What if I actually did try to open my own business.....

mstang67chic

Going Green
I joked on Flutterby's post about opening my own anti-stress salon where you could throw all of the glasses and plates you wanted to help bust your stress. But....


....what if?


Obviously, unless I lived in a huge town just THAT service alone wouldn't cover costs. (And probably not even in a big town) So....I'm kind of tossing this idea around for (maybe) real. IF I seriously considered this, I am thinking I would need a "base" business to support it and something that would kind of go along with it. (Maybe like a Parent's Zone instead of Kids Zone) Help me out O Wise Ones. What kind of business would be a good match (and base) for the anti-stress salon?

(Per Gcv's request....season passes will be available but ONLY to CD members! :bigsmile:)
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
How about a wine tasting room? Throw in some locally made artisan cheeses (there's probably someone somewhere near you who's making their own cheese). Add a chair masseuse. I'd be pounding on the door!
 

DaisyFace

Love me...Love me not
Mstang--

I think if you offered a "Kid Zone" that was fully staffed and supervised and then had an adjacent "Parent Zone" where parents could relax, get a massage, have some coffee and network with other stressed-out parents--I think you'd have a line out the door....
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Wine tasting... Check. Artisan cheese... Check. De-stress & massage... Check, check.

I have a weakness for table water crackers (Carr's in case anyone is interested), and Pirouline cookies. If you had some sort of artisan crackers/cookies/bread to go with the cheese... And I make a killer olive oil/herb sip for bread. Well, My family likes it, anyway.

Facials? Nothing too intensive. Just a bit of a rub and moisturizer.

Now if you were reasonably close to a military base as I am, and could offer de-stressing for spouses whose other half had been deployed... Perhaps at a discount because they were military... My thought here is elite and fancy but reasonably inexpensive... High-class services for the not-so-rich. As many are with the recession.

Just my $0.02...
 

trinityroyal

Well-Known Member
Stang, what an interesting idea.

I'm sort of reminded of a local business that existed in the little town where I went to university. It was called The Laundry Cafe. It was a combination bar/restaurant and laundromat. You would schlepp your laundry in, and then go over to the other side of the building to the restaurant. Roadhouse-style food, and a full bar.

Another place that I've seen is a combination bookstore / restaurant.

For an anti-stress sort of business, I'm thinking...

1) Fully staffed baby-sitting, play area, with staff capable of handling difficult child-ness
2) Spa-type place where stressed out moms can be pampered to the gills. Massage, mani/pedi, light facials (focusing mostly on the massage stuff, and not so much those nasty chemical peely-type things)
3) Perhaps a bistro or cafe that serves decadent and delightful treats. Pirouline biscuits, like Step suggested, pretty little desserts, fruit and cheese plates.

You might also host seminars. Charge a nominal fee to have anti-stress specialists come in and give talks to people about ways to help manage stress...

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.

Trinity
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
These are some great ideas! Like I said, just tossing it around, but you never know what could happen!

Keep those ideas coming! (And if I DO this....we'll have to have one of our gatherings in this area so you all can come check it out!)
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
The thing I have been working on opening for a few years now and K and N's principal even said she would back me! LOL
Is a special needs cafe. It would be a bakery/coffee shop that had a full sensory fun area just for kids with issues. For example the bags that the beans come in would be filled so the kids could sit on them, they are scratchy. There would also be soft ones. Chalk walls. Walls with textures. Books, listening area possibly with headphones attached to little music stations.
Lego table, train table.

I would either want locally roasted coffee or we would roast our own, I worked at a roaster for years.
I have been building up my recipe index for baked goods for a few years now, gluten free, soy all of the varieties...
I have baked for the school now for a year, so they have been my guinea pigs.

Parents could sit and enjoy a coffee or tea and a snack. Kids would not be near a door, they would be safe, maybe even have a teen to hang out with the kids.
Not a loud place, not a bright place.
NO CELL PHONES
This has been my dream for a few years now....

Maybe between all of us we could make a utopia of parent/special needs friendly places!!!
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Well - I emailed you about the why's and why nots - but.....

Just for fun.......:tongue: and this could work.....:surprise:

You open up a video arcade for adult women - called - AXE to GRIND.....

When you come in the front door - there will be a counter and behind it will be a few of us who have been through a divorce, a couple of large scanners and a couple of large copier/printers

They bring in a picture of their ex husbands that they do not like -

We scan, copy and print - Just like Olin Mills (different size print packages) for different prices - you know

Package A: $5.00 (the mildly ticked off)
14 wallet size
2 5x7's
1 8x10

Package B: $10 (the aggitated woman)
14 wallet size
2 5x7's
1 8x10
1 11x14

Package C: $25 (the he forgot the support again) see Sundays paper for coupon
14 wallet size
2 5x7's
1 8x10
1 11x14
1 24x36 with heart shaped target (for use with archery range only)

Package D: $50 (the cheating slime)
14 wallet size
14 whack a mole stick-ons (for use with whack a mole game only)
2 5x7's
1 8x10
1 11x14
1 24x36 with heart shaped target
1 lifesize poster (for use with full body contact dummy)
9 bonus full body pin portrait cut outs for bowl a rama

And then you explain to the women that all the pictures are peel and press one time use only on all the machines....
Fun and games include:
Dance Machine - peel and place your ex's picture on the dance squares, drop your tokens in the machine and dance your little heart out stomping on his face.
Whack a Toad - Similar to Whack a mole - but his face pops up and you hit it with a rubber mallet - (redeem tickets for prizes like the fun park) better than you got with your marriage.
Bowling - Can you guess what happens here? All the pins have HIS face on them.
Air hockey - You got it - he's the puck.
There's archery - You're selling arrows for $1.00 for 3
Full body contact if you purchase the deluxe package the sticker of your ex's entire body would be pasted on a dummy - where you can sit on the sidelines and highschool line backers workout - for tips while you sit with your best friends, sip wine and eat cheese while the poster of your ex is demolished by a 350lb 6'6" mangler.
You can also elect to have the print shop create some lasting gifts to take home like :
Toilet paper

I mean the ideas here are endless.....and ugly -
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
You'll need really good iced tea, brewed, not that instant junk, and comfortable chairs for reading in. Not all hi-tech, but some place that feels safe to relax in. I remember reading that a person's idea of safeness and comfort is somewhat like a grandparent's house, and for me, that's true. Homemade biscuits and breads like my Nana made, card games and board games to play because my Granny loved games...the smell of cinnamon on a rainy day. Comfort snacks. Toto's baking would be perfect.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
If you can include a gun range there is NOTHING as good as shooting a tv. Nothing. It is a real stress reliever (a friend and I did this after her divorce). Just make sure that all the bits can be safely cleaned up.

Full service massage therapy - NO Star, not THAT full service_ salon, even a gym with a pool and hot tub. Make sure the pool is warm so that water aerobics can go on.

Include specials for days like the superbowl, etc...

LOTS of seminars about various things to do. I could teach homemade soapmaking.
 
If I was going to have a business to help de-stress us women - - I would have a place that handed you a drink when you walked through the door, then you would go to the next room and change into the most comfy jammy type clothes - - pick up a pillow, and have a gnarly pillow fight with those other Moms and scream at the top of our lungs. Then after we have laughed and let out all of that stress, go to the next room and have a massage and foot rub - - then move to the TV viewing room, where we eat comfort food and watch a Lifetime movie. And finally, take a nice nap, before heading home.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
 
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