coffee shop

For all my friends, who read my blog to stay updated on what things I'm busy with in my life, I want to share that I'm seriously considering to open a coffee / work shop. 

I will partner up with a friend, who is into fashion and we will try to integrate that part into the space as well. I'm very happy to have found someone, who gets me and thinks alike and is ready to take this risky, scary but exciting step with me. Whenever I thought of a business idea I always hoped for a partner or a team because I feel more creative, braver and motivated with likeminded people.

The main concern is obviously money and finding a location that suits our image of what we want the coffee shop to represent. It will definitely be a challenging time for us but we are ready to get on this roller coaster. 

We set a timeline and currently we hope to open the shop by fall 2018. Kazumi (my business partner) and I have had two productive meetings so far and hope to be able to meet up at least three times a month. We both have a hectic life and work a lot, which makes it hard to get together on a more regular basis. As long as our meetings are planned well though we hope we will be able to make the most of our limited time.

I don't want to share more than this. I hope you understand. For one thing, I don't want to jinx things, and also, one never knows what life surprises you with. 

Wish us all the best and stay tuned, my friends. 

Meet up for Entrepreneurs

My friend and business consultant, Jacqui, and another friend, Amanda, who is an interior designer, regularly arrange a get-together for female expats they call Osaka Women Entrepreneur Meetup.

The meet ups are designed to support female expats in Japan (Kansai mostly) in starting their own small business. 

Today was the second time I joined the meeting and I love how motivated I feel after the meet-ups. 

Both Jacqui and Amanda put a lot of effort and love in these meetings.

I like the locations they choose - they are fashionable, they create a cozy atmosphere and they  introduce you to the different faces Osaka has, from business to retro style. 

Everyone gets a chance to talk about their business idea(s) and in most cases most members have a tornado of thoughts they put on the table. With Jacqui's  and Amanda's business experience and with the team's brainstorming you get a sense for the next few steps you want to take for your business idea. Those steps are he hardest. Just like when a baby starts walking for the first time - it's still shaky and takes up all your strengths. 

Especially for one of today's members joining the group was an emotionally important step - she could follow our conversation but speaking in English was difficult for her. Also, all her life she had been there for other family members but a while ago she thought of something that could become a life changing business idea, with which she'd finally have a chance to do something for HERSELF. When she stumbled upon Jacqui's Meetup (check out the App on iTunes) on Facebook she got really excited. You could see how important it was for her to have found a space where she could finally talk about (in Japanese and English) all her thoughts on her business idea, no matter how big that tornado of thoughts was.

It's normal to be all over the place with ideas - the main goal is to know how to take the next few steps.  

Amanda talked about how important it is to create your own inspiring work space and how you can do that. I love how she simplifies approaching this important step for starting your own business. 

At the beginning of the meeting one of the members, Leigh, whose into yoga, did a wonderful breathing exercise with us to get us in the right mindset. It worked.

Last but not least, I liked how Jacqui asked me to describe how things have been going for me since the last time I had attended the meeting. By telling my story I realised for the first time how things had become clearer for me, how I had grown on a personal level, how my ideas had shaped into something I could now grasp. 

I'm not ready to talk about my idea yet but I wanted to let you know that it's on its way, and you'll hear more about it next year. Please stay posted.  

Thanks for all the support.