The last one and a half years of my life have taken place on a small island of Guam in the South Pacific. It has been an awesome experience- scuba diving, traveling internationally, learning about different cultures, driving along the beach while running errands, 85 degree weather year round, eating new foods (including beef tongue and squid), meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones…
This June, I will be moving to Greenville, South Carolina to start my own business. It is still unnamed, but the best way to describe what I will be doing would be “independent research/purchasing agent”. For many years, I have enjoyed researching products and prices in order to get the best pricing available for a product. Clients will contract with me to do research and find the lowest price for the items they need. In many cases, the amount of money saved will more than make up for the fees I charge. For example, I saved over $800 on a project that I would have charged a client about $40. That’s a savings of $760 they wouldn’t have saved otherwise. (And three very busy people had already spent a good chunk of time trying to find this product at a better price & I did it in a fraction of the time it took them. So there will be a time savings as well!) Depending on the product I can sometimes save 50% or more off the list price!
There will be various facets to my business: research only, price research and purchasing and combinations of all of them and probably a few other things as well. Churches, ministries and other non-profits will be my target market, but not necessarily my sole clients. I have worked in ministries for 9 years and understand the staffing and budget problems most of them face and have a burden to help. My goal is to save them as much money as I can on anything from as small as office supplies to purchasing furniture and equipment.
I have done this “officially” for several years already and it is now time to go out on my own and make this available to others. Unofficially, I have tried to get the best deal for as long as I can remember! I HATE spending more money than I have to!
It is a bittersweet time for me. I am excited about the new adventures ahead, but sad to be leaving Guam. I did consider starting the business on Guam because I love it here, but the cost of living and the time difference between here and the States would make it too difficult. To talk with vendors, I have to stay up really late or get up really early. I guess I’ll just have to come back for vacation occasionally! :-)
Harvest is 100% behind me in this move and excited they will have a permanent contact in the States to help them coordinate research, purchasing and shipping. When I approached my boss about this, he thought it was a great idea and a wonderful use of my gifts and talents.
Stay tuned for more information and updates as I proceed in this new endeavor!
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