Powder Boutique

Monday Morning

    Happy Monday!  I'm frantically trying to get the business plan done by Wednesday because that's the date that it's due for my NxLevel class.  If you don't turn in a business plan you get a "course participant" certificate, and if you turn one in you get a "course completion" certificate instead.  I think that loan officers will look more favorably on the latter, so that's what I'm shooting for.  The only thing is... it's hard!  The plan is pretty much finished except for all the financial information.  Currently I'm working on estimating all the start up costs and I'm finding that section to be a lot of leg work.  I need to get prices on insurance, technology and professional services, paint, flooring, fixtures, equipment, and the list goes on.  This section is undoubtedly one of the most important pieces of the whole plan, so I really want to get everything just right. 
    Today I'm planning on going to get some insurance estimates, flooring estimates, and spending some time in Old Town researching the costs of store fronts for lease.  The plan for tonight?  If I can get everything on my to-do list done today, Dave and I are meeting some friends for pub trivia.  I'm excited to go because I've never gone before and everyone says it's tons of fun, so that's good motivation to get everything done. 

Mission Statement

    A couple of weeks ago in my NxLevel class we were working on writing our mission statements.  A mission statement is supposed to be one sentence that embodies everything that your business strives to become.  I've been working on my mission statement for a while now because it's just so important.  I want my customers and employees to be able look at it and really get what I'm trying to accomplish.  I've been playing around with different words and this is what I have so far:

    Powder Boutique's mission is to become a shopping destination that allows women to purchase     practical, functional, and high-quality clothing in a comfortable and inviting atmosphere.

    I don't know... I keep changing my mind.  Some days I like it, other days I don't.  I think my biggest problem with it is the word "allows."  It just doesn't seem to fit. 

    I'll keep working on it until I get it right, and of course I'll update it here.  Does anyone have any suggestions?