“If life isn’t moving forward, you’re just moving backward.”
I put the final touches on my business plan today. I even took a look at a few retail spaces. I think it’s important to check these things out before I apply for funding so I know exactly what it is I’ll be needing. There’s a cute little closet of a store in my local mall that would be perfect for what I need. It’s only about 600 square feet, but it runs the same price as the stores on the streets outside of the mall.
I wanted downtown anyway.
I’m being offered a few months rent free…and the offer stands for as long as it takes. The mall manager was very adamant about that. She was actually ridiculously excited about having a pet store in the mall and offered to help in any way she could. It was so nice to have someone genuinely excited about my little project. She gave me her card and told me to let her know once I had everything figured out.
I’m currently weighing my options. A few things depend how the next few days events go. I’m trying to prepare for any possible outcome. I’m also heavily considering getting myself some business background before I dive into this. There’s a new government program that could work perfectly for me.
It basically is for anyone who has been laid off within the last few years, and has also left school at some point to work full time. I’ve dealt with both these things. While I would like to finish my Sociology degree sometime, I don’t see the point in dropping 20k on something I may not even use in the future at this point in time. There’s no rush.
This new program actually pays for people to go get training to start a new career. In my case I could get a degree in International Business, Business Accounting or Business Marketing and they would all probably suit me perfectly. The government foots the bill. The whole point is they want people getting educations so they can get into proper jobs and not constantly be at risk for layoff or cutbacks. Every person who qualifies can get up to 28 000$ over the course of two years towards furthering their education.
Only some programs apply, and I couldn’t find any at the University level, but there were tons of options for the College in town. Tomorrow morning I’m going to make an appointment and get the ball rolling on this. The business programs are still open so I could even start in September if I get on this. I think knowing this will help me achieve my ultimate dream will light the fire under my ass to get a proper education.
So my options..find funding and open the store now or go to College and get some business education so I actually know how to run a business (and probably also up my chances of getting funding since I’d be less of a risk). I think my choice is fairly obvious.
I’m so happy someone told me about this program. It solves my issue of feeling like shit because I haven’t finished a degree, but not being able to because I don’t want to be any further into debt. Thank you to the government for finally being proactive about things.
If only things could continue on an upward slope that would be lovely.