14/11/2022
I sat on the bar stool of my 3rd part time job, using the internet for a marketing course. I picked up a book to read. I finished it over the next few days, and then I picked up another book, and another, and then the business owners told me they were selling the business. As they had no interested buyers they told me the doors were closing for good in the coming days. I made an offer (myself, my wife and my mum pooled together our savings) and it was accepted, the keys were handed over, the lease was signed, and so it began.
I poured my all into the bookshop working 7 days, my wife started to sell her creations in the store, life happened, we got married and my wife stepped in to help more, and a baby boy was born.
The house we were renting upped the price when finding out about our childs birth, we got lucky and found a fixer upper, way, way, way out of town. Instead of rent we managed to find ourselves a mortgage.
One of our shop signs was ripped off the wall and stuck to my wife's locker at her other job, they joked about us running a business of our own and were not happy about her less flexible hours due to our child, she had to resign there. I found myself looking for a way to keep the bookshop running and pay the bills in the third year I took on a second job.
My wife and mum began full time at the shop, barely staying afloat we tried out new avenues, art, poetry readings, live music, but it wasn't working. I needed to step more into my second job as the income from the shop fell. Sadly it cost us friendships with expectations of us being too high. Powering on for 2 years with little more than enough to restock and feed ourselves, we were back in the green - thanks to our wonderful customers that never let us down. We signed a 3yr lease. Just before our 2nd boy was born my grandfather die and covid hit. With books and a distribution deal to sell new games we just made it, albeit with a friendship soon to be lost, in the next town over for being a 'competing' business now.
Sadly my dad died suddenly and the shop was set aside. As we pieced our lives back together, we all got sick with covid in Mid 2022 and just as we recovered our 3rd boy was born. We are so happy our rainbow baby made it through a very complicated birth. It was in this time we got a call, the lease was terminated as they had not received our notice of renewal - that's just how it goes sometimes, thank you - The End 📖📕
