January! The month of highlighting regrets, anticipations and things to look forward to in the coming year. For the first blog of 2017 I think that it would be a great idea to start the new year recapping 2016, who I am and the big goals and changes that I look forward to in 2017.
Lets start with who I am just because I enjoy talking about me :)
For those of you who have not read one of my blog posts before my name is Calvin Butts. I am a fourth generation tailor who has spent the last 4+ years learning the art of bespoke tailoring under a third generation Roman tailor. 2017 highlights my last year of a five-year apprenticeship and the exciting process of opening my own shop.
Exiting 2016 I leave behind many successes as well as many failures. Living in the city of Calgary we are going and have gone though another incredibly tough year, with unemployment at the highest it has ever been since the early 1980's the impact has hit a good majority of people in the city, coupled with new government changes we are also seeing many businesses close doors due to high operating costs. All of this said there have been some good things that have come out of these tough times.
Scaling back on multiple jobs being the major one. After being forced and bullied to resign from working part time in retail to take paid vacation I spent the good part of the year focusing on the tailoring trade. Going from working two schedules to just focusing on one gave me the time to really work on business development, spending time on developing all aspects of what I want it to look like.
I was able to travel Europe again this year. I am very lucky as well as great full that I get the opportunity to travel when I can, this year I was able to take a month and relax over the summer. This is something I probably will not have the liberty to do for the first couple years of the new store opening, which is fine because I find a lot of enjoyment in what I do for a living.
I feel that this year also brought my siblings and me closer together. There are five of us in total and we range in age from 28-41, which was challenging for me growing up, as I did not see much of my older siblings. This year brought on a lot, and I feel more emotionally connected to my family than I have in years. Turns out we are quite a comical group of people who love to laugh and be creative. :)
All of that said.... 2016 was a very emotionally difficult time, and it wasn't without its challenges. Learning to cope with living off of one income was a SLIGHT adjustment. I enjoy spending money and this year that came to a full stop! I try to look at it as character building but sometimes that can be very difficult.
My mentor has also been going through several health issues, which has made work frustrating. I have a hard time seeing the positive side of managing another persons clients, workflow, scheduling and business while getting paid peanuts for it, all under someone else's name. Thankfully I only have 10 months of that left, and boy am I excited.
What I am looking forward to for this coming year!
This year has some very promising things coming down the pipe, the major one being the Grand Opening of my shop in November. I figure November would be a great month for opening shop. The Christmas season is often slower which will give me time to work out kinks in my business structure, allowing me time to adjust and adapt as needed before the real first year of business. Location hunting for the business begins in February, and the application for grant money also begins in the early New Year as well. Oddly I am also looking forward to the emotional struggle of owning a business. I enjoy strategic problem solving and working towards a successful solution. If anything I will be an interesting time.
I have quite a bit planned for the year of 2017. So I guess stay tuned.... We can meet at the same bat place at the same bat time. :)