Business and has it changed?

Is it common practice in 2012 to not pay your stockists on time? is it a matter of robbing Peter to pay Paul for all people in business? Is the economy strangling the life out of business that we have no choice but delay payments when you have to rely on others to pay you first?

When i was asked to provide stock on sale or return i always imagined, possibly through rose tinted lenses, that when a debt was due for sale of stock that payment would be made promptly and invoices would be sent on the dates mutually agreed by both parties on the contract.
Yet from experience invoices often don't get received for moths at a time then when they do it takes yet more months to finally be paid for all my hard work.

I wonder whether this is wide spread, if its just small business that suffers or that this is now the world we live in. To be honest it makes me want to throw in the towel, call it a day and cut my losses. I often think of myself as nieve, purely because i believe that everyone should be nice to one another, keep their promises and always use their manners but i don't want to be wrong!

I hate sending ' naggy' emails over and over about invoices and none payment. I hate having to listen to the voice of reason ( my hubby) go on and on about how i need to be 'harder' and not let these people treat me in such a way. But what can i do? My emails fall on deaf ears and I'm lied to time and again. AND is that truly part of business????

*considers hiring a hench man*

Being me...

Right now being me is a bit like being a sporadic, crazy, cartwheeling moron! one minute its all chocolate box cottages with roses round the door, the next I'm clearing up after someone Else's bullshit!
They say 'everything happens for a reason'. this i have lived by my entire life, through my own choosing, and everything, however shit things have been, have always worked out in the end. No nothing worth doing has ever been easy, no I've never been handed anything to me on a shiny silver platter and no I've never had a free ride. Ive scrimped, saved, worked my fingers to the bone, done without, made sacrifices and made tough decisions to be where i am now, no its not perfect, i don't have what i want but underneath it all i am happy and i am very content in my boring, mundane life style working within my daughters routines and spreading myself thin to keep everyone happy. Would i swap it for fame and success? No probably not. All i ask is a little respect, maybe a touch of admiration and a tiny amount of gratification for digging deep and helping ppl that, well lets be honest, will never help me out in return. No i don't do it for these things, i do it cos it makes me smile, i do it cos i feel karma is alive and kicking and id rather be on the good end, and i do it cos id like ppl to do the same for me, not in return but i believe you should treat ppl in the way you want to be treated. Have i been shit on from a great height regardless of these things?? hahaha well yes of course, who hasn't been shit on! whether you deserve it or not we have all had miss happenings with people we would rather not happen. Do i hold grudges.. no i don't think i do really. Sure, theres some people i cant forgive and forget, some things cant be undone no matter what you do or say but like i said, KARMA! they will get theirs in the end, whether they deserve it or not, what goes around comes around!! manners don't cost a penny, or a thought or even time yet ppl don't use them? Why?? has society bred a generation of inconsiderate, manner less brats that expect a free lunch? Or am i to old skool to accept that things aren't like they where once upon a time when kids believed in fairy's at the bottom of the garden and the lady next door always brings an apple pie on a Saturday tea time? Maybe if we concentrated more on what we do have and not what we don't have then ppl wouldn't be as angry and self absorbed.. maybe if ppl did more for others for no return the world would be a nicer place... maybe i was just born 60 years to late.. maybe I'm just dissillusional about life and i need a slap!!! maybe, like the hubby says, I'm to soft and i should harden up!! maybe i should just go hide under my duvet and cry and accept that throughout my life ppl will take advantage, at least i know, regardless of what shit happens i have someone i can turn to, rely on and moan to....my gorgeous, lovely hubby! Now can you say that? mr and mrs i dont give a shit who i hurt to get my own way!..  Now to you all out there that have used and abused me.... in the words of you me at six.. You've made your bed so sleep in it.....


L xx

what i do..

As not all my loverly followers, follow me on twitter and such you may not be aware of the pretty things i create so i have decided to pop on some pics of my lovely designs. feel free to go to any of my stores or email me to order direct:
http://emmas-attic.co.uk/
http://mychicunique.etsy.com/
lizipants@yahoo.co.uk

this beauty is my current best seller

i love nautical! so stylish n perfect for summer

i love quirky charms made from things that arent jewelery

acrylic has to be my fave medium right now

tho everyone loves vintage :)

paris!! what else is there to say

i love handcrafted charms

another fabulous handmade rose

this beautiful crochet hearts supplied by @loves2crochetuk

hello sailor!!!

there agin with the funky kitsch!

Now you have a general idea of my style stop by and pick a fabulous gift for urself or someone u love! i love custom orders and right now are my speciality so drop me a line and we can design something amazing! All themes and events catered for including weddings.

Professional photography supplied by @shotbylucy, a fabulous girl and a real artist! shes brought the beauty to life in her shots and gorgeous crochet provided by @loves2crochetuk!

If you have a craft youd like to have featured or made into soemthing special get in touch id love to work with you!!

thanks for reading guys!! L xx

is it me???

Another hideously early morning with the girls, a featured page on etsy just gone, no sales for another day and i feel like throwing in the towel!
Everywhere you go online or in store to browse fashion stores, and its there, jewellery just like mine or dare i say it horrible, at disgusting prices yet im struggling to get ppl interested! notonthehighstreet.com told me no and it feels much like the straw that broke the camels back. I kno its hard and i kno it needs determination and drive, those i have, but that thing im missing to get ppl going crazy about it, that i seriously DONT have! Im not being greedy, i do ok selling privately and not to bad thru etsy at times but this isnt about money its about noteriety for what i do! i want someone to come along and go WOW! maybe its me, maybe i just dont have that creative spark, that touch thats just out of the norm that get ppl looking and spreading the word!
God i sound like my mother, a moaning old hag!!!
well ill leave u with that, while the future of chic unique hangs in the balance, i know we have all had moments where it all seems a bit much, maybe its 6 months of sleep deprivation, maybe its boredom, maybe im just ungrateful, maybe i just need help i cant get.....

L xx

time flies...

sorry ive been AWOL for a few days, sometimes life just totally gets in the way!! its been a weird old week already and its only Wed! The hubby got some good news at the beginning of the week, ive had interesting things pop up all over the place (im not gonna mention the paypal rage!), our guinea pig peppa had her first litter of babies yesterday all 4 are perfectly formed and look like right happy campers! Em enjoyed (a lot more than i did!) her taster sessions at pre-school and will be going mon n tue morning for the foreseable! I never thought i'd be saying this considering Em's prader-willi but it never phased her!! I know shes a resiliant little might, always has been, but having never been away from me before i worried she wouldnt take to others looking after her, WELL... yesterday she toddled off with toast in hand n i got  a half hearted wave! Thats the thanks i get after all the years wiping her bum, washing her face... a half hearted wave, i dont know whether to be proud or heartbroken?!
Made my 4th sale the other day of 2011...slowly creeping towards 300! :) had an order through the fabulous place of Twitter after posting a pic of something i made for someone else so cant be bad (tho it technically doesnt go into the sales count until money changes hands :) )
so as u can see i lead a pretty high flyer lifestyle, well if u consider tea and cake after the school run high flyer!! ;) though even with all its ups and downs, tantrums and tears ( and thats just me ;)) i love my life and my ever growing family of factory seconds :)


L xx

moan..

well i dont know about you but i need a good old fashioned MOAN!! i suppose i shouldnt really, cant really say i have an awful lot to complain about, we are all (well apart from emma with her prader-willi syndrome) healthy, we arent skint and we're all happy :) but sometimes its the things that dont matter that really bug the life right out of you!
Seting up a ' business' on my own with no help or funding is a bit daunting but ive jumped right in and its not gone t*ts up like i imagined it would and after the storming xmas i had the jan lul is a bit scarey! i have made 1 sale so its not all bad and its a step towards my 300 sales for the year..which by the way now seems a squillion miles away!!
BUT there is also a squillion things i NEED to buy to push chic unique out there! I need business cards, post cards, huge stock supplies, more beautiful photos by @shotbylucy and i need to make a start on my wrapping! But it all seems to be stuff thats just a pinch outside my budget and Im not one to do half a job, i mean whats the point if ur going to do it do it well!!  I seriously dont want a business loan or loan of any kind really, i dont want to start out in debt! and from what i've read grants are out! So its sales sales sales i need and quick!! Vicious circle, better photos etc bring more sales but need sales to get better photos etc.... maybe asking to review things is a step forward in return for honest blogging :)
(NOTE: anyone reading this that wants free advertising for the aforementioned goods please drop me a line :D)
What?? to cheeky???
Hahahaha you dont get anything these days if your not willing to ask!! I also wouldnt mind a celebrity endorsement but possibly a step to far ??? haha
Well so much for my moan, turned into a bit of begging actually!!
Lunch is cooking, kids are playing (im not sure what but theres no tears so im happy), and its snowing outside but atleast we are tucked up warm inside, for now!
I just wanna say tho, ive met some really lovely and fantastic women on twitter of late and its definatly increased my faith in the human race... not all are out to rip you off!
so ill leave it there..for now.. think i hear the timer buzzing...