Drawing The Line
Ever since coming to Y-Town.. i have a person whom i really admired.. when it comes to doing business. He is kind.. and always smiling, he would stop and chat with you in and out of your store.. but nothing too long .. nor elaborate. Unlike myself.. i can be too personal.. and even recommend treatment for acne to a kid, if i see that he or she needs it, without even thinking if i might offend him/her. These days.. i tend to draw the line.. and keep a wee bit distance.. that way.. i don’t put myself out there to be criticised. I wished i had known this business etiquette earlier, for i would have saved myself a lot of heartache.. by giving my heart too freely with people who don’t really matters.
Business Acquaintance
You would think that business acquaintance should have some common courtesy about not doing their business in your store… and try to under cut us..?? but nope .. apparently it doesn’t work for this guy who owns a gym in town.. and sells legal steroids for the guys who goes to his gym for body building. This fella is quite annoying.. and i’m only too glad.. we don’t get to see him too often at our store. Do you have someone in your town who does that to you and your business all the time..?? what would you do..??
We Love Our Customers
We do love our customers. Those who say otherwise.. are LIARS..! MUAHHAHHA!! nah. .really we really have good customers. Once in a while.. we get a thief.. a liar.. and a crazy customer.. but overall.. 99% of our time at the store.. is actually good.
We enjoy having our customers come in and stay .. the good ones of course. But sometimes we are really busy .. with other work. Even though you don’t see a crowd at times, it doesn’t mean we have nothing to do because there are lots of computer work the man does. But ultimately, I’ve gotta remember customers like them.. when the bad one comes along. It makes life easier in Canada… knowing that there are nice folks like them out there.
Local Couriers For Our Business
Our local couriers are in demand in this part of the country. We see a high turnover and each time the courier man seems to be different for a certain company and at other times, these couriers don’t come on time. Perhaps some CDL training can help these courier companies to train their drivers to be a little more professional…?? because some courier services in this town sure needs it.
Cleaning The Store
Having a store as small as ours still takes alot of cleaning. The dust is never ending .. and if you are like us and brings your kid to work or invite other kids to come play at your store, then you have to keep your carpets cleaned. We use a steam cleaner once a month just because and since the play area that we use for our kid’s playroom has a carpet, we had been really paranoid about making sure no one walks in that area with their shoes. The kids are easy to tell.. but the adults.. *sigh*.
Mistaken Identity
If you had been to our store, you will see that our set up is such that i sit behind PB and do my own work.. unless he is not in the store.. and i have no choice but to stand up and serve the customers. Usually when he is around.. i just continue doing my work.. but if they are someone i know .. i would turn around.. and chat or walk nearer to the customer/s and chat.
We had been having some “customers” in of late.. who used to work for us… so today .. when someone who looked like one of our ex-employee came in.. i didn’t even turned my head. Well.. not until she said her name out .. to PB for renting a movie or game.. did i realised she wasn’t “IT”. So I quickly turned around and started yakking .. else she must think i must be mad not to great her.. afterall, she was a great customer before.
Relocating & Moving The Store
In our 9 years in business, we’ve moved 3 times but each of these times were just moving from one street to another, not too far away from the original store. But lately, we’ve been thinking a lot about relocating entirely to a different city or town altogether due to various business strategy reasons.
Moving or relocating is such a huge deal to us, where does one begin right? A moving guide like What Moves You is a great place to start because they do answer a lot of issues, questions and concerns that one might have regarding relocation. They even offer packing tips and storage solutions. But if you have a question that is not currently answered on their blog you can even leave one of your own and get some moving advice from them. I’ll be sure to remember to check this moving survival guide if we are ready to move or relocate.
Experience Comes From Making Mistakes
I had known of this wise saying since I was a kid and I can tell you after being owner by association for 8 yrs that it is all so true. The things we would never do AGAIN .. if we had another go in the same kind of business in a different country or in a different town. But it was mistakes that were inevitable because PB and I never really owned a business before. And for him, it all started from being a yard sale place. Strange as it is.. it evolved to where we are today.
We noticed that used games and trading games gave us a lot of learning to do. We actually didn’t know the worth or how much to offer at first.. to now being an expert in the wheeling and dealing of everything. Now we also learned to take things easy, no need to pay for stuff at a price we are not comfortable in losing. As you all know theft is a big thing in this town, Peter can rob Paul and bring Paul’s stuff to sell it to us and we may end up losing the thing we paid for and also being accused of buying stolen stuff. Like we know they were stolen.. or like Peter would tell us it was stolen.. *slap*
After 8 yrs in business .. we also learned another important thing. The RCMPs (police) here are great in public relation, they can even stop my babysitter in the middle of the road while she is driving to get her to call a friend of theirs who is interested in her *slap forehead*. We also learned that in the event where your business gets broken into or you are robbed, you can go right ahead and do all the researching for them and yet they cannot do a lot to arrest the thief or the robber due to no concrete evidences.
In the event whereby you buy something unknowingly from someone who had robbed his friend, girlfriend or grandfather, you are still at the wrong. Plus you will never see the thing you paid for nor get restitution, they are even too lazy to bring you the “blue” form for restitution.
Having said all that, I’m sure these folks are very nice people but just when you want to see results.. you probably need to get a higher being to help. Like they all say around here.. catching a offender takes 3 cop cars and 1 on the bike.. and another on a horse would definitely be of heled.
Office Space
Tell me about it..! Office space negotiation can be a real hassle and for someone who worked for representative offices moving from one country to another, it can get really stressful. Reason being because you don’t really know what is the actual market price and the different landlords you are dealing with. But if you trust the professionals like Don Cox and company for Austin Office Space, you eliminate all the above problems I had mentioned, all at no extra cost to you. Why not eh? Find the right office/warehouse for leasing and subleasing in a jiffy. Any smart office manager would take advantage of their expertise.
Why Our Prices Are Different From Walmart
It is quite simple.. and quite logical don’t you think…?? but obviously not for we get asked all the time, the same question. We cannot compete with the big boys like Walmart because we are locally owned and not buying in bulk like Walmart. But when you need something you an be sure that we will go all the way out to get it for you unlike Walmart, who will tell you “they don’t know when the next shipment is coming”.
Shops like ours are customer oriented and since we are there for you .. in time of your need. Like if you needed work done on your computer, we allow you to pay us later..when you have the money, so don’t you think you should support your friendly, local business.. instead of going to the big boys..?? would the big boys tell you to come pay when you have the money..?? Yes.. we do that for customers we know for a long time.. but no matter how much you spend at Walmart, you will never be able to do that.. nor Staples.
Better Business Means Better Home
Running your own business is not easy and working 364 days a year is definitely hard work for anyone. Despite that though we want to make our business work out for us because we want to provide quality living and a good home for our kid. We want to give her a home to come home to everyday after school, a comfortable and welcoming place for her.
Of course the man of the family is very important to and what better way to reward him for all the hard work than to build a customize homed like those offered by Schumacher Homes, not only are they affordable but they will work with you all the way. With so many home plans for us to choose from I am sure this will be the way to go for our next home.
Why Do They Do That…??
A week or so ago, I had a customer come in with some cable wires.. that he claimed he had bought from us.. and it doesn’t work. And like any business owner, we felt really bad for the customer.. and quickly wanted to exchange a new and working one from him. But a quick look at the wires.. we knew he cannot have bought this like recently, because everytime a new batch comes in .. we know the different colors for different month. But to give the benefit of doubt to the customer, we asked him for the receipt..and when he bought it. He claimed only a few months ago.. and he didn’t have the receipt.
But you see.. when he first came into the store.. he had exclaimed that he just bought it.. ???!!!?? and now a few months later..?? okkkk… never mind.. we will still exchange it .. but it was all chewed up.. by some “thing” a dog or cat perhaps..?? and he expected us to warranty it..?? now where is the logic in it..?? why do they have to do that..??
Talk About Your Cell Phone
Want to buy a cell phone? Or maybe just looking for info on a new cell phone, or to discuss your phones features? Here’s a great place to go to, Cell Phone Forums, a community where all you folks who wants to discuss about the latest cell phone technology and exchange ideas can go. Come join! It’s free.
Watching Last One Standing TVB Series In My Store
Owning your own store does have its perks. One of them is being able to stay home with your kid.. if she was ill like the last two days.. and let the spouse work. And the second one is watching all your chinese movies while working. Of course that’s when we don’t have any customers in the store.
But what i liked most about owning your own store is being able to offer the foreign students here a taste of home.. like watching Moonlight Resonance and now Last One Standing tvb series. We have foreign students from Hong Kong and China, so I would like to play mentor to them any time they have a need. Being a video store.. but we don’t have chinese movies to rent them can be a real devastating thing.
But for those who wants the links for Last One Standing Episode 1 and Episode 2 .. i’ve the links for it, so just hop over to my entertainment blog for it. Awesome right..?? to be able to enjoy my favorite shows at work.
Never Judge The Book By Its Cover
Had a customer walked in the other day asking if we had some old system to sell. He looked like a kid and i had told myself, hmmm.. the kid needed acne treatments but that’s normal for teenagers who comes into our store during their lunch time. Little did i know that this “kid” turned out to be our best spender for the day.. and he is not a kid.. in fact this kid was 22 yrs old. .and was a girl. Muahahha!!!
WoW Game 60 Days Card Sold At Our Store
For those looking for WoW game 60 Days card, they are sold at our store. We have it in stock always.. and can get it for you within 2hrs if we do not have it in. Our suppliers can scan the card numbers and fax or email it over to us.. and you can be on your way .. and playing with it immediately. No worries…!! Gator Byte is here for you..!! Walmart or other places may not know when they will have one available.. but we do..! we can tell you immediately. Support your local businesses..!!! If we don’t survived.. there goes your WoW cards..!! so if you want to support the BIG BOYS.. remember .. WoW.. !! But I know you will make the right choice eh..!
A Week Of Returned Customers
I don’t know what last week was all about at the store.. but it was definitely a week of old customers returning to our store.. and it’s not just one but quite a few. Surprising is the word . .but i’m glad to see them. .and seeing that they are doing well. Some had different stories to tell.. and some had moved on .. to other things.. and other relationship.
I guessed when you own a business for this long, your customers actually become friends.. and it’s always nice to get visits from friends.. irregardless if you haven’t seen them for a month or a year. I just hope to retain the good ones.. and do away with the bad. But it had been busy at the store.. so i haven’t been doing alot with other stuff.
Pets Allowed At Our Store
While other stores are strongly against having pets in their stores, we on the other hand don’t mind it at all. Big pets or small ones, just as long as they don’t poop or pee, we are pretty much happy to have them in our premises. We understand the special bond between pet owners and their pets and for some they like to show them off as well, so instead of having the customer/s rush off for fear of leaving their pets too long in the car, they can now shop leisurely.
Some customers even talk about the pet information they can get online and we find the Petwave is a complete source for all your pet information and someone thought about raising Siamese cats and i had told her that all the facts about siamese cats can be found on Petwave as well. So if you are a pet lover, you should definitely check this online site out, it’s free eh.
New Sign For Our Store
Ahhh.. finally our sign is up. We moved to our new location since February.. and even though it is only a few doors away.. we still needed to put up new signs for the windows right. We can’t just transfer the old signs.. because they are like the ones we have up here. Peeling it off from the old store .. just wouldn’t work too well. So finally, after all this time, we had the sign guy do our sign.. and he finally came in to put it up yesterday. Doesn’t show too well right now.. so we are gonna put a white sheet of paper behind the sign.. so it would look better. Tell me what you think eh. .of our store sign.
Here’s another look at the sign.. just because. To say i’m not proud of the man .. for having his own business and all .. is not true. No one in town doesn’t know who the boss is. I also take a back seat.. with regards to the store.. i don’t do the money part. I tell everyone that i’m just owner by association… if anyone tries to give me a hard time. But of course.. no one dares to .. because you know what the crazy chinese woman is fond of doing. JUMP OVER THE COUNTER AND SMACK YOUR HEAD..!!
Watching Now! Moonlight Resonance Episode 39 and Episode 40 Cantonese Version While Working
I’m darn proud of myself lah..!! i found the Cantonese Version of Episode 37, 38, 39 & 40 (final episode) of Moonlight Resonance. Owning a video store does not get any perks when it is in Canada eh. I bet if i was in Vancouver.. now that would be a totally different story. Anyhow, it is uploading NOW.. as we speak.. so check back on my entertainment blog for the LINK. Woohoo..!!! I’m just so glad i can share a little joy with the rest of you .. who cannot get to watch it . because you are overseas just like myself. Enjoy eh..!
PS : But donch be like me and watch Moonlight Resonance while working. Else the boss wouldn’t like it .. mauhahah!! but since i’m owner by association.. i guess i get to do what i like eh.. 