New York Magazine

I picked this magazine up, sort of by accident in an airport the other day. I am happy I did, there are many great articles in this Spring Fashion Issue. It was the perfect last read to end a couple of weeks of traveling. It touches on some topics that I have been thinking about a lot.  Check out the article about Kate Spades company, a great background story there, and interesting article on Gilt.com the luxury outlet site, this article really makes you question pricing.

For the past two weeks I have been in Paris and New York, both for work related projects. Getting out of Toronto and out of my regular routine was great and I learned so much. 

All of the things I have experienced keep bringing me back to the same question, "what am I doing with this business"? Starting a business is tough, keeping a business is even harder. One thing I have learned is that almost NOTHING starts with out funding! This makes me feel good and bad. Good because I have made it quite far with out getting into debt, but bad because I realize that with out decent funding it is pretty tough (near impossible) to start a business. You need to give a brand time to mature and grow and with out $$ thats pretty tough. If you do your research, you will be amazed to find out how many large luxury brands function for years with out ever turing a profit, but with wise investors, who see their potential they are able to continue.  A few times during the trip I found myself wondering if I would have more creative freedom if I worked for a larger company who had a larger budget. Larger budget means more access to resources, more resources lead to more creative freedom, in theory. I often get emails from ladies who are starting their own company, asking for some advice. I always used to say "work hard, be organized, do  your research".  Now I think I would say, "you have to REALLY REALLY want this, it's tough and there are a TON of obstacles". I still REALLY REALLY want this, so I am going to keep going.