stray sports

Many people think they can not open a shop, not just cards or sports related, just any business.

I will keep track of my story here as a record for my own want of one, and to maybe help others see that their dream can come true.

I am not in a regular situation, where I rent a location and get stock so the first stage of this story will not apply to most...

Updating you on day one through to now:

I work at a private business located in a town owned arena, which has no pro shop. I proposed a plan to open one back in November of 2010.

I had to go to council and committee meetings and a lot of government back and forth, and nothing was happening. I fought hard enough to get my town to move to a tender (A tender is where the town I live in wants a private business to complete a job or provide a service to the town). This was 5 months after my proposal, and I was expecting this all to be over and done with so I could open my shop in Aug.

But 5 more months went by and nothing.

I got very upset and called my mayor and snapped at him, the next day I had a meeting, and pending one more stamp of approval I will be opening on Oct 1.

11 Months after starting this process, so dont give up or ditch your plans.

Now I am unofficially officially clearing out the room my shop will occupy, obtained a free (really old but free is the best cost when starting a business) cash register, which i had to search for hours online to figure out how to program.

I took measurements, and have designed a counter that I will be building shortly.

This is where my dream is currently, and now that you are up to date, I hope you will follow this story, and I hope I can help inspire you.

Just so you know, I registered my business last year, so I will add the fact that in Ontario, Canada you need to register your business to obtain a business license. So find out what your local government requires, you may need permits, health code inspections and other such things, so before you rent a space make sure you know what is required from you.

If you have any questions, or want ideas/feedback just ask away. I will keep this as up to date as I can (just remember I am setting up a shop at the moment).

TIP OF THE DAY:
You do not need to rent a whole store, or space to get started. Look at renting a corner of a current shop, look at a kiosk at the mall, or a table at a regular flee market type place.

Thank you for reading.