Family and Friends First

So one of the stumbling blocks of starting your own business is quieting the negative thoughts that will run through your mind. It doesn't matter if you are an optimistic and positive person, you will have some doubts about starting your own business. There is a lot to do and there are lots of decisions to make. Some things will not go as planned and some days will be harder than others.

My solution to this is to spend time with your biggest supporters. Pick some people from your family and friends that will pump you up and help you to realize that you can do it - after all they believe in you! And what better way to get positive feedback than to have a lunch with one of these ladies in my life.

So I met my step-mother, Dr. Margaret Kierstein, for lunch at Bertucci's. It was a fun time and we both talked about our changing careers. She is a psychologist who does a lot of work for the courts and is looking for a change. I told her about starting the business and she had some ideas for me - mentioning that she had talked to an attorney friend and they had asked for me to send some of my cards. Just this information alone, made me feel very hopeful and I left that lunch thinking "I can do this!".

Green Street Cafe

Jan. 28--I met my friend Karen Leveille for a "ladies who lunch" at the Green Street Cafe in Northampton. We had a great table facing the fireplace which had a wood fire going. Not only did we share great food but talked about our evolving work reinvention, Karen's watercolor painting, my B & B project and our shared affordable housing work history and ways we might collaborate in the future. While we were lunching my friend and co-grandparent Margaret Kierstein came by for a planned pick up of two pairs of snow shoes I had brought over in my trunk (the story of our shared custody of the snow shoes is a tale for another time but they will soon be traveling to Lake Placid where they probably once again will not get used but 'ya never know). Margaret took the picture of Karen and I together and I apologize to the blog viewers and to Karen that I don't have a better shot of us to show you but here are some pictures from the Cafe. I did notice that there were many other ladies lunching at the Green Street Cafe today.

Who Are the Ladies Who Lunch

Our blog, Ladies-Who Lunch (sorry about the hyphen but the first choice name was already taken) sprang out of our intention to have fun together with our time off and to share with our friends and blog followers our process of starting our own businesses: Sarah's is Thompson Business Solutions and Connie's is a few different things under the umbrella of Hop Brook Enterprises-- the first and soon to open is Hop Brook B & B (look for web site soon). We are enjoying supporting each other in starting our own business and have been sharing tips and tribulations.

The idea for this blog came out of a recent turn of events and an on-going mother-daughter adventure. The mother, Connie, had voluntarily left an 8 year position with a state affordable housing agency and the daughter, Sarah, had ended a finance director position with a production bakery company in central MA. We have both been full-time workers our whole adult lives and then some, so it was a unique situation to both be unemployed at the same time. We realized that this was an opportunity to spend some time together that we had never before been able to do---even have lunch together during a weekday. Thus we landed on the term "ladies who lunch" to reflect our new found leisure time and the tongue in check implication that we were in the same league with affluent country clubbers and the like. Sarah noted that it was better that we bond around both being out of work than around being mother and daughter who were pregnant at the same time ("not that there's anything wrong with that"--Jerry Seinfeld).

The Assembly

A very successful trip to IKEA was followed by lots of cardboard boxes in to the recycling and many little screw being laid out and pondered over. Jim was kind enough to put the bureau and nightstand together. The rest was managed by tool girl here and very proud of it.

IKEA trip

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday, my mom Connie and I went on a road trip to Ikea in Connecticut.  It was about a two hour drive to get down there.  Our mission was to get some furniture for the bed and breakfast that my Mom is starting.  She is starting the business on a tight budget, so Ikea where furniture is cheap was our first stop on the furniture hunt. 

We had a list

of furniture to buy.  My mom had the measurements for both of the rooms (it is a suite with a bedroom, living room, and bathroom).  And in typical mom style she brought a pocket tape measure.  It was a good thing that she did, because a lot of the furniture that we found was too big for the spots we were trying to fill.  We got discouraged after about a half hour of looking and only a few small items like a serving tray and a couple of canisters later.  So we did what most people would do and stopped for lunch.

Ikea has a cafeteria for shoppers and my mom commented that it was a good strategy because it keeps people in the store.  The prices for the food are low so it is added incentive to stay and eat there.  I had swedish meatballs with gravy with mashed potatoes for $3.95 and my mom had vegetable crepes for $5.95.  We both had a side dish, I had a fruit cup and she had potato fritters.  Keeping to our budget was key, so we both opted for water.  Total lunch bill was $12.34 and my mom bought since I was volunteering my decorating eye to her adventure.

After lunch we were back on the hunt and managed to find a table that folds down so it is compact, and when folded out will comfortably sit two for a meal.  We also found a dresser that fits right in the tight spot that mom had measured.  4 chairs, a nighstand, and a lamp later and we were ready to go. 

The stuff was heavy and comes in flat boxes unassembled so we got a guy in the warehouse to help us load the carts with the items we had picked.  My mom spent $486 in total.  Luckily, there was someone to help us load the items in the back of the car - and he is also the first guest photo of the blog.  Meet Terry, who was very nice about letting me take his picture - especially after I told him he would now be an internet star of a new blog dedicated to our story of starting our businesses.  Mom tipped him 5 bucks for his help and we were on our way home.

Will post again soon.

Sarah

Starting A Business

So both my mom and I are starting a business.  Different businesses - she is starting a bed and breakfast and maybe some other things too and I am starting a business consulting company. 

Because we are no longer working for "the man" we now have time to "do lunch".  I thought it would be fun to write about our lunching adventures and our experiences as we launch these new businesses.

Stay tuned for my next post of our trip to IKEA, our lunch, and some pics!