A budding moment!

 

I always believe in sharing good and reliable contacts. Every now and again, our pipes need unclogging, bulbs need changing, gardens need sprucing, nails need manicuring, tummies need feeding, teeth need cleaning, internal systems need detoxing, legal issues need sorting, tenants need evicting (No! God forbid. Sorry, got carried away)... You get my drift.

Each time my hubby (CS) and I required some form of service, we'd have to go through the same process of asking around for reliable and credible contacts, googling for forums and reviews on the internet. Golly. It HAS been tiring.

Thankfully, out of the so many people we've come across, we've managed to cross paths with a few sparkling individuals who have provided outstanding service! This is not to say we've not encountered service providers who caused great stress and make us want to cry and pull our hair out!

When we've come across these gems of people, I almost immediately want to shout out on the mountain top to tell the whole world of the excellent service so-and-so has done. I want to spare the "searchers" (of service providers) the pain of having to go through things first hand all over again. Wouldn't it be so much better to share contacts based on recommendations? Wouldn't it?!

The question then, was avenue. Ad-hoc queries and seeking for recommendations shared on Facebook posts are good for a couple of times, but what about something less spontaneous and more intentionally pooled together? This is what I've always dreamed of!

Believe it or not, in the midst of a forced afternoon nap (hot weather triggers migraine attacks!) last week , I had an idea that I would start a blog! I'd tell people of the nice plumber that was working on our unit right at that very moment, I'd tell people of the great dentist that we frequent, I'd tell people of the wonderful lighting shop that we'd gone to, I'd tell people of the nice restaurant that we visited...and more!

My mind went into overdrive - extremely excited to go on the internet and start immediately! But, one problem though. Everything was all muddled up - it wasn't very clear what the theme of my blog would be.

* Backtrack to a couple of days before this* and THIS is the heart of how this blog was created.

We currently stay in an apartment with office lots downstairs. The development is only a year old so occupancy rate is very low. For a while, none of the office lots were taken up - till a few weeks ago. I noticed renovation works being done to a corner lot. It was going to be a nail parlour! I felt excited for the business owner - the anticipation of seeing the place transform from four white walls, to a place where she would see her business flourish with the throng of customers who would visit the nail parlour to make pretty. I'm sure that is the dream of every business owner - to see his/her business bustling with a hive of activity!

After a few weeks, the parlour was all ready for business! I would glance through the glass doors every other day as I walked by. It seemed like the business had been sluggish since its opening. Just last Saturday night, as CS and I were walking pass, I suddenly paused in my steps and turned around to face the nail parlour. I drank in the moment and thereafter shared with CS, "People like these have put their heart and soul (and money!) into realising their dream of opening up a business. It's unfortunate that the location is not very prominent. I wish I could do something to help them spread the awareness of their new business. I reaaaalllly hope they won't have to fold up one day due to the lack of business." We've seen some in our neighbourhood having to go through that, and I've always felt for them. CS felt exactly the same as I did.

It was a couple of hours later that I figured out what the theme of this blog might be.

Eureka!

"Just Shelley...
...lending a hand to help small-time (and perhaps not so small!) business owners gain some web presence. They've taken the risk, put their best foot forward, and they most definitely deserve some publicity!"