A Little More History

This is where I decided that Conya's Cottage would be born. I chose the name from two things I love - cottages and my grandmother Conya Williams Chapman. I love my other grandmother as well, but this grandmother spent most of her life being called a nickname version of her name (Connie) so I thought that now that she has moved on to another life, I would honor her by using it now. At the time this picture was taken in April of 2007, it was a neighborhood thrift store with quite a following. The owner at that time was looking to move from the area and sell, I had just been bought out of my half of the restored house and so the timing was right.

Giddy with excitement, I signed the final papers on May 15, 2007 and immediately put up a sign and opened the doors. My plan was to operate during renovations which was an idea that served well...I was able to immediately make sales while my vision took shape. However, I had over 4,000 sq. ft. of area to clean, arrange and sort inventory to make this space into a cozy, comfortable and fun place to browse and buy furniture and interesting items from the past.

I should add that I got married two weeks later which gave me a pretty full plate during that first year, which is now a blur of paint, rags, cleaning liquids, dirt & dust. Nevertheless, I had fun discovering treasures in the boxes of inventory that I had purchased, meeting the other shop owners in the area and doing things that I wasn't sure I'd be able to do when I started them. I also made a fair amount of mistakes but I always looked forward to going to work, even though I always came home exhausted, dirty and sweaty. I had a daily routine for months where I would arrive home, walk straight to the bathroom and take a shower before I did anything else. That routine lasted most of that first year.

Now that Conya's Cottage and I are older and wiser, things do actually run pretty smoothly...most of the time. A bit of advice for new small business owners: never make a decision with another firm or person without giving it at least a few hours thought, and doing a little due diligence even if the offer starts off with something for 'free'. You'd be surprised how many things you WON'T do that will save you alot of grief and time that you'll need for other things if you follow that one rule. That especially applies to anything connected to marketing or business services.

My next entry will bring us up to the present with recent photos and more...see you then!