I had to say goodbye to our family business and my passion for 13 years...

They say blessings come in disguise. I am sorry to hear how hard this was on you, but I admire your strength.

When you have to decide between your passion and what is best for your family, and you choose your family...

Sometimes you need to quit while you are ahead, it doesn't mean you didn't do what was necessary, but maybe the business has served it's purpose to give you the experience necessary to open your other business in the future...

Glad you'll be able to spend some more time here at mylot....

Good luck and many bright blessings....:)

That sounds really tough! It sounds like you had to make a very tough decisions, but I definitely respect you giving in to the knowledge that things weren't working and knowing that you've got a responsibility to your family. I hope you're able to start up again, when things are looking better, or find another outlet for your passion. Must be sort of like losing a friend!

Oh dear, that would have been hard. 13 years is a really long time. Well, you must have learnt a lot from your experience and mistakes. What do you do now?

I started my boutique last 2003 because retail business is booming at that time. But, I too had to close it and give up my dream of having lots of branches in different parts of the country because of the economic crisis which started years back. Packed up all my unsold items last 2007.

it was hard because we really invested a lot of effort, time and money to the shop. My husband and I even postponed on having a baby because we really want to make things happen and be really prepared financially when the baby finally comes.

But, we had no choice. More cheaper products from China are coming in and the consumers were kinda became practical because of the crisis. Of course, we cannot blame them, I too, would embrace the cheaper products..

It took sometime before I was able to recover from the loss. That was my baby and I had to let it go. I hope that given another chance, I would open again another shop.

As for you, my dear..it really is saddening because yours was much longer than mine. You must have really love that shop!! Who knows, you will be able to open one again..

Let's both hope and pray that the crisis we are experiencing will recover. Many other business owners would be so happy to get back on their feet again...

cheer up..