We have been working really hard to open soon! Here are some behind the scenes from the past couple of weeks:
Permits! Permits! Permits! Everything is all about our permits right now. I am really hopeful that our permits will be approved in the next couple of days. They asked for some additional paperwork from us and that has been approved, so hopefully our permits will be released soon.
Contractor meetings. I have been meeting in person and on the phone multiple times with our contractor getting all of our fine details figured out so we are ready to move quickly once our permits are ready. We signed our contract, picked out flooring, and talked about some small adjustments and placement of things this past week. My contractor has the patience of a saint and has worked really work to get a great price for us and explained everything we need and gone over options with us.
Space Layout and Furniture. My husband is the silent partner here in our business, but he has been the best person for all of the design things that I just do not have the spatial reasoning for. When I was a teacher I would move my classroom around over and over and struggle to find the right place for everything. Fortunately for all of us, my husband is a wiz on our space design software and he tolerates me arguing with him about what goes where when we both know he’s better at this! We have been getting quotes for building our sales counter versus buying one online, picking out furniture, and playing with it on our space design software. We spent a few hours in our space this week measuring and taping outlines of potential furniture placements to see what fits.
Kickstarter. Our Kickstarter project was approved last week! It is ready to launch once we get permits. We do not want to start it too soon before we have an official opening date and we want the momentum of our build to keep people excited about it. Our Kickstarter is primarily to help fund the build of our sensory room. Our construction bid is significantly higher than we originally projected because we want to include this room. As a former teacher and as a mom with friends who have children with special needs, I am absolutely unwilling to compromise on this room, so we are making it happen. Our Kickstarter will also be a great way for people to buy passes, play packages, and memberships in the holiday shopping season before we have our point of sale system up and running.
Surveys and Focus Groups. I have been making surveys to send out. If you missed it and you want to do our survey, go to https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeP8c8dWQ1MZPnsJH64tLSyG8NMpy00RQ5ZK4oAodzH2GdXkg/viewform?usp=sf_link. It is longer than some of our others, so I included an offer for a special treat at the end. I have been calling around looking for places to host our focus groups in person as well.
Support Group Shadowing. The amazing Sarah Ward, IBCLC, has been letting me shadow her at her support group. I am such a passionate advocate for moms breastfeeding and am so excited to be able to offer support groups in our space on days we don’t currently have breastfeeding support in town. Sarah continually blows me away with how she handles her support group with so much love and patience, holding space for moms who are struggling, and giving options and information without judgement.
Graphics. I have been premaking coupon graphics, kickstarter graphics, and I even made a sign for a mama to put over her freezer so her husband doesn’t unplug it again with her milk in it. I am loving getting to be a touch creative with designing things. I have the time and space to try things that I have wanted to do for a long time.
Website. Speaking of tapping into my creative side, I am also working on our full sized website to launch closer to our opening. I am working on blog content (send me ideas, really, what do you want to know about our business?).
Lists. I would not be anywhere without my lists. I make lots of lists and take lots of notes. I have lists of things I need to do, when I need to do them, and what I’ve already done to stay motivated. I have so much going on that I started using this journal here https://journalstofreedom.com/ made by my friend, local Tallahassee mom, Jen.
Family time and freezer meals. One of the reasons I left teaching and started my own business was the desire to spend more time with my family. We all know that it is going to rough the first few months we open, but that it will be worth it in the end in the extra time we have together. My husband and I are taking the time for lunch dates, I snuggle up with my daughter in the mornings because soon I won’t be able to drop her super late whenever to preschool, I go to everything that is ever happening on Saturdays with my daughter because that will be our busy party day in the future. I’m also working on filling my freezer with meals so we don’t resort to take out when we first open and are working long hours.
In this coming week I have so much to do! Hopefully next week’s update includes that I have updated our mailing list, launched a giveaway (yes! Free stuff announcements are on the way!), gotten a ton of responses on our survey, gotten permits cleared, have a construction calendar, completed another section of our website, and so much more!
Reach out to me on Facebook or at alicia@gentlehandstallahassee.com if you have questions or ideas for future updates and blog content!