Dear Tevah Platt,
Thank you in a very special way...
Kindest Regards,
Kathleen Sforza
Lorraine Razzano
Jeanette Sforza
Today, we were fortunate to have been mentioned in an article here: Women come of age in the marketplace in the SI Advance (our local paper here in Staten Island). I've never really given much thought to being a woman & being self-employed. It was something I just did. When Tevah came into the store, she asked me questions about being a woman in business. It made me think...how did I start the thought process of opening a business...
In 1986, I was about to be laid off from Ohrbach's (a store on 34th Street in NYC). I had just left Macy's (about 9 months before) & I started hearing rumors in the market (vendors in the fashion industry) that Ohrbach's was going to be purchased by Steinbach's. Everyone in the office thought these were just rumors, but I believed them to be true. Companies usually float these types of rumors so that there isn't such a shock when a store closing is announced. Well a few months later & sure enough, we were told that the store would be closing. The company offered us severance, but I saw women & men in their 40's & 50's who could not get jobs. I was only about 26 at the time & I had job offers (I was at the beginning of my career & therefore my salary was lower). I decided at that moment that I would be the one in control of my destiny. I was not going to allow a company to toss me to the street after I dedicated 15 or 20 years of my life. So...I talked with my parents about opening a store. My Mom was looking to do something since all of us (my sister & brothers were grown). So...together we embarked on a dream & we opened a "Country Store".
Throughout my career I always have a "Business Plan". My thought process is as follows...
It starts with an idea. I really only think about it for a short period & then I make it a goal. Then...I write down my goals...I usually give myself a time frame...a week, a month, a year. Then everyday...I make sure I do something to achieve that goal. I think that by setting goals you're more apt to follow through on them. I guess you might call this my business plan.
My nephews always tell me I try to do everything for free. My feelings are that you can have all the bells & whistle business plans in the world (lots of research...estimating sales...etc...), but in the end... you just have to start selling. Like the NIKE ads say "JUST DO IT". I invest little & then I sort of pay as I go. I wanted to sell on the Internet & I wanted to do it as inexpensively as possible. So, I listed a few items on eBay & sold them. I then opened an eBay Store for $15.95 a month selling new items. Later I opened a second eBay Store with my sister Lorraine selling vintage, antique & retro items. If we started with $100.00 inventory, that would have been a lot. From there, I registered our domain names with go daddy for both stores (cost $10.00 a year for a www.). Then we started blogging here on Google's Blogspot {That's Free!} I did have to invest in a digital camera about $150.00 & my sister & I already had a computer & printer, but if you had to invest in a computer & printer, it would probably be about $600.00 for both.
We sell here:
http://www.kathleenrosescollection.com/(an eBay Store) New Items
http://www.lorrainesfavoritefinds.com/ (an eBay Store) Vintage, Retro & Antique Items
Of course this year I have a long list of goals. One of my short-term goals (within the next 3 months) is to open an Amazon store & my other goal is to develop my own website by September. I do have some goals that some of my family think are impossible, but I always put "The Secret" out there...Dreams really do come true...magazines, books, television. All things are possible...
In the end, I would say that "TIME" is what I most put into my business.
Kindest Regards,
Kathleen Sforza
Town & Country Gifts
1213 Castleton Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310
718-447-8237
Websites:
http://kathleenrosescollection.com/ (an eBay Store)
http://lorrainesfavoritefinds.com/ (an eBay Store)
