We Bought A School Bus!
If you have been living under a rock, then you probably have no idea that The Tiny Closet is going mobile this year! We bought a 1999 BlueBird Yellow school bus and we are converting it into a mobile boutique!
Here is what I’ve learned form ALL THIS!
First things first, actually finding a school bus for sale is easier than you think! After so many miles schools have to sell their bus! Because apparently the state doesn’t want children ridding on a 100,000 mile bus, but whatever. Finding one was probably the easiest part of the entire process!
Cleaning the bus, taking the seats out, SCRAPING GUM OFF THE SIDES, and bleaching the entire thing was AWFUL! I never realized how gross school buses are! Oh and some gum was brown.. BROWN GUM! No telling how long it was there!
By the way, before I go any further, we did not hire anyone to work on most of the bus. My family (mostly my father) worked tirelessly to help me achieve my idea! Of course, we had the more difficult items of buisness done by professionals; such as painting and wrapping the bus and having the AC unit installed. Other than that, it was us!
My dad has done all of the molding on the bus. Yes, we went extra and did a fancy molding all around the bus! No idea how he did it, but he did. On another note, my dad is not a contractor or anywhere close to it. He’s a VP for a home loan company! He has googled, youtube, and Pinterest everything! The flooring was also one of the longer processes! Its hard to find flooring for a school bus. Why? because its not a typical thing to go into Lowes and ask for the best flooring for a bus. Laying the floor down took some time, but we got it done and it looks GREAT!
We wanted the bus to be very different than anything else we had ever seen. I’ve seen some fashion trucks/trailers with just racks and a mirror. Thats not what I wanted. We went out and found awesome pieces for the bus! We took dressers and shelves that are older and we painted them to match our aesthetic. We also found an old door and my dad, (again he’s awesome) created it into a dressing room in the back of the bus!
The LED light installation in the bus was a long process as well! The regular stocked lights in the bus are inadequate to say the least. There isn’t even LED lighting on the magic school bus. So you know we had to do that lol. LED lights make everything look better! We wired the entire bus with lights that fit my personality perfect!
We are currently painting the bus and getting it wrapped with our tiny little babe and logo! That also takes about 2 weeks to do. When we first started this process it was in November of 2017. It is now February of 2018. We actually thought it would take us about 1-2 months do the entire thing and have it ready to do by February. But, we wanted it perfect. We wanted the experience of getting on the bus one that you won’t want to forget. We leaned that it takes time and a hard working dad to get a dream done!
“How do you do it?”
People always ask me how I do what I do. How am I doing school full time, running a store with a very small team (there is seriously 3 of us), have a social life, and keep time for rest and relaxation. It’s hard. There are many times I want to completely be done. The emotions of running a business from the bottom takes a lot out of you. Some nights I don’t sleep because I’m thinking about how we can be bigger and better. How can I reach out to more people and what can I learn about people and business? We only show you the good and the success, so it looks simple and easy. But in reality, it’s a ton of money, time, sleep, tears, and anxiety. However, it’s also laughs, praises, new friends, connections and so much more. My biggest advice ever is to do your research. If you want to learn about how to start something, whether it’s a store, a blog, a relationship, whatever, DO your research. Don’t ask general questions to people like, “How to do do this?” Ask very specific questions and support your reasoning. Such as, “How do you feel about this area or location?” Never ask, “How do I do what you do?” Because I can promise you that you will not get an answer back. You’ll get a consultation invoice sent back. I read, listen, watch, learn, and pay attention to everything and everyone when I’m researching. I don’t have someone telling me step by step on what to do! It all comes with experience, success, and even failure.
If you want to host a TINY BUS party send us an email! Or want us to come pop up somewhere? Give us an email and we will work with you!
Bus updates are mostly on our Instagram and Facebook!
Instagram — @shopthetinycloset
Facebook — The Tiny Closet Boutique
Website — http://www.shopthetinycloset.com
Email — shopthetinycloset@yahoo.com
XO- Taylor
Photos from blog Modern Minutiae — https://www.modernminutiae.com/single-post/2017/11/29/Taylor-Jones
