Summer School Math Class..

80 x U=/>ellenoire1

This morning while working on the finances for the store I realized something. If 80 of my customers came in and spent $100 I could pay the rent this month.

I can hear you gasp from here… wow, that’s a lot of money!
Yes sadly it is.
I’ll tell you the story, so you will understand.
I have explained how small retail works on this blog before, but I’ll give you another quick version. In a normal retail (in a small company, that is less than 5 years old) year you sell as best as possible and spend all year using up what you saved during Christmas sales until the next Christmas season. You pay the bills, your staff and the little left over is for the boss. If you did your job right you end the year with little or no debt… and start all over again hopefully growing sales every year…. At some point in theory you become profitable that all the time spent pays off.

Last year when I had cancer I spent more than is normal both paying medical expenses, and paying for extra staff to keep the doors open while I was ill. We started this year in a bad place because bad weather and the recession killed our Christmas season. By February the savings were gone, and we have been struggling ever since. We have been digging a deeper and deeper financial hole every week.

This past weekend we booked a festival booth and paid for the booth and a lot of extra stock… but the organizers did not promote the area we were in so we lost a large amount of money because we sold next to nothing. This tore through most of both the little money and the goodwill from lenders that we had left. Sometimes, something little like this is all it takes to sink the proverbial ship.. and take a business down. We are perilously close to being on that sinking ship.

So today while working on the finances for the store I realized something. If 80 of my customers came in and spent $100 I could pay the rent this month. This means simply that with 80 people buying $100 (or 160 people spending $40, or 320 people spending $20 and so on.. ) I could pay back the friendly lender that helped us with the festival, pay the staff, the phone bill, and the rent…. This won’t pay all the debts… but that is for another blog, another day and another equation… today.. it is 80xU= ellënoire wins and gets to go on for another few weeks...
The whole store is on sale, so your $100 will go a long way…

P.S. While I was writing this entry.. a friend just spent $100… so now it is 79xU!!!

Cupcakes!!

I cannot wait!
I have aquired a a pro cake decorator to come to ice my bathbomb cupcakes tomorrow! My piping skills are unpracticed & my cupcakes look awful!
I have to go get all the stuff together and make some cupcake bases tonight! Cupcake making while watching So you think you can dance!
Yay!

Don't you forget about me...

Just a quick reminder... I am in the store pretty much every Wednesday and Thursday and Curly rescues are on most Saturdays and by appointment too!
Custom perfume blends can be any day by appointment. Tell me when I can make you look better, feel better, and smell better!

up all night?

Small business can be HE double hockey sticks!
1:30 am and I am up working on my newsletter... Keep your eye on your email. I should show up tomorrow...
Night everyone!

In the store a lot!

For some reason people seem to think I am not at the store much. I am ALWAYS here Wednesday and Thursday all day and every other day I am here for at least part of the day. John and I alternate working on Sundays.
Every Saturday with rare exception I am here doing a curly hair demo at noon!
Pop in and see me! I am making a ton of new products this summer!
I would love to see you soon!

Fake and Bake query

This is in response to a comment on my last post.

Here is a link to an Ideal Bite newsletter about Fake Tanning and products to fake a tan without cell damage.
The Derms are now saying that ANY skin colour change is cell damage from UV rays are risky.... CANCER SUCKS!!!!!!! Don't volunteer for it... wear SUNSCREEN!!!!!!
In the Ideal Bite newsletter it mentions two brands of Self Tanners. Lavera and Aveda.
Aveda does good work, but is owned by a less than perfect large company... but Lavera seems ok. I have tried the facial fake tanner called Faces Summer Glow Sunless Tan for the Face. It is available locally at the Horn of Plenty in Dundas. Tell them Noelle sent you. At the moment I am not planning to sell Fake and bake products... someday... you never know! Good Luck!

Are you preventing yourself from getting Cancer?

I get really mad sometimes when I talk to people about ingredients and try to educate them about the things I have learned about ingredients in personal care and food and how they relate to cancer and the environment and on and on... and then I find out they are still buying the same old things... Face Cream with Parabens, Hand Cream with Petroleum, Junk Food instead of fruit and on and on!

I DON"T CARE if you buy all your products from me! Of course I make a better living if you do, I can buy my son a better bicycle or re roof my house or whatever I want if you do buy your products from me... but if you learn from me and keep your skin and hair and body more healthy as a result and buy your stuff next door or across the street then GREAT!
I DO CARE if I see you on the street healthy and happy next week! I DO CARE that you don't have to go through what I went through with Breast Cancer. I DO CARE that you don't have to go through what my friends are going through because their daughter died from cancer this week
I'm not saying I can cure anything or guarantee you will never get sick. I am not saying you need to be perfect with your choices. I AM saying that you may want to take a better look at what you buy and what you use and make sure you are choosing things that have the ingredients that are good for your body! What you eat, what you smear on your skin, what you spray in your hair are all being absorbed into the cells of your body and potentially changing things for the better... but if you are not learning about what is in your products than you could be using products that are changing your body and all of it's cells for the worse!
I know I know... you are thinking... oh Noёlle just wants me to buy her products. She is going to tell me that her things are better than what I buy at the big box store, or the drug store and I can't afford to shop in her store. I can only afford to buy that stuff at the drug store that I see on TV and it says "nature" on the label so it must be ok... right?!

But..... do you KNOW that those products have no parabens(preservatives linked to cancer)in them? No sulfates (harsh dehydrating detergents) in them? No earth killing petroleum in them? No animal fat(oils for soap and dryer sheets) in them?

I have told you about my 90% rule right?
If you choose things that are good for you 90% of the time, then 10% is yours to play with. Wanna eat a Big Mac? Do the Math... did I have one already today? This week? No?. Go for it! Wanna wear that caramel, fake fruit, body spray from the drug store that you love the smell of? Did you use the paraben free stuff all week? Then Go for it!

Life is not that hard to run... if you run it smartly... Choose lots of Brightly coloured Fruits and Vegetables for their antioxidant qualities and how great they make your skin look and how great they make your body feel(and potentially prevent cancer) Choose lean(low fat) proteins to keep your body lean and strong. Choose healthy fats to keep your joints limber, your skin resilient and soft...

Easy right?
Skin care, hair care... the choices are as simple too!
Choose paraben free products as often as possible, soaps and lotions with earth friendly vegetable healthy fats and oils(local or organic if you can find/ afford to) Wash less, moisturize more.. that is a good rule head to toe...

Household products!
READ THE LABELS! Reduce allergic reactions in your house with scent free stuff and buy a steamer!!!

Here is an offer for the first 5 people who ask:
If you live in the Hamilton area and ask me I will come and go through your bathroom and kitchen for free (if not, I can do it over the phone) and tell you what is not great about your choices and help you make better ones. 1 hour, your house.. my knowledge and bossy attitude...the result? Potentially ? A healthier you!
Email me at ellenoire@ellenoire.com

Questions? Wanna tell me you hate what I preach? Bring it on!
Comment below, or send me an email...