New Streams of Life (21)
New Streams of Life (21)
Si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait...
If the young had the wisdom, if the old had the strength...
I am knackered today. Though I have never done so well on sales as today, I am resolved to stop the market trading soon. Recently I met a French girl who works
for a local shipping forwarder company, and she has agreed to pass my CV to her boss. According to her, her company branch in Callington has the intention to
recruit staff who can speak Asian languages, Mandarin Chinese preferably. I quite expect a favorable result.
Recently I have been thinking about my clothes selling prospect, and didn’t find that promising. First, if I were in China, there was no way I would try market trading. It was just so far below my ability. So why did I choose to do it here? I did it here because I thought it was a nice try on import-export field. Who
knows? Maybe I would pick up something else along the way. But apparently Pannier Market really is not an ideal place. People who go there eye for a bargain, rather than something different and unique. In this sense one of my selling points failed.
Another of my selling points I planned was petit size for petite girls.But the reality proved that there are really not many petit sizes girls in the market. In
this country, petit girls are largely girls crazy for fashion. So fashion and Pannier market are simply incompatible. Judged on all this, I think it will be simply silly to put more money into the project. I am happy that I have a few return customers, which showed me there is some niche in this field for me. But on
the other hand, those picky young girls also showed me customers are customers.
If they don’t like your stock, they won’t get out their wallet.
In The Parasites by Daphne de Maurier, the writer once mentioned that hospital is always an impersonal place, let it be its smell, its people, or its ambience.
Well, selling to customers is an impersonal thing as well. There is no sympathy
or compassion between customers and sellers. No selling point, no sales; no sales, no profit. As simple as that.
This afternoon I had been talking to a Malaysian woman whose husband is about to
open a pastry store beside my store. She told me her past experience and her family, and I shared a bit my background with her as well. It turned out both of us had been to University, her studying business in America, and me studying Electronics in China. It was quite surprising to know how little a foreign Bachelor
degree counted in this country. But strangely not the opposite. I had met a Chinese girl years ago, who came to England one year and a half studying nursing. After she went back, she became a university teacher. Life is like a farce, if you happen to look at it in contrast.
Anyway, I don’t regret this experience. But I have to admit that I have been aimed too low.The young French girl told me three years ago when she came to England, it took her six months to settle down. I think I have given up too soon in terms of import & export. Months ago I started up my UK freelance website. But after a few futile attempts, I stopped promoting and updating it. After talking to
this girl, I think that my past experience still has its own place in this country. I just simply haven’t been able to knock on the right door.
It is true that there are always opportunities around if one is willing to explore. But on the other hand, it is also true that interest helps one to grasp the
opportunity and take advantage of it decisively. This afternoon on the way back
from the market, my friend’s mother asked me maybe it is time for me to polish
my CV. But of course I have done it already.
How could I afford to let the opportunity slip away when it is what has been interesting and exciting me. I had to admit I have been worried that there are simply not enough threads left in the hand for me to seek and explore for opportunities. I told my friend that when I can’t even have access to possibilities, it is time for me to leave, which somewhat upset both of us. But now I am glad the
chance comes along the way just when I am about to despair. Let’s hope for the
best.
P.S.: Don’t know why the French saying crept into my mind, when I wrote the article. Maybe I wish I myself had been wiser. Lots of time got wasted whenever a wrong decision was made…
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