You know I preach about having a business plan to guide you in 
decisions on your consignment or resale shop? And give you all those links and even the Business Valuation Kit to help you develop a fine, detailed, well-considered plan for your shop? Well, I thought you’d enjoy, on this my shop-opening anniversary, about my business plan, circa mumblemumble.
My business plan was 3 words: I’ll show HIM.
Yup, that was it. You see, I was Asst VP of Store Operations for a chain of 160 or so junior-apparel stores. Sounds impressive, huh? Left home at 5:30am every Monday morning, jetted to NYC, worked with buyers and merchandisers all day, left Tuesday am for some one or more of those 160 stores. Atlanta, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Louisville, Pittsburgh. Caught a flight home after 5pm Saturday. Lord only knew where I’d end up for the week (you can imagine the packing problems.) Got so bad there, that I’d have to write on the hotel mirror which city I was in, so when I woke up, I could remember.
Well, turns out, I was being paid 22% LESS than my underlings… male underlings, you understand. When I asked why, the answer from the company president (let’s call him Bery Brous because that was his name) was Well you can’t get a man for less than that. That sounded just as antediluvian then as it does now, so I quit.
My business plan. Ah yes. Open up a consignment shop and
I’ll show HIM.
My dream of financial future: To swirl into his NYC office in my full-length mink and say Ha! Gotcha! (It was politically okay then not only to wear mink but to swirl it aggressively. Heck, back then, the stewardesses even gave you a choice of smoking or non-smoking in the airplane. And if you got a window seat, you could admire the dinosaurs roaming the earth down below. But I digress.)
Well, I never did show Bert B, but that determination to earn what I was worth…because I set my own worth…stood me in good stead. The first year of my shop I earned double what ole Bertie-Boy paid my male underlings, and it just went up from there because, in reality? My business plan wasn’t I’ll show HIM... it was I’ll show myself.
To read more about how I started my shop, read How to Open a Wildly Successful Consignment Shop. Photo from russianexpress.com
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
Ol’ Bert is probably long gone…..you got moxy, girl!!
I would guess he is, but heck, I’m STILL showing him, and “them”, and myself! đ
Good share. Simular experience and thought here too đ
Love it!! Great Pep Talk!
Similar experience… đ
WOW! That sounds almost similar to my Biz plan as well! I think it started out as “Because You Said I Can’t” and then as the divorce litigations started a few years later it evolved into “And I’ll Do It Better Without You!”
Sometimes my pride really gets me into messes! đ But I am loving every minute of living up to that business plan! đ
You go girl! I was aghast at your former boss’ attitude and cheering you along as I read. I wonder where ol’ Bert is now… in litigation for discrimination?