I told my mom I’d help her at her water store. Now that my dad is no longer working there it’s been hard on her trying to run the nail salon while keeping the water store open. She’s currently in the process of trying to sell both stores so in the mean time, I figured I’d help her out while I’m working on Unwage and looking for a job.
Surprisingly, it was a pretty solid set up. Taking care of the store is really simple and doesn’t require much work. I’m able to work on Unwage pretty much all day. It’s actually pretty nice. Instead of just working out of a Starbucks, I have my own place to work from and it’s better having some customers to talk to rather than just sitting at a Starbucks myself.
I spent a good portion of the day analyzing the business while running it. My mind automatically goes into “how can I improve this place” right away. I’m seeing the things that sell. I’m observing what people are buying and I’m trying to figure out the cheapest way to increase revenues and the sale price of the store.
To Store or Not to Store
My mom gave me the option of pretty much taking over the place. I’ve really considered it because it allows me to work on Unwage full time while having some cash on the side to fuel Unwage. Also, it’s enjoyable for me to figure out ways to grow a business.
I spend the later portion of the day cleaning up the entire place. It almost feels like that show “restaurant impossible.” Turning something that’s not doing so well into a profitable business. I think I enjoy doing that.
There is also a ton of room at the store so I’m considering just making it my office while the front portion of the store pays for everything else. It’s like a free office. I’m going to keep applying for jobs,building Unwage, and seeing what little tweaks I can do to make the water store profitable.