Aside from diamonds, lipsticks are girl’s best friend. A smear can lighten up a sad face. Its cover releases fierceness. You can never go wrong with it unless… you pick the wrong shade (obviously).
I’m a lippie girl. A powder and a lipstick will go a long
way for me. I still have to work on my oily face, but that’s it. Perhaps,
having a neutral tone and few blemishes is an advantage. I don’t have to fuzz
over BB creams, concealers or foundations except for special occasions where I
have to look glam!
The tones that I like depend on the look I’m going for. I
go nude for natural make-up, red for classic Hollywood vibe, and pink for a
cutesy, girly look. In the future, I plan to use bold colors like light purple,
sky blue and yes, even black, when I’m feeling aesthetically adventurous.
However, I can’t afford to splurge on lipstick. I have
children and I have to set my priorities. Oftentimes, I have to consider their
necessities before mine. Being unemployed (due to pregnancy) sucks. I can’t do
what I want. I can’t buy what I want. Whenever I have extra money, I would
rather spend it for my kids. Not that I’m complaining. This is just the reality
I’m faced with.
Then, it hit me. I was browsing the net, reading my
emails and checking my Facebook account. I noticed that there are a lot of
online shops these days. What struck me the most was, a lot of women patronizes
beauty products especially the ones reviewed by YouTube gurus; me, being one of
them.
I got all excited and told my sister about my, at that
moment, super incredible idea – to establish an online shop. She said, ‘Okay’.
She was thinking about starting a business as well, but she doesn’t know what
kind of business she wants to venture in.
Unknown to my sister, I jotted down a checklist of what
we can do to make our business operational. I posted a survey about online
shopping habits and in-demand retail products. I asked our friends to participate.
I looked for potential suppliers and shipping companies. I drafted an order and
payment system for us to easily process transactions. I also thought of promos
to gain customers and online traffic and so on.
I presented my ideas to my sister and I think I got her
attention. We were babbling excitedly about our plans when her fiancé gave us a
piece of his mind.
“I know how tempting to have a variety of products, but I think you should start with only one product; Perhaps, a lipstick.”
He made a lot of sense. Starting a business is like
planting a tree. You have to start small. With diligence and patience, it will
grow. For example, we could start selling lipsticks to get a grasp of how
online retail industry works. Once the operation becomes smooth, that’s when we
could expand the business.
Currently, our plan is on halt. A lot of things happened
by the end of 2013. My baby got terribly sick and I have to closely monitor his
recovery. It was a patchy road, but we survived it.
After all the things that happened last year, my
pregnancy, depression and uncertainties, I’m still looking forward to a better,
brighter and happier 2014. I’m going to develop a better business plan. I’m
going to look for a home-based or part-time job to have more time with my
family. I’m going to strive harder until I get there; until I get that one
spark that will ignite my fire. This I promise you, I’m going to make it
happen.
