Slight Change to the Life Plan

Hold on to your hats, ladies and gents.....

So you know back a few months ago, I said I had a little idea in my mind (Nostalgia Blog Post).  Deep breath, deep breath... I'm finally ready to tell y'all what it is, because at this point it has some possibility of coming to fruition.

Y'all get to hear the long version.

I was walking Sienna, maybe back in May or June, and I was thinking about my life.  My mom has always told us to find a way to 1) do what we like and 2) work for ourselves.  This is going to sound immature and materialistic probably, but the only things I love enough to devote an entire life to, are horses and shopping.  I've decided to look into starting a store for equestrian-themed house wares, furniture, and accessories.  My reasoning behind it is that there are few stores that are sort of a one-stop-shop for quality products.  Most of the house wares I found are cheap, and usually sort of western, as opposed to classic, timeless, equestrian products.

Product Examples

My plan is to start an e-commerce website, and establish myself online first and foremost.  For my fam out there, no - not quitting the day job until if/when the business becomes profitable to support me.  I also plan to travel to some of the major horse shows on the east coast and set up a vendor booth to increase sales and awareness (working vacations, lol).

I've decided now is a good time to tell you, because I just had a mentoring session on Tuesday, through a branch of the Small Business Association.  It was really good!  They told me that my business plan is very well thought out so far, and I've put more work into it than most people they speak with for the first meeting.  We talked strategy, and options, and now my goal is to create a financial model.  Not the easiest thing because math is not my strong point, but if I can't do that, then I can't run a business.  That's my motivation.

I'm actually pretty scared thinking about starting a business, and very nervous of failure, but my plan is to do the entire business plan before making the decision to implement it or not.  Hit me up if you want to read my rough draft business plan, or want more details.

Also, if any of you readers are horse people (or not) please take my survey to help me determine interests!  It is only 15 questions!!

** Equestrian-Themed Product Purchase History Survey **