour, especially since my husband’s salary could not support us completely if I wasn’t earning anything. I was lucky to be accepted to a government program (Self-Employment Benefits program) which provided me with a base salary for 10 months while establishing my new business.
This has definitely been both an advantage and a hardship.
Since I have a retail store and I am the only one working most days, once I’m at the store I can’t leave unless I lock up.With two kids in the morning it’s a challenge to run any errands. I’m becoming an expert at speed shopping. I’m thankful my husband will run some errands for me after he finishes work and before he picks up our youngest to take her home for lunch.
After closing the store at 5 p.m. I rush home to start dinner, or take over preparations, so we can eat as soon as possible to ensure everyone gets baths or anything else that needs to be done before bedtime. It’s also because if we don’t feed our youngest by about 5:30 she becomes a miserable creature that must be some sort of clone of our little girl who is usually quick to smile and laugh. My sister calls it “hangry” – so hungry she is angry.
Our vacation time is also limited in a way. I have a trustworthy person to tend to the store on Saturdays and if I go away, which I am thankful for. As a newer business I don’t have a huge flow of money so if I go away for a week instead of paying for new merchandise I’m paying someone to work. This is often a tough decision. On the flip side – I have the option of taking time off when I would like (pending my worker’s availability) and doing things with my girls. I was able to go to on school outings with my oldest daughter’s class or take time off when my family comes to visit. As long as I use my days off wisely then it’s worth the cost.
Another huge advantage is that I can take my kids to work with me. This is not something I like to do often because my store is just like a huge play area for them. If I’m going to bring them, I try to only have one at a time because if they are both there they are usually fighting, yelling and, at any given time, one of them is crying. I’m sure this makes a great impression on my customers. Gee…this is starting to seem like a huge disadvantage.
It’s nice not to have to scramble for a babysitter though if one of the girls is a little under-the-weather and can’t go to school. I can just bring her to work with me until her father comes to get her – which is usually by 11 a.m. Even on P.D. days, I have the option of bringing them with me (as I grit my teeth while my littlest one lets out an ear piercing scream with a store full of customers or one of them storms out of the back room screaming that her sister committed some horrible offense) until their father finishes work and gets to take them both home to experience the same things except in without the audience of random customers.
Being your own boss is a blessing and a curse. If I had a rough morning getting the kids out the door for school, I can pick up a hot chocolate and a muffin on my way to work and spend an hour eating it. Of course it’s likely to be interrupted by various customers coming into the store but at least I don’t have anyone screaming “MOM!” or “MOMMY!” every few minutes. Sometimes I’m lucky and get to sit down to enjoy my treat for 15 minutes before I have to open the store.
Despite the challenges, I’m happy with the decision. I will have been open two years this fall (that went fast!). My family has been supportive and my husband has stepped up to help me when and where he can. My oldest even likes to help out at the store by greeting and attempting to assist customers when they come in. She says she wants to work there when she grows up…let’s hope the alternate career option of a ninja-ballerina works out.
That’s where I have been and I hope to continue chronicling my adventures here.
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