Blankies and Birds
Out of the mouths of babes.
This morning, Nicholas was trying to claim ownership of my college blanket, the one my Nanny had made me. As I wrapped it around him, I teased, “No way! That’s my blankie. My grandmother made me that. (pause) You probably don’t remember her, do you? She was Grammy's mom.”
“No. Where is she?”
“Well, she died when you were a baby. She’s up in heaven now.” Seeing his worried face, I added, “I like to think she’s an angel, smiling down on us. Of course, she always said she’d return to earth as a bird, so maybe she’s outside our window right now!”
We opened the shade to peek, but it was still dark, and the birdfeeder was empty. No birds.
“Why will she come back as a bird?”
“She always loved birds, and she told Auntie Beth this once when she was very sick at the hospital.”
Nicholas offers this charming thought, “Maybe she’ll slam into the window.”
“Nick! That’s not a very nice thing to say!”
“Well, she might be trying to come in and visit us.” (OMG, I love this kid.)
We’ll have to teach Nanny Bird to knock at the door. Not that I want birds in my house. Because what if one of the cats got it... wait. Enough! How do I get myself into these life and death conversations with a five year old?
Bachelorettes
Yesterday's meeting went well. Very well indeed. I can tell I am going to have oodles of support for the new business. I am speeding towards the point where I must make a decision about whether or not to jump ahead and take concrete action. Yesterday may have been the tipping point, as they say. I have a date - March 17th where I have the opportunity to take part in an event as a vendor and present the products and services to my future client. It is absolutely risk free. And it gives me a concrete date to motivate around, which has always worked for me. "Someday" will always be there, but when I pick a date and commit to it, that's when I make things happen.
And, yes, my new business will serve bachelorettes, among others. I have this grand vision which opens the market up to all people eventually as the business grows, but you've got to pick a niche, and this is a vastly underserved market. The enormity of the wedding industry blows me away. It is one of life's major expenditures. The parties, the clothes, the transportation, the gifts, the decorations. A quick Google search estimates the size of the industry to be between $40 and $70 billion, with 2.5 million weddings a year in the US.
And, I've been doing research for over a week now, talking to experts, going to bridal fairs, reading every bridal magazine I can get my hands on, and no one's doing this. I am in entrepreneurial heaven. A $70 billion market and no one is currently serving a niche which is vastly underserved. Cha-ching! (Can you tell why I am so careful about keeping the idea close at hand? Well, slowly leaking tidbits on the Internet (even though I don't yet have a handful of readers...) is risky. So I'll let you know when I'm ready, and I'm almost there!
End of Day Note -
PHEW! What a day. I created a new Twitter account (twitter.com/myfreshwedding), linked to potential investors, brought on two charter JV partners, and had a great meeting with a future board member at my favorite coffee shop. (Oh, and I finally got the shopping cart links updated on my Sassy Ladies website.) Time to change hats into Mommy mode - make dinner, help with homework, crash on the couch after getting the kids to bed at 8pm, and get ready to do it all again tomorrow! ;0) Life is good.
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