It’s one of those universal aspirations. Like how people say, “I’d love to write a book someday.” We have a fantasy of what it’s like in our heads, but we wouldn’t actually want the reality of it.
Running a shop of some kind might be the most persistent dream of this sort. Ask anybody, they’d love to run a shop. Probably a coffee shop. Or a book shop. Or a shop specializing in fresh produce and delicacies. If you run into someone with more niche interests, they’d love to run a video game shop, a Pokémon card shop, or a shop for equestrian equipment.
Heck, many people, myself included, have dreamed of running a whole variety of shops over the years! There’s something about it, isn’t there? It’s just you and your goods, a warm, friendly space, and loyal regulars dropping in to chat and pick up some baguettes. So much for the vision, anyway.
Cleaning up after hours, dealing with paperwork, stocking shelves? Nobody wants to know about that! Annoying customers pinching pennies? Wares running out? Shipping fees going through the roof? Inflation, taxes, bureaucracy. Like most endeavors, operating a shop is a grind 95% of the time.
The 5% of movie-like moments will still be beautiful—but even if they’ll define the experience, they’ll barely be a part of it. Which is why many shops opened on a whim close down shortly thereafter. What the owners fell in love with was the owning. The feeling of running a shop, not the experience.
Every time I dream about opening, say, a coffee shop, I try to remember this lesson. I think of myself in the shop. Hanging out, writing. Serving coffee to customers every now and then. Enjoying the smell of freshly roasted beans on the shelf. Then, I realize I’m barely working. “Oh. Right. What you’d like is to own a shop run by someone else—but actually, that means you can just go to any coffee shop!”
Money and other barriers aside, it is much easier to buy a drink at a shop you already like going to than to set up the perfect one for yourself. The best way to keep the dream alive is to let it be a dream and not force it into reality, which could never live up to it.
If it’s something you’d die with regret over if you didn’t do it, by all means. Give it your best shot, and go after the dream! Grunt work and all. But if it’s only a feeling you’re chasing, a story you know deep down you won’t enjoy once you’re stuck on page 243 out of 1,500, relax. Find the feeling without the burden, and savor the fantasy as it is: unreal yet still satisfying.
Beware the dream of running a shop.
