Monday, October 11, 2010

Preparing to Move the Boo!!!

Boo's Bits has been, I think, in 4 different locations so far, not including my mall stores. I started on a 4096, then moved up to a 8192, which was short lived as I got an offer for a 1/4 Sim. Then just when i promised myself I wouldn't move again, the 1/2 Sim at Blue Mountains, where I am now, became available at a good price.

Each move was based on needing or wanting more room for the business, and to not miss out on some good pricing. Since i started in SL I have always been a renter, not a buyer..meaning that instead of paying LL for land to use, I have been paying estate owners. It never really bothered me to do that, and in a lot of ways i prefer it because it seems less concerning if the money someday runs out..sure i might piss off a estate owner not being able to pay rent or being late, but they can't stop me from accessing my account.

Now though, I am in a position I never thought I would would happen in SL....I no longer worry that a slow week will affect my payments for land. Business is good, even when it's not great I am still making a steady amount now, and I am thankful for my customers every day for that. Not only because it's really kind of nice to make money in SL from something i put together, but also because the more sales I get, the more people join my group and the more positive feedback about my customer service and products...the more i want to keep doing this!

So I have been throwing the idea around to move from a 1/2 sim to a full sim. I certainly would love the opportunity to display more of my prefabs rather than have them in a rezzer (which is partly why i haven't made many lately...it is such a hassle to get it set up for the rezzer after building, when I'd rather just display it and package it) and so I can not worry about any neighbors running breeding farms or other script heavy things. It's bad enough that so many of my furniture products can be running at the same time, than to add a ranch with horses or bunnies breeding.

I don't necessarily look forward to moving, it is a lot of work. For most of it (displays, buildings etc) it's no problem at all...just pick up, teleport, unpack. But consider that I would also have to update 172 landmarks in my Marketplace items, over 200 landmark updates for my in store boxes, setting up my hippo vendors all over again (picking them up and re rezzing them resets the key), then it becomes a pretty big job!

That's why my first instinct when wanting a full sim was to see if my neighbors were willing to move. that way i could just take over where i was and not have to worry about rushing landmark updates and keep using my existing vendors. Unfortunately they didn't want to move, so I have to accept that if i want to expand, I have to move. Then I went about looking into renting a different full sim, but after some discussions with others, including members of the SLU forums, I decided it might just be time to bite the bullet and get a sim of my own.

So the process has started. I joined a group where people sell their sims, and have been watching for a good deal. Once i find one and work out all the arrangements I will have to think of a good name for it, and start paying my land money right to LL. Then of course...the pain of moving.

Not just a pain for me either, but I have some friends who set up shop with me, who won't be looking forward to moving either, and then there are my loyal customers who come by the store every once and a while to see my new products...how many times have you gone to a old landmark and the place you wanted to find wasn't there anymore? It always sucks (specially if the place you went to has all of a sudden turned into a orgy room.....ack)

So if i am going to do this, I am planning on doing it as painlessly as possible for everyone. The store on Blue Mountains will remain open and business ready until I feel confident that shutting down won't catch anyone off guard or not prepared. So the steps I will be taking are as follows:

1. Find, purchase and rename Sim - Edit: Completed

2. Start setting up on new sim while keeping Blue Mountains location open.- Edit: In Progress

3. Assist Sugarplum, Fantasy Photography and Art Decade (if they choose to move) to help get them set up at the new location.

4. Start updating my Product boxes and resetting Hippo vend systems at new location to show landmark for the new location

5. Replace all product boxes on Blue Moutains with boxes containing the new store landmark (as well as Xstreet)

6. Disable Blue Mountains location in search, and activate new store location in search

7. Shut down Blue Mountains Location

I'm expecting that this will take about a month or so to accomplish (including the purchasing a sim bit) and intend to keep people updated as it progresses. It's a big job but i think it will pay off for everyone in the long run!

EDIT: Have purchased a sim and have a name!! More info go come

In other news, I have a new product release this week which I hope everyone will like, and it's been a while since i had a nice sale price on something so I think I'll do a 7 day promotion on it. so save up! You might not want to miss this one at the release price :)

More info on that later in the week!

xxx

Nynaboo

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