Hi there, I'm Bekah, one of the founders of Everyday Balance.
We're still eyeball deep in drafting the Business Plan. I am firmly convinced that Business Plans are an M.B.A.s way of getting back at English majors. But anyway, as we continue to wend our way through that tricksy process, we came up with a short-term way of bringing some capital into the business (as well as some income into our households. Gainful employment is sexy, I'm just sayin'.)
We've decided to start selling things on Ebay -- but we want this to be purely secondary to our primary mission of supporting local commerce. One of the key principals of the business that we are envisioning is bringing natural, organic, and recycled products into Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. I think that as long as we don't lose site of our long-term plan, using Ebay has the potential to be really beneficial for us.
Anyway, come and check us out here!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - Cindy
The idea of Everyday Balance is that the store provides the tools (biodegradable cleaning supplies, all natural, locally made soaps, organic health & beauty aids, handmade bags, jackets, blankets, etc. made from reused and salvaged fabric, and whatever else strikes our fancy) to live a more natural and sustainable lifestyle. At the same time, in connection to the store, we'll be offering classes, workshops, and seminars on all manner of related topics. We want to live our lives in balance, internal balance, balance between work and play, between schedules and chaos, in balance with the earth - taking as little as possible and giving back whatever we possibly can. We want to live this way and we want to promote it for others and make it easier for others by providing easy access to the tools they'll need.
Today was our second business meeting. I think in many ways we're all still adjusting to the idea that we can really do this. We've discussed alternate incomes for all of us to help through the startup phase. We've begun to look into business loan information and get ideas on where we do and don't want to get a location. (Carl's idea of getting extra storage out of a box truck with a window AC unit gave us all a good laugh and helped us think more creatively.)
Along those creative lines, we decided that all the shelving and fixtures in the shop will be reused or recycled wherever possible. We'll be getting our shelves from thrift stores, second hand shops, donations, etc. We'll paint them, fix them up, refurbish them as needed, and make them work in our store. If we find a source for reusable lumber, we'll make shelving, screens, even our work desk out of it. If you're reading this and you have any furniture you'd like to get rid of, please let us know and we'll see if we can make it work in the store!
I'm really excited about this, and can't wait to see how it continues to evolve and grow. I hope you'll all be along with us for the ride.
Today was our second business meeting. I think in many ways we're all still adjusting to the idea that we can really do this. We've discussed alternate incomes for all of us to help through the startup phase. We've begun to look into business loan information and get ideas on where we do and don't want to get a location. (Carl's idea of getting extra storage out of a box truck with a window AC unit gave us all a good laugh and helped us think more creatively.)
Along those creative lines, we decided that all the shelving and fixtures in the shop will be reused or recycled wherever possible. We'll be getting our shelves from thrift stores, second hand shops, donations, etc. We'll paint them, fix them up, refurbish them as needed, and make them work in our store. If we find a source for reusable lumber, we'll make shelving, screens, even our work desk out of it. If you're reading this and you have any furniture you'd like to get rid of, please let us know and we'll see if we can make it work in the store!
I'm really excited about this, and can't wait to see how it continues to evolve and grow. I hope you'll all be along with us for the ride.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - Cindy
We met for lunch today to discuss ideas for this business thing we're planning. It sounds somewhat unorganized when I say it like that but really the whole idea has been so nebulous for a while that it's almost strange to think of it in more concrete terms now.
The whole thing started, I guess, when I was coming home from the Hillsboro Village area one night and realized I had forgotten to stop in Green Hills to get a few natural and organic things I can't generally find in Murfreesboro. You know how you often think to yourself "someone should open this kind of store" or "somebody ought to create a business to do that" or just "I wish there was a _____ closer to home"? Well, I had that thought about buying natural and organic items in Murfreesboro and promptly decided I wanted to be part of that "someone!" I told Heather about it, called Koren about it, and we all decided we would do this. We'd been talking about starting a business anyway because we wanted to do something we would truly enjoy and we wanted to create a more flexible work environment than we had at our current jobs.
The odd thing is, Heather, Koren, and I all worked in the same place, along with our other friend, Bekah. So, just a couple days after I first dreamed up the store, we discovered there were cutbacks at work and a number of people were being laid off because they did away with certain positions. Koren and Bekah were among the first affected, and Heather and I quickly decided we no longer wanted to be there. It's been said more than once that this feels a bit like a "hand of God" kind of thing - providing us with the Need and the Time to make this happen NOW instead of slowly talking it up and thinking we'll do it "someday soon."
So now, Bekah has joined our crew and we're making plans. Today we discussed all the things we'd like to carry and what else we'd like to offer. We came up with the name, Everyday Balance: A Greener Market (a combination of suggestions thrown out by Heather and Koren that we all really liked the sound of), and we made a plan to meet again next week.
The whole thing started, I guess, when I was coming home from the Hillsboro Village area one night and realized I had forgotten to stop in Green Hills to get a few natural and organic things I can't generally find in Murfreesboro. You know how you often think to yourself "someone should open this kind of store" or "somebody ought to create a business to do that" or just "I wish there was a _____ closer to home"? Well, I had that thought about buying natural and organic items in Murfreesboro and promptly decided I wanted to be part of that "someone!" I told Heather about it, called Koren about it, and we all decided we would do this. We'd been talking about starting a business anyway because we wanted to do something we would truly enjoy and we wanted to create a more flexible work environment than we had at our current jobs.
The odd thing is, Heather, Koren, and I all worked in the same place, along with our other friend, Bekah. So, just a couple days after I first dreamed up the store, we discovered there were cutbacks at work and a number of people were being laid off because they did away with certain positions. Koren and Bekah were among the first affected, and Heather and I quickly decided we no longer wanted to be there. It's been said more than once that this feels a bit like a "hand of God" kind of thing - providing us with the Need and the Time to make this happen NOW instead of slowly talking it up and thinking we'll do it "someday soon."
So now, Bekah has joined our crew and we're making plans. Today we discussed all the things we'd like to carry and what else we'd like to offer. We came up with the name, Everyday Balance: A Greener Market (a combination of suggestions thrown out by Heather and Koren that we all really liked the sound of), and we made a plan to meet again next week.
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