well, my Taurus T-Square just smacked me up side my head!

[NMDemDist2]

I'm a Taurus and have seen the "Grand Square" talk around here and knew changes were coming, which was OK cuz I knew it was time to do something different. I am really an Astrology dummy here so the info was pretty vague to me.

Yesterday my little store inside a Corporate Center got the news the Center is closing and so is my store. Closing the store will be an interesting challenge to say the least.

It's been a tough three years, with us barely getting by financially but now the nail is in the coffin.

I have about 30 days to remake my life entirely :bounce:

Being self employed has been a real learning experience and I'm interested in seeing what I come up with to do next. Don't know if I'm gonna get a job or what, but the plan is on a 30 month ticker to move out of the city so whatever comes along needs to be weighed on how it will impact the 3 year plan.

Any suggestion or comments on what comes next are appreciated :)

[Bluestar]

1. More Information please

Hi-

Can you give us more information? What city, what type of store, do you have inventory to sell, etc.? Have you been keeping a mailing list (or better an email list) of your current customers, etc.? I'm a business consultant with a background in consumer products and I would be happy to give you some feedback if you can provide the information. For instance, maybe you could have a website and sell your product over the internet for the 30 months until you decide to move. Or perhaps there is another site with a short-term lease where you could move for the interim.

Best of luck to you. I think we're all dealing with transits of this type. Due to an illness I have to confine my consulting business to home (which isn't very lucrative) and depend on my husband's income. Hubby recently found out his company may be closing in the next 6 months. I'm not an astrologer of any type, so I don't know if we have any other "smackdowns" coming our way. He is a Libra and I am a Gemini.

[NMDemDist2]

2. Hi BlueStar welcome to DU!

:hi:

my "store" was a snack/coffee bar inside a corporate cafeteria. I sold espresso drinks and sodas/snacks/microwave food (like you'd find in vending machines)

I'm the in Phoenix, AZ metro area and we have thought of doing an e-bay store with coffee/tea and accessories that I can get from my wholesaler here. they offer me a full line of gourmet fresh roasted coffees and gourmet teas.

I'm also doing mystery shopper gigs

I have a background in hospitality (food & bev/hotel/tours)

as far as inventory, it should all be gone when we close (or close enough) what I do have is a bunch of used equipment. Espresso machines, coffee brewers, Glass front and commercial stainless refrigerators all have to go.

Sorry to hear of your health challenges, hope the prognosis is good and best luck with your hubby's situation as well.

[Bluestar]

5. No Time Like the Present

Thanks for the welcome. I've actually been lurking here since the Bush "selection", but haven't posted that much.

I think your idea of coffee and tea accessories is a fine one. And E-Bay would afford you the opportunity to play off of their traffic. I like to make espresso and tea at home and it is difficult to find the right accessories. For instance, I looked and looked for coffee mugs. It seems like 15 years ago they were in every gift shop and filling station around. Then they died out--now nothing that is attractive. Also, I had to look for a cannister that had a really wide opening for storing coffee--finally found it at Pier One. But you could think about the whole process and offer things that are difficult to find--cinnamon grinders/shakers; vanilla powder; chocolate powder. And the great thing about E-Bay is the overhead is very low. I would pick about 10 items for your site and run a test to see how they sell. If it takes off, you can operate from anywhere and your pending relocation becomes a non-issue.

By the way, the best way to drive traffic to your site is to write articles (fun articles about coffee and tea) and submit them to websites. A friend of mine got over 20,000 hits doing this recently. It's easy to find places to submit--just google "articles" or "articles wanted".

Good luck to you! I'm anxious to see how it turns out.

[NMDemDist2]

7. see? I need to link this to the synchronicity thread

you just gave me some excellent information and advice!

You don't know how much I appreciate it!

As soon as I get it up and running (10 days or so) you just earned a free care package of coffee goodness.........

[Bluestar]

9. Can't Wait to Shop Your Site

I'm so glad that you found the information helpful. Here's sending you good energy (and I'll do a little session of raising the frequency of your new business tonight--my way of healing and manifestation).

Bluestar

[NMDemDist2]

10. I'm taking the weekend OFF! I"ll get busy Tuesday when I can judge

where we're at and how fast we have to build a soft landing parachute

[BlueIris]

3. Hey, AZ. Glad you made it.

My Taurus t-square is also kicking my ass, although, thankfully, the insane new restrictions it appears to have placed on my options may have enabled me to actually find some options. I know that may not make any sense. But the last time a Grand Square did something like this to me (it was in 1999, in Scorpio--my rising sign) it was, in retrospect, clearly a way of forcing me off an old, dying path so I could remake, or rather, rediscover myself, on a new one that led me straight to (among other great things) my activism and DU (read: my best chance at survival during and after the Bush years). I feel like this Grand Square is forcing me to cement the changes I endured during the revolution between 1999 and now, and move on to other things. Which will be better things, I think. So, even though it seems like you just got really unexpectedly screwed in an unfair and majorly limiting way, maybe you...didn't? I really think that for people like us, this Grand Square is about forcing us to clear away the bad, stagnating, useless parts of our lives through processes we haven't yet been capable of enacting ourselves. That's how the last one felt for me, only...harsher. I realize this also may not make much sense, but the last Grand Square for me was more brutally unforgiving, chaotic, painful and finally...yes, rewarding. The havoc these "rewards" wreaked on my life brought me here. And now I feel as if that has opened the door to something...grand. I hope this energy rewards you in the same fashion.

[NMDemDist2]

4. thanks, Iris

I thought all day yesterday where to post a thread on my changes

I'm not really a "lounge lizard" so that didn't seem right

and Cooking and Baking wasn't right either (although that's probably my "home forum")

frugal living? maybe or economic activism also a maybe

but then you suggested here and I realized it was the perfect place. Thanks!

it's already alright, this too will pass. We (DH and I) knew it was coming we just procrastinated long enough for them to take away our choice of "when"

I firmly believe that my angels haven't brought me this far to drop me on my head :rofl:

[lady lib]

6. A few thoughts...

- (((Big Hug))) Sorry, to hear about the changes coming up. It's got to be frightening to have this level of financial uncertainty and to be looking at a completely different way to sell your products.

- Lord Lib promises to be on the lookout for potential rentable spaces in the buildings where he does space plan work. Don't hold out too much hope on this one, but he will let you know if he sees anything with potential.

- When the Lord closes a door He opens a window, right? It must be true if Julie Andrews says it ;)! I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised at how much money you can make over the Internet. This could actually be a very positive financial development for you.

-LL

[NMDemDist2]

8. we think so too! but thanks so much for your thoughts and good wishes

and LordLib's keen eyes are appreciated too (har har a little astronomy joke there)

but we are hoping it's north or central PHX if we do decide to try and re-open a retail space, we have been commuting too far for too long!

thanks again !!

[lady lib]

11. You betcha!

:hug:

[tanyev]

12. Hi, AZDem!

I know virtually nothing about your line of business, but what about featuring fair trade coffee, tea, and even chocolate? I keep meaning to do a little more research and order some of that stuff, but I never get around to it. If you had it all together in one place, I'd place an order!

Best wishes to you.

[NMDemDist2]

13. I'll have free trade and organics on the site

and fresh roasted and at your door in 3 days at a reasonable cost too!

I"ll PM you when it's up, thanks!

[tanyev]

14. Woo-hoo! Very cool.

:bounce:

[NMDemDist2]

15. so is your sigline

it's HUGH!!!!111!!!!! I'm series!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!!

:rofl: