So... is Green Goose a bust?
Getting a small business off the ground is a difficult thing. No argument there. We've been in the Kimberley renovations business just over a month now, and you might be wondering if we're:
a) slapping ourselves for being stupid enough to start a business in a downturn, searching for a cardboard box big enough for me, James, the dog and the cat to live in, and looking for discount coupons for ramen noodles,
or ...
b) throwing money in the air like this cool homie, bathing in champagne, and having our monkey butlers sponge-bath us since we're kinda gross from bathing in champagne.
We're not quite at the monkey-butler-money-throwing-champage-bathing stage yet, but I am pleased to report that our little Kimberley renovations business has had a stellar first month!
We've done more quotes than I can keep track of, had a bunch of super-nice clients, and are fully booked until mid June. James is working on:
- a big interior and exterior home renovation,
- deck renovations,
- building new decks,
- a sleek banister railing made from glass and maple (can't wait to see that one),
- a new bathroom,
- a very cool barn door for a walk-in wardrobe, and
- possibly a deck/cat run (keep reading for more on that).
We seem to have stumbled on a gap in the Kimberley renovations market!
Clients tell us how life here runs on "Kootenay time," so the simple fact that James is punctual is winning us brownie points from the start.
(Punctuality is his thing. Unfortunately for him, it's not my thing. At all. I once made us 10 minutes late for a meeting at Scotiabank with our business manager and I thought the stress of it was going to give him a coronary right there.)
Part of the success is because he's really great at his job. He takes a weird satisfaction in developing the best way to suspend glass in a wooden railing, or to design a deck so the ugly support beams are well hidden.
But I think a large part of why we're getting so many of the jobs we send quotes for, is that people seem to feel comfortable around James really quickly.
I've always been best in a group setting. Give me a pub full of friends and I'm in my element. But James has always been most comfortable hanging out with smaller groups.
When there's just two, three or four people around, they always gravitate towards him. I'll admit I've sometimes been envious of how easily people warm to him in those settings. Who knew that talent would now be helping us pay the bills!
What else have we learned?
Cat runs are all the rage.
We first saw a cat run when we lived in Canmore and a friend had a behemoth of a ginger cat called Oscar. Oscar had a ramp from the house to the back yard, where he could sit and sunbathe. (He sure as hell didn't get any exercise back there. That cat was one big fella.)
Here in Kimberley, our awesome neighbours have a pretty impressive multi-story cat run for their two kitty cats. And James recently did a quote to build a deck with a built in cat corridor (you might call it a catwalk ;) ) and play area.
I guess we'll have to build one for Scotch soon. He looks like he wants one, doesn't he?
So for now the news is great. Green Goose is definitely NOT a bust! The Kimberley renovations industry has a new player in town. Hooray!
Now we just have to get through the next 35 years until we retire ...