Saturday, September 20, 2008

The ends and outs of a small business in a bad market year

This is our first year for doing Building New Worlds and I had my fears about starting a business in a year that did not start out good for the stock market but, I am not as worried as I was now that we have it going. What can you do? You either go with your dream or sit on it until you are too old to so anything about it. I chose to go with it.
This year has been slow so far and I have a lot of people who have had a longer run that I have that are doing better than I am but I am not down and out yet! My 2009 plan is already running in my mind and even if it might seem crazy to some I am going to move forward to the next level and go into the next year knowing that as long as I an kicking there is a chance that BNW will always have a breath too.
Over the winter time I am going to start laying the plan on paper and see just what it will take to get us going for the next year. I am eye balling Google Ads really hard and hoping that this will be a part of the next year. I am also hoping to get a shopping cart for the site next year so that I can take it right on to the next level that way also and save my custerms time with that.
One of the other projects I have in the works is a news letter that I am going to be working on that will go hand in hand with the Blog, Network, store and so on to keep members and custerms informed about what we are doing and when changes happen. All on all 2009 will be another busy year for me and this one is not over yet by no means. This Halloween season is just started and I am waiting to see how it goes though not as fearful as I once was.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Why another Lemax online store?

Over the past year I have ask myself a couple of times or so why would we need yet another store for Lemax? A lot of people out there sell Lemax or Department 56 or some other band of village. Does to world really need another village seller? My thought right after that was SO WHAT! You might think that I have lost my mind in saything this but here is why I came to the conclusion that selling Lemax was right for me.
I started collecting Lemax Spooky Town in 2002. My first three pieces I got all at once and just had to have them. Spooky Town was my first true love of things that I have ever collected. Never cared much at all for most things I got into. I was not sure though what to do with these amazing little buildings and things. So I will pull them out and sit them around at halloween and collect a few more pieces over time. Then came the day I found out that people landscaped these things. They made little worlds out of them and that was awesome! I had some art skills so I figured I would give it a try one day. I lacked the time or place to do this though then.
Back in 2005 though two things happened that changed my world. One not so good and the other was a blessing in the form of Lemax villages. I went to work one night back in August of 2005. Back then I was a Team Lead on the over night for a Target store in Evenston IL. Shortly after I got to work I had a seizure. Not just a small trimbling one but a full blown, lasting for ten minutes, seizure. That week I found out I would not be going back to work for a while. At that point I was scared, confused and even plan depressed. While all this was going on I needed something to take my mind off the whole seizure thing. I started working on my first village landscape. Not just some small project but a full village with all the triming. Meanwhile the doctors where busy trying to fix the seizure thing.
The treatments were not working very well but when I was working on my village I felt normal again. I felt alive! That was something I would never forget. Something that even now makes days that are not so good some of the best days of my life. It was through village collecting and building villages that I found a way to make my siezure disorder a much better thing that it was will any medical help. To this day I credit having fewer siezures on no meds at all to the work I put into my villages and the love of those around me.
While getting to know other villagers I learned a lot of them had medical conditions also. Over time I have found that many of the members of Building New Worlds use villaging as a means to help them through life and coniditions that are not always very good. THAT is one of the reasons I chose to be yet another retailer of Lemax village.
Another reason is that I love my collection and as a collector I feel that giving other collectors a great service and someone who know village buidling to go to is something wonderful to give back to a hobbie, a company and a community that has made such a difference in my life. It is with this love for all these things that I started Building New Worlds and it is with this love for all these things that I will make Building New Worlds something to be proud to be a part of.