Solo Planning an Empire

[Rosela]

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Timestamp: 25th of Autumn, 513AV

OOC :

This thread follows on this dream sequence, though reading the dream isn't required for comprehension here.

Rosela sat back in her work chair, arching until she heard the satisfying pop of her vertebra. She'd slept wonderfully every night that week, and while she was aware of vivid dreams in the chimes after she awoke, they were always gone by the time she started her day. They left her with a wondrous sense of glory and ambition.

For the moment, she didn't have it in her to start work on her designs. Her thoughts ranged to ideas much wider than the small matter of the winter line. Her mind continued to circle in on itself: how to expand her business?

She was no businesswoman, outside of what she'd learned running the shop thus far. When she'd arrived in Riverfall the year before, she'd expected... Well, she hadn't expected much. Perhaps a small seamstressing job, gaining clients until she would be able to take over the place. Instead, she'd launched into the world of entrepreneurship almost immediately upon arrival. It had brought her a good amount of mizas and plenty of happiness.

Now, it was time to change courses.

In front of her was one of her design papers, clean and plain. Normally she used the back of a scrapped design for notes, but the importance of the affair at hand required something the formality of a clean page. Taking a deep breath, she took a pencil in hand and leaned forward.

What did she want? The answer was easy and age-old: fame and fortune. To be well known and wealthy. She was in the 'moderate' area for both, and would likely slowly increase over time. However, at some point, the profits from her shop would level out. There were a finite number of people in the city, and what she offered now could only appeal to so many of them. Therefore, she needed to expand.

In slanting Arumenic, she wrote 'Expand' at the top of her page. Next step: How?

Clearly, she needed to offer more services. However, in order to offer them, she'd need a bigger shop. However, if she got a bigger shop without anything to fill it with, she'd have a lot of empty space. Slowly, she wrote 'Bigger Shop' and 'More Services' on opposite sides of the paper, on the same line below 'Expand'. It wasn't much, but it was a start. So what could she offer?
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[Rosela]

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The idea was more difficult to fathom than she'd anticipated. She'd worked with clothing for so long that her immediate thought was to simply offer more of it. Rich styles, poor styles, hats, purses, shoes, etcetera. Each was written on a new line under 'More Services'.

Resting her weight on an elbow, Rosela tapped the end of the pencil thoughtfully against her shoulder. She was clearly a master of clothing, but she needed something...new. Anything was possible. What she didn't know now, she could simply learn.

Perfume.

The thought seemed to come naturally, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before. It should have been obvious; Ahnatep was rife with perfume makers. She probably had a natural taste for it. The idea was written down along with the others. Perfume was limited though, with the only expansion available being cologne.

Jewelry, perhaps? She was hesitant to go up against Beautiful Things for the market, but perhaps she could work with them on her own custom line? Beautiful Things by Rosela... It had a nice ring to it. 'Jewelry' was added to the list, with 'Gen. Accessories' underneath. She need not limit herself to silver and gold, not when the poorer classes would need something to wear as well. Terra cotta, wood, beads, these were all options.

'Hair Acc.' was added immediately underneath, running a pair of hands through her own hair. Actual accessories would be a start, but perhaps she could sell her own line of dyes? 'Soaps & Shampoos' were added as well, though she wondered if they would be adjacent to the Perfumes section. Perhaps she could hire an in-house stylist?

Having her own line of makeup seemed like a given, but she'd need to do a lot of experimentation to find what looked good on the fair-skinned Kontis. Still, she added it to the list with a flourish.
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[Rosela]

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Standing up and stretching, Rosela moved throughout the dark room with the paper in hand. She was saving a bundle on candles that season; Akajia's mark assured she didn't need them much for herself anymore.

Her ideas felt too...superficial. As she had a year ago, she was trying to sell what she wanted to a city that didn't place the same value on appearances. As eventful as the Champion of Ivak's visit to Riverfall had been, it'd had special importance to her, as she'd drawn an epiphany from Leo's words in terms of how she designed for the people of Riverfall. She could sell these things, but she had to have a mind of practicality to get them through the door.

What would these people want from her? What other aspects of their lives would they want to improve the appearances of?

Thinking of Kavala and the massive Sanctuary outside of town, horses immediately came to mind. Some manner of decorative horse...gear. Reins and such. Rosela knew next to nothing about horses, let alone the gear they required, so a visit to the Sanctuary may be in order. Kavala seemed like a knowledgeable woman, so she was sure to have opinions on how to make gear that even a Drykas would want.

Moving towards the desk, Rosela marked down her notes and forced herself not to travel too deeply into the one idea.

Akalaks also liked...fighting. As with Beautiful Things, Rosela could partner with a weapon smithy to make decorative weapons and...shields and stuff. They'd have to be more than just decorative though, and it seemed yet another area where she'd need another's expertise. Maybe she could do more research on oils and treatments, like her fire-proofing oil? Something to repel beasts, or even draw them in? It was getting fairly far from her areas of knowledge, so she put a star next to that line and indicated she'd think on it later.

Where else? Where could she grow that would draw these warriors in? They liked to fight, and pick up women. She had the picking up women part pretty well down, but there had to be something they could offer that would appeal to warriors. They'd look good before the fight, in proper clothes. They'd look good during the fight, with proper armor and weapons. They'd look good after the fight, properly bathed and redressed. Where could she...
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[Rosela]

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"Ohhh...that's an idea."

She didn't know much about Glassbeaks other than the knowledge that the Akalaks sent their children out to hunt them. They also apparently had wildly colorful plumage. After the fight, and after the warrior was bathed and redressed, who wouldn't want to present their sweetheart with a necklace of Glassbeak feathers?

Perhaps she could partner with one of those icky taxidermists to mount the head on a wall and make a nice set of Glassbeak-skin bracers. It was an uncomfortable thought, working with leather that was so recently on an animal, but if it would sell, she would provide.

The idea of taxidermy ran down a tangent in her mind and she tentatively added 'Interior Decorating' to her list. She knew as much about furniture as she did about horses, but if a man was bringing home his sweetheart, he wouldn't want his place looking like a poorly-furnished bachelor's apartment. The same principles were bound to apply: color, balance, general flow... She'd figure something out.

Sliding back into her chair, Rosela looked over her list again. The page was very lopsided, with a mass of things under 'More Services', but nothing under 'Bigger Shop'. She'd need to think about that aspect, as unglamorous as it was. For the moment, she looked over her services list again, wondering what else she could add.

There were always tangents she could add to each item - the interior decorating alone would be enough to fill its own shop - but at some point she had to limit herself. For the time being, at least. Expanding herself this far would take time, an enormous amount of it. It was naturally inconceivable that she would not know every one of these trades before acquiring them; whether she worked with an outside source or not. She would absolutely not be leaving the looks of her future customers up to someone who may be scamming her on quality. No, as head of her future empire, she would be able to do any job on her floor at any time.
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[Rosela]

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Purposefully moving her pencil over to the 'Bigger Shop' column, she forced herself to switch topics. She loathed the idea of a bigger shop, because it meant she would have to hire someone, no question. She simply would not have time to work on expanding her business if she had to man the counters every day as well.

Desk clerks were the face of a business though; if a clerk was rude to a customer, it reflected upon her. Could she trust someone to treat her customers well? Besides basic courtesies, could she trust them to know someone's best colors on sight, as she did? Could they upsell delicately, and not simply shove items in a customer's face?

Dragging a hand over her face, she wondered if she could develop some manner of test for applicants. How to match colors; how to upsell; how to take a custom order. It would be an elaborate process, and she'd likely have to pay slightly above the common grade to retain such a soul, if one was even found. The idea of a test appealed, and she made a note of it. Her anxieties were somewhat soothed by the thought, and she moved on.

In addition to a larger shop, she'd need manufacturing facilities for all these services. One hand running down her list of services, she write the adjoining facility she'd need.

More clothing she could manage with her standard back room, if given enough time in the day. Perfumery would require a philtering lab of some kind. Jewelery, she may be able to get away with using her outside contractor's facilities, but eventually, when she acquired a jeweler of her own, she'd build a separate, secured, storeroom. Hair accessories would be much the same, and perhaps the soaps and shampoos line could share the perfumery lab. A stylist would likely require simply a separate room and closet for styling. Makeup would need its own testing area, as asking three whole lines to share one lab would be a bit much.

Moving into her 'Riverfall-targetted' services, she moved down an extra space to separate the two sections. Animal gear would be fine working in the same area as the clothing, though she wondered if someday she'd want to stop buying her leather from Loads of Leather and start acquiring it herself. She put a star next to the idea as something to consider later. Weaponry and armor would likely be similar to Beautiful Things, using her contractor's facilities until she brought in her own talent. Armor and weapon treatments would likely require their own lab as well. The taxidermied fashion... She crinkled her nose at the idea. It would likely start in the same area as the leather and clothing, so long as it got to her already in clothing-ready form. Anything earlier than that would require an entirely separate facility.
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[Rosela]

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Reading over the list again, making sure she didn't forget anything, she hummed as she tallied up her facilities. 3 labs, styling room, and probably an extension on the main work room, given the number of things in there as well. The front would obviously have to be expanded, to accommodate all of the additional services. Someday, when she moved away from using contractors, she'd need a secure storeroom, additional crafting area, leatherworking area, forge, and taxidermy area. She made notes next to the last three that they'd likely have to be in an entirely separate facility.

She returned once again to the leatherworking idea, following the thought that she would be smart to control raw supplies in as many areas as possible. Between her two existing columns, she added a third, 'Supply Control', drawing lines between the three to keep everything separate.

She'd already considered having her own leather workers, but why not hire her own hunters as well? They could work with the taxidermy facility to skin them, send the leather to the leatherworkers, and maybe work out a deal with the butcher shop to get rid of the meat.

The same principle applied to her clothing, her original service. She was buying all her fabric from the supplier in Zhongjie, but why not weave it herself? A loom should be easy enough to operate. Even further, why not raise her own sheep and control the entire chain? She added 'Sheep farm' to her facilities and, after a thought, 'Spider silk farm' under that. Wool and silk, all in one place. She wrote 'Cotton field' underneath that as well, but made a star next to it as something to consider much later. She didn't know how big a field she'd need to supply all her own cotton, but it seemed somehow like a much more difficult endeavor than the rest of her plan.

Her own greenhouse for perfume and soap ingredients was added, as well as a note to talk to the gem mines for a direct sale instead of going through Valreig. She doubted she'd be able to dig a mine herself, so that was likely the best she was going to get there.

Heaving a deep breath, she sat back and looked at the paper, now nearly filled with notes. Her stomach took the moment to grumble irritably, and she conceded to break for lunch.
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[Rosela]

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When she returned, she already had a thought on her mind, though it was more related to semantics than anything, and it came with its own difficulties.

A true empire did not consist of a single city.

She wasn't aware of any businesses in the city, perhaps any in her own memory, that were extensions of businesses in another city. The blacksmith down the street did not take production designs from a blacksmith in Syliras, not that she knew of anyway. It seemed terribly inefficient, and there was no ability to monitor quality control.

Therefore, it stood to reason that production could not take place in more than one city. So...was she to produce her work here and send it off somewhere else? Travel time being what it was, she'd have to produce products an entire season in advance. It was doable, but then there was the factor of product safety while on the road. She knew perfectly well from her own travel to Riverfall that it wasn't easy to move out in the open.

Unless...the Wind Eagles?

She knew from reputation that they and their riders were proud, and refused to be a taxi service for anyone. However, they did take Riverfall's main exports with them when they left. If she could generate enough popularity in Riverfall that her clothing could be considered an export, would they take it? Who would buy it on the other end? Perhaps she could contact someone in the receiving city who would be willing to sell her line, perhaps alongside other wares. It felt demeaning, that her designs might be offered on the same level as 'exotic spices', but perhaps she would have to trust her work would speak for itself.

She suddenly wondered if the Wind Eagles took passengers. Her work would be vastly more successful if she could see these far off lands for herself and design for them appropriately. Ahnatep would be a likely first choice, as she wouldn't have to visit to know what was in fashion. Kenash as well was fairly close. Her line of horse-wear may even gain some traction with the Drykas out in the Sea of Grass.

In any case, these options would only open to her once she expanded her business, particularly in the employee department. She was barely keeping up with her inventory as it was, let alone making enough to ship away.
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[Rosela]

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After a brief break to put together a couple pairs of men's trousers, Rosela returned to her master plan. The page was covered in her handwriting, with little room left for more. It would take an enormous amount of time to implement, years, even. It gave her something to picture though, a sunset to chase.

Her final thoughts as the actual sun sank in the sky were more self-indulgent than the rest of her plan. Quite simply, the owner of a fashion empire did not live in a one-room cottage. She lived in luxury, with slaves and silks and plush pillows. Her previous push to upgrade her living had been expensive, and that had just glorified her existing living space. She needed a bigger house, and that would be expensive. It would likely have to wait until some of her shop expansions were completed and she had a larger flow of mizas coming in.

Still, the idea sent her mind spinning on the luxuries she would attain. It would help her business too, in a peripheral manner. A larger house would allow her to entertain guests, and with influential guests came the possibility of their business. The shadows may be convinced to help her - to listen in on the gossip of the powerful and let her know how things were leaning.

There was no kidding herself, her primary desire for a more posh lifestyle was not entirely to help her shop. She needed to surround herself with lovely things, to rest her delicate head on a silken pillow after a hard day. She deserved these things.

She deserved to be rich, and powerful, and adored. One way or another, she'd get it.
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[Taylani]

Rosela

Skills :

+4 Planning
+3 Business
+1 Architecture

Lores :

Business: Uncertainty of going up against a well-established Beautiful Things for Jewelry Market.
Gnosis: Akijah’s Mark lessens need for candles

Notes :

Not too much in the way of lores but I managed to pull some skills for you. I gave you the architecture point for plotting plans on a building expansion. PM me if you have concerns with the grade, also don’t forget to delete/you’re your Grade request