The scariest part!

Today marks another mile stone in this retail journey; understanding of course, that a mile stone to me might be a pebble in the shoe to you. But I promised I would detail this journey, so no matter how little the rock, you are going to hear about it. Today I said good-bye to every-day work in the real estate office or in other words, I said good-bye to a regular paycheck. Today marks the beginning to Irma James getting my full attention, I will continue to support my real estate team on an as-needed basis from my home office; bottom line, ready or not, Irma, here I come!

First thing in the morning I will meet with a builder and my future landlord to discuss the build out plan and design. Then it's back to the home office to call the Department of Agriculture and hopefully get a list of questions answered, check on the status of our LLC, begin setting up accounts with distributors and  finalizing our start-up inventory. Let me tell you, inventory is the hardest part! Trying to decide what the consumer wants is indeed the scariest ride of this entire trip. Every spare moment for the past five weeks I have done nothing but research and the only definitive I can come up with is Chattanooga is unique!  The Chattanooga (food) market is not Atlanta, it's not Nashville, New York or Seattle, so I am left to conclude I am on my own to determine what Chattanoogan's want in a fine food/cheese shop. So how do I decide, what spread sheet can I use to make this necessary calculation? There is none?

Here is where faith comes in. Yes, I am a woman of faith and family. Previously I've given you glimpses of my heritage but  purposefully I have not mentioned my faith. Why haven't I? Because this is not a Bible teaching or preaching blog, however, my faith is a part of who I am just as much as being Irma's granddaughter is a part of who I am. Consequently my belief system will be displayed on occasion and this is one of those occasions. You see, I need wisdom and my Bible says, "If any one lacks wisdom, let them ask!" So yes I am asking God for wisdom in every area of this venture, particularly in the area of inventory. Inventory is our biggest start-up expense and the biggest unknown; that my blogger buddies is the scariest part.