It must be vintage darling
23 Nov 2010 3 Comments
in Entrepreneurs and Solopreneurs, Lady Business Tags: eBay, hidden restaurant, lady cakes parties, noritake, underground restaurant, vintage
So for my hidden restaurant serving afternoon high teas I’ve got a clear picture in my mind about what the table settings etc. will look like. I wanted all vintage crockery, cutlery and general table settings so I’ve been on the hunt for a certain look and feel for a few weeks now.
I’ve been frequenting the local garage sales on Bribie Island with the parentals most Saturdays since I got back and have secured a number of cake stands and serving sets from there but I’ve found that once again, eBay, is a gold mine of opportunities. I’ve gone Noritake made and decided that I want all vintage Noritake stuff for the plates, cups and cake stands. So far I’ve secured one tiered cake stand and a 6-person crockery set and am still on the hunt for another Noritake crockery set (preferably one more for Lady Cakes Parties and one just for me to use as my crockery set at home), another tiered cake stand and I’ve now decided I want a silver cutlery set. So the hunt is on for that on eBay.
I’ve long been a fan of eBay for vintage frocks (most of my special vintage stuff has actually come from eBay and I love the Aussie brand Osti and their frocks) but I had never thought about securing vintage house stuff from there. So now my mind is wandering to other things I might need for the business and starting to surf there on eBay to see if there’s any potential neat finds on there. I’m chasing some napkin rings, candle holders, lamps, dining room chairs and cushions. I can see I’ll easily become addicted to buying all this stuff on there.
So slowly but surely the infrastructure of Lady Cakes Parties is coming together. With each piece I buy I feel one step closer to actually being able to start in Jan/Feb next year.
I started my 6 month contract on Monday with the Queensland government. So far, so good and the people are lovely which you only hope for really. Being back in an office is weird and I can’t wait for the day that I actually do my first party or make my first sale as I know that I will then truly be one step closer to not having to work in an office again. I always know it’s my back up plan and that it might be required in some kind of part time capacity post this contract to ensure my bills are paid etc. but I think I’ll be better off all around working for myself and having flexibility with my day.
Other than that this weekend will be a big day of house hunting on the Saturday so I’m busy locking away inspection times and contacting real estate agents. I hate that bit but it will all be worth it once I have the house and have moved in etc.
Please pray to the real estate gods that I find a good one this weekend 
GG
The side hustle and flow
20 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in Entrepreneurs and Solopreneurs, Lady Business Tags: business planning, cupcakes, escape from cubicle nation, pam slim, public servant, side hustle and flow, xmas
Pam Slim talks about the concept of a side hustle and flow on her popular blog – Escape from Cubicle Nation (www.escapefromcubiclenation.com) – and interviews a number of people successfully doing it. It basically refers to entrepreneurs who are attempting to start a business on the side whilst working part-time. Many of them can’t afford to leave part-time work until the business is up and running and contributing some cashflow to their home.
I made a decision a couple of weeks ago to look for part-time work or a short-term contract to keep some cash flow coming in whilst I am trying to get Lady Business and her associated arms set-up and started. I realised that I was a little way off from actually being able to bill any cash and start doing some actual stuff (due to council business registration requirements and other boring stuff) so I figured it would be helpful to make rent for the next few months and take that stress off the new business.
So I accepted a 6-month contract in the Queesland Government last week – yep it’s official I’m now a public servant!! It’s an HR consultant role doing OD type projects (similar to what I’ve been doing – workforce planning, talent, competency frameworks and engagement surveys) and I particularly like the flexibility and work/life balance aspect. Basically I wanted my brain and energy in some capacity left at the end of the day to do business stuff. So I start Monday and it’s back to 9 to 5 for me!
I’ve had a good run though with only working 5 months of this year thus far. By the end of 2010 I will have worked only 6 months of it and so have achieved what I set out to do at the end of 2009 (the year from health hell for me) to refresh, relax more, work less and work out my next steps in life. Well done GG. I’m certainly a totally different person to the one who got on the plane bound for Heathrow with a walking stick and wheelchair. And thank goodness for that.
This doesn’t mean business plans are by any measure on hold – I’ll be working after hours and predominantly on weekends to kick off Lady Cakes Parties initially with Lady Bakes potentially taking a different tack to planned before. My aim is still to launch late Jan/early Feb and am planning on announcing a range of dates for the hidden restaurant concept in mid-Jan as well as opening up for bookings for Lady Cakes Parties.
This means that the hunt is now on for a suitable place to live in the Bayside area. I’m still focussing on Lota near the foreshore and once I’ve secured a cottage I can get on with registering the kitchen as a home business – an important fact before I can actually start doing anything legally! For the meantime I’m crashing with a friend in the area so I can start to scope out suitable properties and streets etc.
I’ve had a fabulous time chillaxing since I got back and haven’t done as much on the business stuff as I would have liked so it’s back onto the to-do list mode this week and potentially even picking up my business planning books again! I’ve found I haven’t been able to even look at any of it since I got back so I just haven’t. I must have needed a break from it as I was doing a fair bit before I left the UK.
Anyways, a short list of must-dos for Nov/Dec is:
- Finalise branding
- Secure a web designer and draft website content
- Find a house to live in and move in!
- Clear my boxes from the UK through customs and get my stuff out of storage in Melbourne
- Set up home office (buy printer, external hard drive, set up wireless and other bits and bobs)
- Finalise menu for hidden restaurant and work up pricing
- Finalise flavours and packages for Lady Cakes Parties and work up pricing
- Start to talk to Brisbane City Council re food business registration for home kitchen and car
- Do my Xmas shopping and finalise New Years Plans! (an important chunk of time throughout December!)
I now have the project plan from heaven going and it does incorporate both personal and business stuff as I need to have it consolidated into one sheet so I can be realistic about how much time I actually have to do things. Looks like I’m going to be quite a busy gal in December.
This morning I’m going to check out a new market in Brisbane – the Coorparoo markets in the old Myer building – to buy up big on groceries for the week and to check out what stalls they have or don’t have 
Very much planning on enjoying my last day of leisure and I’m hoping to catch up with those of you in Brissie for some Christmas drinks throughout December.
GG
Tidying up the backyard
13 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in Lady Business Tags: bribie island, canberra, cupcakes, dairy-free, exercise, garage sales, global knives, gluten free, kitchenaid, noritake, sugar-free, sydney
So it’s been a busy few weeks. I’ve been away in Sydney visiting the ethereal Isaacs family and doting on my bestie Jade, her husbo H-y and the little guy who has totally stolen my heart, little Lockie Emerson Isaacs . I had a great few days catching up on all things new in the world of Pooks and just generally enjoying hanging out with her and her family. I’m so blessed to have such good friends in my life and am constantly reminded of this and the few days I had in Sydney were no exception to this – I’ll be back soon Isaacs!!
Post Sydney I was off to Canberra for a family wedding. I hadn’t been in Canberra for literally years – the last time I was there I was informed was when I was a child (so long ago I don’t even remember being there) – so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I actually really dug Canberra, despite the fact that it was 15 degrees during the day, and liked the laid-back casual feel of the wide clean streets and the government buildings peppered throughout the city. I had a great few days catching up with the Morell family (Mum’s side) and celebrating my cousin Michelle’s wedding.
But now I’m back in Brisbane and it’s back to business for me. Before I left I’d decided that I would look for some part-time or short-term contract work to keep the funds ticking in during set-up phase so I’d applied for a few jobs. I had a day of hell on Wednesday this week and endured three interviews in rapid succession in the city. The gold at the end of that rainbow was seeing Powderfinger at the River Stage in the city later that night with the goddess nomebly. Marvellous.
I digress. The interviews went well and it’s looking like I have a potential job offer this week (with a government department) and a second interview (with one of Queensland’s favourite financial institutions) so it’s looking likely that before Christmas this pony will be put out to work again. I’ve done ok though this year and have only worked for 5 months of it so my commitment to myself at the end of 2009 before I set off for London to work less and travel/relax more has certainly been fulfilled. And I have to admit I’m feeling much the better for it and almost everyone I’ve caught up with thus far has commented on how healthy and happy I’m looking. Mind you after the comedy of health shenanigans in 2009 it wouldn’t be hard to look better than I was getting onto the plane in a wheelchair bound for London last December!
I’m starting to look in a bit more earnest at housing in the Manly/Lota area and hope to go and inspect some waterfront workers cottages this week and I’ve begun to stock up on kitchen items I’m going to need for Lady Cakes Parties. I’m in the hunt for vintage cake stands (tiered or singular), vintage crockery and china and basically anything else funky I can get my hands on.
Thus far I’m doing ok and have secured two cake stands, a glass chocolate/truffle stand and silver cake server and fork set. Naturally all these were sourced from garage sales on Bribie Island (I tell you the parentals are really onto something here – don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!) and I’m looking on eBay at present for some vintage Noritake dining sets (some for personal use and some for the business.)
So I’m slowly getting there and with the arrival of my boxes from the UK this week I should have the rest of my stuff sometime in the next fortnight including my beloved candy-apple red Kitchenaid and Global knives. Oh how I’ve missed them. It hasn’t stopped me experimenting and I think I finally nailed a gluten, dairy and sugar-ish free cupcake this week. More on that later once it’s passed the family taste test requirements.
I’m also slowly starting to work out where to get the majority of my ingredients from and will be working on finalising menus, cupcake flavours and aiming to get some test prices ready for trialling at some parties through December. I felt like things were moving slowly and perhaps I wasn’t moving at the pace I should be but I think it’s all going just fine and there are things that are popping up that I hadn’t accounted for but that’s also part of the learning and starting a business for the first time I think.
So much learning and so many small steps to take towards the giant step of walking away from one career and starting a second one successfully. I’ll get there though and I’ll have some fun doing it. To compensate for the mounds of cupcake batter (and end products) I’m having to test the exercise regime has been stepped up and that’s keeping me sane and healthy too. I’m now running for 25 minutes WITHOUT STOPPING (never thought I’d see the day) and I’m just getting a bike fixed up as we speak so I can start to add cycling into the running/swimming GG exercise equation.
Time to go put on my party frock for the next-door neighbours 40th birthday tonight. These Bribie folk party hard you know.
GG
