As in, I'd really like to forget September. I'm hoping it'll turn out to be like January, just a bad month in the middle of mediocre months. But the drumbeat of bad news seemed to have a noticeable effect.
I still came out even, all bills paid, all credit cards down to zero, all merchandise paid. But it was designed to be a profitable month, for tax purposes.
The good news is that books are doing very well. Yesterday, it seemed as though I had every book that anyone asked for; people off the street are buying books. So I'm pretty proud of myself for recognizing that, at the same time I can kick myself for not having done it sooner. Of course, I really didn't want to impact on the Book Barn, which was having a tough enough time already. I sort of started the process a year before they left, but didn't want to make too much of it.
But now...I'm really ready to get rolling on it.
It's turning out that one of my new suppliers, the source of half of the books I ordered last month, is a two week turnaround; so I have yet to receive any books from them. My regular supplier is only two days away, so they've been delivering. And used books are selling much better in conjunction to the new books. I'm going to miss the ability to put a table of .50 and 1.00 books out on the sidewalk this winter. That was one of the more successful marketing tools I've ever had.
Linda's store is also doing 'well', (that's all she'll let me say though you can perhaps extrapolate from my newfound enthusiasm for books....) and she was able to make up the difference on the taxes.
So, all in all, it's like having gone through a hurricane with only a couple of shingles ripped off the roof, and a bunch of refuse in the yard. More bad weather coming, but another month under my belt to prepare.
I still came out even, all bills paid, all credit cards down to zero, all merchandise paid. But it was designed to be a profitable month, for tax purposes.
The good news is that books are doing very well. Yesterday, it seemed as though I had every book that anyone asked for; people off the street are buying books. So I'm pretty proud of myself for recognizing that, at the same time I can kick myself for not having done it sooner. Of course, I really didn't want to impact on the Book Barn, which was having a tough enough time already. I sort of started the process a year before they left, but didn't want to make too much of it.
But now...I'm really ready to get rolling on it.
It's turning out that one of my new suppliers, the source of half of the books I ordered last month, is a two week turnaround; so I have yet to receive any books from them. My regular supplier is only two days away, so they've been delivering. And used books are selling much better in conjunction to the new books. I'm going to miss the ability to put a table of .50 and 1.00 books out on the sidewalk this winter. That was one of the more successful marketing tools I've ever had.
Linda's store is also doing 'well', (that's all she'll let me say though you can perhaps extrapolate from my newfound enthusiasm for books....) and she was able to make up the difference on the taxes.
So, all in all, it's like having gone through a hurricane with only a couple of shingles ripped off the roof, and a bunch of refuse in the yard. More bad weather coming, but another month under my belt to prepare.