Meet Jane

April 26, 2012

Yesterday I went to the WuYi office at my apartment complex, and said my lease would soon be up and was there another flat available.

They said they’d look around for me.

This morning I woke up and said my prayers, making a special request for clarity about my next step.  The lease is soon up, followed by the Web contract.  Mike and Sophia have abandoned the bakery business. Should I keep trying to do the bakery business on my own, now asking around among my Web students for another investor, or should I pack it in and go to Mexico.  Lord, show me the way.

I had a break at 3:00, no class scheduled.  Rena approached me and wanted to introduce me to someone.  Perfect timing!  I sat and talked with this woman, who, Rena said, was interested in hearing about my business.  Rena had filled her in, as I have talked a lot to her and the other tutors about the ups and downs of this thing.

This lady, Jane, has very limited English.  She is a recently new student here at the school.  She was wearing a dark business suit with a nice salmon silk blouse.  She asked me some questions, ending with ‘what would you like me to do?’

I laid out the moneys I’d need.  I illustrated it freely on the whiteboard, including diagramming the place I had found for 68,000, 45 sq m. transforming it into a bakery, with counter space in the front partitioning it off from the back.

I explained how it would work, that we needed 600,000 for the first year.  How I projected an income of 300,000.  She concluded from that that we only needed to raise 300,000.  It doesn’t work that way, though, does it?  She intelligently asked, what if we come to the end of our 300,000 and it isn’t enough.  What do we do then?

I didn’t know what answer she had in mind.  Find more investors?  What options did we have, I wondered.

And just how deep are her pockets, I wondered.

She asked me why I wanted to do this business.  What did I want out of it.  I told her the money didn’t interest me, so much as a) the joy of baking and creating something new, and b) being able to offer to the ex pats something of home that they really miss.  Good bread!

This seemed to resonate with her.  She too, she said, wasn’t focusing on the money side of it.  If true, this is refreshing.  So much of this culture is money driven!

Rena’s face was alight with joy and expectation, as she asked, is this what you were looking for?  I told her about starting the day with that prayer.  She said then, to one and all on staff, that Rena is now my Angel!  I heartily concurred.

Hope seems to have moved back onto the front burner.