Lately, I’ve finally started doing something I had wanted to do for a long time. It’s exciting, but at the same time it’s unsettling. Every day brings a different problem, and the more I do, the more I realize how hard this really is. I used to think running a food business as the owner would be fairly simple, but once you actually begin, there are endless things to handle. Maybe it feels especially overwhelming because I’m still at the beginning, so every little detail seems to land on me at once.
Today I worked on another poster for the front counter. I made it in A3 size. At first I thought about designing a separate display just for one category, but that felt too large for a single item, so after thinking it over, I decided to place it alongside the coffee section instead.
The durian pastry category was added later. None of the nearby businesses are selling this kind of food, so after weighing it carefully, I went out and learned how to make durian cakes. The training fee was 800 yuan, and after that I bought the equipment I needed, which brought the total to more than 5,000 yuan.
Some time ago, I was incredibly busy almost every day, mainly looking for materials and workers. In the end, I managed to save quite a bit of money. The water and electrical installation were handled by relatives, and I did all the design work myself, so that cut a lot of the setup cost.
One question has been on my mind all day: whether to stay open during the Lunar New Year. The shop owners around me have all been saying the same thing—that they usually don’t open because there aren’t many customers during the holiday. That’s also why I still haven’t activated delivery service. If I turn it on and then close during the New Year period, that could still have some negative impact.
Deep down, I’m leaning toward taking a few days off for the holiday. I haven’t prepared extra ingredients because of that. But then I think about the fact that the business has only been open for a short time, and it feels like maybe I should keep going. On the other hand, working through the New Year really does feel hard to accept.