Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur – Pivot and Scramble

If you recall from the last post my maternity store is struggling along and I need to make some tough decisions. There are only two decisions I can make, shut it down and take the losses or try to grow the top line (revenue) with the same level of expenses. I chose the later – sometimes when you are digging a hole it is hard to stop. Around this same time our manager left us for another job. So maybe a new start is what we need. To grow the topline, we thought we should add baby and kids clothing to the store. More money is spent on kids’ clothing, so this looked like a reasonable approach.

Now while all this was going, I married my sweetheart in May of 1989. We were also looking for a house so we came up with the idea – let’s buy a building or house and put the store in the basement and we could live upstairs. It took us a while, but we found a good location on Worthington Street. It was close to another children’s store and as the saying goes traffic begets traffic. Made an offer on the house and we got it. The house was currently owned by a lawyer in town. On the ground floor was his office, and the upper floor was an apartment. It required some renovations, but I was up to the task.

We gave our landlord for our current store location notice that we would be leaving the current space but there was some overlap so we could do some renovations before moving into the new location. The plan was after the honeymoon we would both move into our newly purchased building into the upstairs apartment, and we would renovate the downstairs and then move the business over. I was living at home and so was Gina and this would be the first time we lived together – we were old school.

The first item that I always move and set up before anything else is the stereo along with my album collection. I do this so that when you start moving in you can at least turn the music on and make the experience a little more enjoyable. First you clean or paint and then move everything else in. I do the same when cleaning the house – crank the music and work like the devil. So, the morning that we are supposed to close I load up my stereo and six milk cartons of albums – my prized collection into the ugly Zephyr and get ready from a call from my lawyer indicating that he has the keys.

Usually, the keys and paperwork are done first thing. However, in this case we did not hear anything. Late morning we called our lawyer asking what was going on. He calls the other lawyer (the one who owns the house) and he is nowhere to be found. Our lawyer said maybe he was called away. Now I drive over to my wife’s parent’s house to wait with Gina. The rest of the day passes and not a peep. Meanwhile it is hot outside, and my albums are sitting in my car with the windows rolled up. I have forgotten about them while all the commotion is going on. I go outside to the car; I open the door and feel the heat and my heart sinks. I quickly get all the albums to a cool space but many of them now have some serious warps in them, and I worked for a few hours trying to save them. I saved most of them, but many still are warped. Now I am pissed.

Now once you sign a legal agreement saying you are going to sell your house you must follow through with it or you are in breach of contract. So, I am now suing a lawyer for breach of contract. It is one thing if you do not know the law and you screw up and abuse it, but it is unacceptable as someone who practices law to do it. I wanted to strangle the bastard. This is my first encounter with the legal system.

Lawsuits take time and time is what I do not have. I now have nowhere to live with Gina, and I have nowhere to move my business to. We move in with my in-laws – love them but not the idyllic place to live for a newly married couple. Now we need to start the search for a new location. One thing I know about lawsuits and damages is that even though you are right you still need to try to mitigate the damages.

Luckily, I caught a break (or at least I thought it was a break), I heard a rumour that the children’s store on the same street was up for sale called Rainbow Club. So, I contacted Anthony the owner to confirm the rumour and yes indeed it was up for sale. I think he was just breaking even or losing some money like I was with the maternity store. We struck a deal, I cannot remember what it was exactly, but we paid him for his inventory and a bit more but not a great deal more. Did some renovations and moved in. Thinking if we combine our sales we should have a good business. We found an apartment and moved in and it was good for the first year. Even had some staff that worked out well, except the one we found stealing from us (first firing). Then the 1st Gulf War broke out, and the GST was implemented in January of 1991. Both of which influenced the economy and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It took about one year for the changes to affect the economy, but our economy shrank and GDP did not exceed 1991 figures until 1996. Yes, governments can really help or in this case screw up the economy.

So once again we are break even at best because no one is spending money. And once again we are faced with a decision, keep slogging away at it or close it. This time we chose to close it and moved on with our lives. Sometime before we closed the store, we bought a home and children were on the horizon. I sold all the business chattels and repaired all the walls and left the space in good condition. Gina later got pregnant, but she had to buy her clothes elsewhere and we were never able to take advantage of owning a maternity and children’s store. I was able to give my little brother (I was a part of the Big Brothers of Canada) a nice Varnet shirt for an occasion but that was about it. Sean just sent me a note from the last blog indicating that he remembers those times. The two of us remain in contact, although probably not as much as we would both like. Busy times separated by geography.

The one thing I did salvage was this large semi-circular counter. I took it and had it re-lamented with oak veneer and trimmed out with oak and brass and made it into a bar that fit perfectly into our new house. Many fun times around that bar.

They say never burn your bridges, which is true. Years later I would end up in my MBA with Anthony my landlord and we became friends. Now if I left his building in a mess maybe we would not have been, but he thanked me at the time for doing that. I just assumed that was the minimum I could do for breaking the lease early.

Oh, and as for the lawyer, we settled a couple of years later.  I really hate the legal strategy of dragging it out and trying to bleed the other guy dry.  This guy gives all lawyers a bad name. In the end we settled he paid all my legal fees while I got nothing for my headache.  Better to waste my time on something else, lawsuits can suck the life out of you.  Time to move on. I have since spent many a dollar on lawyers, enough to buy that house many times over.

So after all this we are Right Back to Where We Started From, with a few dollars less in our pockets (a one hit wonder by Maxine Nightengale). But I am still young and I’m Not Down yet (The Clash). Another one of the best double albums ever made – not a weak song in the bunch.

At this time of year, I have this ritual I do to get myself into the Christmas spirit. Once the tree is up and decorated, I take one night by myself before the chaos begins, to sit near the tree and listen to my favourite Christmas songs. Just music, me and my thoughts. This is a tradition I started in my teenage years. While I listen to music I rock back and forth and I can do this for hours. I’m sure my parents thought I had “a touch of the tism “ as I heard a teacher recently describe it. I have rocked my whole life but a lot less now. If I am sitting, there is always a part of my body moving. During these sessions, my mind dreams of the future or reflects on the past but I’m always gone somewhere else. This Christmas try to find that little slice of time by yourself to sit and do the same (you don’t have to rock). It’s therapeutic and puts you in the spirit. No phones allowed.

Thanks everyone for following along, wishing everyone a wonderful holidays season filled with family and friends.  And of course, the best Christmas song ever written was Fairy Tale of New York by the Pogues. I am not a religious man, but my parents instilled in me a love of Christmas.  We’ll be missing you this year mom.