FIrst and Second Day!

I have been swamped by speech and debate as well as homework but my first days have been fun as well as overwhelming. A local business owner will go through business plans, how to run inventory and books, the ways of customer service and advertising. I am acting as an assistant to help her with her small retail business in exchange for her wisdom.  This trade between her and I will help me learn by observing and learning hands on, as well as her teaching me about the business.
My "mentor", Nancy, is super personable and positive. It is fun to work with her because of this energetic and encouraging atmosphere. Her interior-design-oriented business is so cute and I could buy a vast majority of her merchandise so we seem to have the same style. Or maybe she is just that good at targeting her customers and what is up to date. That is the other thing, Nancy is very up to date, with a fancy phone she is fully capable of utilizing, a Facebook page for her business, as well as Pinterest. She is trying to reach out and have her business known and I think this is crucial for business. She always makes a point to connect with her customers face to face. She is very good at chatting and always has the most auspicious things to say.
Organizing has been my main concern. These first few days I especially witnessed how easy it is to become behind on keeping yourself organized and tidy, on top of all of the other demands when owning a store. So much time is consumed just in running a store.
Our small town is definitely centered around it's summer season, where tourists flock to our beautiful lake and landscape, so the winter can be quite rough and simply hard to get through. I am interested to learn about knowing when to hire help when times are rough; you do not want to spend too much money paying an employee yet everything must continue to run smoothly and do not want to overwhelm yourself.
Today, a woman shared her portfolio with us and it was so interesting to hear how she got into interior design and how she worked up to where she is now. It was apparent her portfolios have taken her hours upon hours but are totally worth it because she uses this tool to promote herself. That was a big lesson today, to own a business you MUST believe in yourself. You have to promote yourself and when things go wrong, you have to pick yourself up and just learn from it.
I am hoping to learn all about business plans when I visit tomorrow in order to write a mock business plan while Nancy is away for a couple of weeks.

Hello all!

I am learning all about starting and running a small retail business for my senior project and would love to share the ins and outs! Enjoy:)