Once upon a time, ChilliCrab was "made redundant" of her job. It wasn’t the end of the world but it was a low point in ChilliCrab's life. She was scared. At the same time she was also felt relief because she was free ! Free to do whatever she desired. Free to run her own business even.
Running a business? Well, while waiting for a new job to fall right into her lap, ChilliCrab decided to sell cookie mix. Cookie Mix in a Jar, to be exact. It seemed easy enough to do - you weigh out the ingredients and layer them inside a glass jar. Then tie on a tag containing directions.
But it was tougher than it seems, especially when the orders for Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Mix started pouring in. Every week, ChilliCrab had to purchase the ingredients needed for the Cookie Mix. Losing her day job had turned ChilliCrab into Scrooge! She refused to spend money on bus fare and delivery. So she takes a 20-minute walk with her little shopping cart to the nearest supermarket. Then she walks all the way with her full trolley.
Then, there were glass jars to purchase. The most suitable jars were sold at IKEA, which is a long way from ChilliCrab’s home. At first it was easy enough to lug 6 or 12 glass jars on a bus. As more orders rolled in, ChilliCrab could no longer carry 36 glass jars up the bus so she had no choice but to take a taxi. Even then managing 3 large cartons of jars proved too difficult for ChilliCrab. Fortunately, Chillicrab has a wonderful cousin who was willing to contribute free labour.
ChilliCrab’s mom and pop weren’t very supportive of the home business at first. It took a while before Papa Crab became impressed as he watched how hard ChilliCrab at work to fulfill orders. With all those jars queuing in the ‘production line’, Mama Crab became excited too. Every evening after dinner, she would take a few empty jars out at a time and painstakingly scrubbed each one squeaky clean.
It was Joanne who bought the very first jar of Cookie Mix in a Jar from ChilliCrab. Then Kenneth bought 12 for the girls in his office. M. Thomas bought 30 to give away at a Christmas dinner. ChilliCrab’s aunt took orders from her friends at church. Even if there was only one order, she happily drove by to pick it up from ChilliCrab’s home.
Running a home business (or any kind of business) is no mean feat. ChilliCrab is very blessed to be surrounded by good, helpful souls who are good at lots of things. Just like Olivia!
