大象传媒

Is Caroline suited to being an entrepreneur?

Profit  I was quite proud of myself on my first selling day. The profit I made, though small, couldn’t have been there had I not created the opportunity myself.   Caroline

Pannier Market 潘尼尔市场

Felt so tired today. Sitting at the laptop, I can’t focus on anything but to listen to Beethoven’s music. I prefer his music to Mozart’s these days.

Today is the third time that I went to Pannier Market. It seemed only yesterday that I was so anxious to set everything up: purchasing public/product liability insurance 购买公众/产物责任保险, designing my stores, calculating my budget, and shopping around for my suppliers 供应商.

I was quite proud of myself on my first selling day. The profit 利润 I made, though small, couldn’t have been there had I not created the opportunity myself.

Selling clothes 卖衣服

I should say I enjoyed the selling. I liked it when people tried my clothes on and liked them. Those clothes travelled far to get here and enriched someone’s wardrobe 丰富了某人的衣柜.

The whole process was really fascinating for me. Reading Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations 国富论, 作者: 亚当.史密斯 becomes more relevant now. But on the other hand 从另一方面来看, I am not happy with the speed of selling. I must have done something wrong.

It’s quite tiring to sit in the market, though I always carry my French learning books and one or two novels with me. The buzzing noise 嗡嗡地噪声 of my surroundings grated on my nerves 折磨我的神经 at the end of day.

Hard Sell  The whole process was really fascinating for me. But on the other hand, I am not happy with the speed of selling. I must have done something wrong.   Caroline

My friend said that he would never go to Pannier Market to buy clothes and neither would I. But if I didn't I would never know who my target customers 目标顾客、 顾客群are. Every time I went there, they just came.

Some are mums who bought my clothes for their absent daughters, some are tourists coming to the market for a laugh or a novel experience, and some are just couples who rambled around to spend their disposable income 可自由支配的收入.

Was it worth it? 这么做值吗?

Yesterday I purchased my stock a second time as I had scheduled. But today after such an exhausting day, I felt quite down. The profit I made out of my stock is quite negligible 可忽略的 after I deducted all the overheads 扣除所有开支.

With the amount of time and risk I took, I could have easily been able to make multiple times more 多好几倍的 had I taken any part-time jobs.

Life is Hard  I don’t want to hear "life is hard". If one leads a hard life, then probably it’s time to think differently to change the situation.   Caroline

I was quite upset really. I don’t want to struggle through my life without tasting anything but hardship and negative memories.

It is true that I want the selling and stock managing 产物储备管理 experience, but I wonder why I can’t make the expected profit alongside the doing. I want to move on as quickly as I could. The woman with a flower shop opposite me said that customers would build up if you are present long enough. But I don’t think that’s the correct answer.

I took pride in myself in a way, because my education trained me to think logically and hopefully wisely.

I don’t want to hear “life is hard” as the guy selling Belgian vases 比利时花瓶 behind my store reminded me all the time. If one leads a hard life, then probably it’s time to think differently to change the situation.

Self-reliant 自立的

My friend’s father said that I should be proud of myself, being a girl living in another country and owning an enterprising dream 一个有魄力的梦想 and trying to realize it. But I don’t know. Long before I had ceased to think I am different or superior, comparing to anyone else.

In this world there are so many people trying to do things differently, and probably most of them do it because they have to. Like the people in this market, they are self-reliant 自立的.

They run stores in the market because they have to given their low education background. They probably never think they are entrepreneurs 公司家.

Your Comments 你的评论

Hello Caroline,
Will you plan to be a tutor for a long time ? Or will you plan to develop your career on teaching? Would you like to teach others? If you like, will open a training school to teach people Chinese? Meantime, you can spread our Chinese mind and culture. How do you think of this?
Bessy, China

Hello, Caroline! I want to know how you get along with the British people around you. Do they treat you just like their countrymen or else? Besides, do you feel any culture shock in England? I'm looking forward to hearing more about your experiences in Britain and your views on the differences between Chinese and British lives. Thanks and best regards.
Thomas, Chongqing

I envy you so much for you are such a strong girl. Do you have any difficult living abroad?
Masie, Dongguan

Congratulations for Caroline starting a new life.
Tony (country unknown)

Hello, Caroline,I am a postgraduate student in York University, MA in TESOL. I just want to know how can I improve my translation ability? Cause I want to be a translor in the future after my graduation..thank you so much.
Sophie, York, UK

Hi Caroline, I'm an English translator in China. First of all, I appreciate your work in UK very much. you are happy as being with your lover although you have leaved far away from your hometown. Wish you wonderful time in Cornwall!
Anon, China

Do you have a question or comment for Caroline? We will publish all your comments and questions on this pages.

你想问 Caroline 什么问题吗？我们将把你的评论或问题在此表页发表

Send her a question by filling in the form at the top of the page or email us at chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

请填写上面的问题反馈表或发邮件给我们 chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Warning!
There may be some grammatical mistakes in the Blog, but we have not corrected these as we prefer to let participants use their own words.

文章中可能含有某些语法错误，这是因为这些撰稿者的母语不是英语。我们没有刻意纠正，因为我们希望采用作者的原话。