Tanefski’s Bodega
Stories from inside Tanefski’s Bodega
Prologue
A few months ago, I was stuck in a software sales job.
Every day felt exactly the same. Endless meetings. Managers talking about metrics 24/7. Corporate buzzwords nobody actually cared about. It just felt like I was building somebody else’s dream instead of my own.
Eventually, I got tired of it.
So I took a huge risk.
I used most of my savings to rent a tiny section of an old warehouse and decided to open my own store: Tanefski’s Bodega.
Nothing crazy. Just a small clothing shop with a couple shelves, some racks, and enough inventory to hopefully survive my first week.
I started with simple stuff. T-shirts. Basketball shorts. Casual clothes people might actually want to wear.
Honestly… I had absolutely no idea if this was going to work.
Day 1
Day one started at 6:00 AM.
I barely slept the night before because I was so nervous thinking about opening the doors for the first time.
The second I unlocked the front entrance, reality kind of hit me.
This was my store now.
If this thing failed, there wasn’t going to be a manager or a company to blame. It was all on me.
For the first couple minutes, nobody came in.
I just stood there pretending to reorganize shirts while secretly panicking in my head.
Then my first customer walked through the door.
I’m not even kidding… my heart was pounding.
They walked around for a little bit, checked out some of the clothing racks, and then picked up one of my T-Rex inspired t-shirts from my favorite childhood TV show and brought it to the register.
First sale.
That feeling was unreal.
It honestly gave me the biggest adrenaline rush ever because somebody actually spent their money on something I created.
After that, things slowly started picking up.
More customers started flowing in throughout the day buying shirts, shorts, and browsing around the store. Every time somebody walked out with a bag, it felt like a tiny win.
But by midday, the panic started setting in.
Sales were going way better than I expected, which sounds great… until you realize your shelves are almost empty.
I was sprinting back and forth between the stockroom and the cash register trying to keep everything organized while customers kept pouring into the store.
Then it happened.
I completely ran out of inventory on the floor.
That’s when the REAL panic kicked in.
I rushed into the back office, jumped onto the computer, and reordered almost everything I had just sold.
I still have no idea how the local suppliers operate this efficiently, but I’m not asking questions. At this point, the delivery driver and I are basically coworkers.
His name’s Rico.
Rico pulled up a few minutes later with half my business loaded into cardboard boxes. Honestly, this guy is carrying Tanefski’s Bodega on his back right now.
The only problem?
My funds were starting to get dangerously low.
So now I’m standing there unloading boxes hoping the afternoon goes just as well as the morning did.
Thankfully, the customers kept coming.
By the end of the day, Tanefski’s Bodega had served 34 customers.
I also set up a little customer feedback survey at checkout because I wanted to know what people honestly thought about the store.
Most people seemed really happy.
31 customers left positive feedback.
But not everything went perfectly.
Five people said my clothing was overpriced and walked out without buying anything.
I know that probably sounds small, but honestly, it hit me harder than I expected.
I don’t just want people spending money here. I want them to actually enjoy coming into the store.
Still… for Day 1, I’d call that a success.
Tanefski’s Bodega officially survived its first day in business.
Days 2 & 3
Back on the Grind
The past couple of days were still an absolute doozy.
I thought I learned my lesson from Day 1 about ordering enough inventory… but the problem now was money.
The good news?
I was finally able to hire my first employee.
His name was Dimitri.
Honestly, Dimitri wasn’t some superstar employee, but he showed up on time, worked hard, and didn’t slack off. At this point in my business career, that’s basically all I could ask for.
I figured I’d work the morning shift from 6 AM to 2 PM and let Dimitri handle the afternoon closing shift.
And I gotta admit… having help at the register was a game changer.
While Dimitri handled customers, I spent most of my time sprinting around the store trying to keep shelves stocked before people emptied them again.
Then I had an absolutely insane idea.
Acoustic guitars.
Now listen… I don’t know WHY I thought a clothing bodega needed acoustic guitars, but somehow it made perfect sense in my head at the time.
The guitar stand alone cost me $600.
Then the supplier only sold guitars in packs of three for another $660.
That’s $1,260 total.
Which, for the record, felt absolutely terrifying to spend.
I definitely didn’t buy everything back-to-back either. I had to slowly build up enough sales in between purchases just to afford the setup.
But somehow… it worked.
These guitars were selling like crazy.
I’m not kidding when I say I’d stock the shelves and less than three hours later they’d already be sold out again.
And the profit margins?
Beautiful.
Each guitar sold for around $280, which meant I was making roughly $180 profit per sale.
At this point, Rico practically became part of the business.
I’d call him for another shipment and somehow he’d pull up faster than a caffeinated squirrel on roller skates.
Like clockwork:
guitars arrive,
guitars sell out,
panic order more guitars,
Rico saves the day again.
The guitar business was bringing in so much money that I hired my second employee: Brenda.
Brenda took over the morning shift while I focused mostly on restocking and inventory management.
I was also finally able to upgrade the clothing section a little bit.
No more basic t-shirts and basketball shorts.
Now we had:
button-up shirts,
dress pants,
nicer clothes,
the whole gambit.
By the end of Day 3, I finally started feeling more confident.
But naturally… now I wanted to expand even more.
Days 4 & 5
Expansion Is My Middle Name
At this point, Tanefski’s Bodega was starting to feel like a well-oiled machine.
Well… maybe “well-oiled” is generous.
The store itself was running smoother, but the back warehouse looked like a tornado had hit it.
Boxes everywhere.
Random inventory stacked on top of other inventory.
Absolute chaos.
I tried my best to move everything into the warehouse so customers wouldn’t see the mess, but honestly I was just hiding the disaster behind a door at this point.
Then I had another brilliant business idea.
Groceries.
Nothing too crazy at first:
cereal,
coffee beans,
lemons,
apples.
Just enough to make the place feel more like a real neighborhood bodega.
The only problem?
Grocery margins are TERRIBLE compared to guitars.
I went from making huge profits on music equipment to making like 37 cents selling produce.
Still… profit is profit.
Then, for reasons I still don’t fully understand, I decided to physically expand the store itself.
I purchased an additional 345 square feet of retail space.
The SECOND I bought it, I realized I had absolutely no idea what to do with all that extra room.
Classic entrepreneur move.
Days 6–8
Automation Is My Nation
Remember Dimitri and Brenda?
Yeah…
I fired them.
Now before you judge me, let me explain.
I was visiting another MegaStore called Moist & Mighty which, despite sounding incredibly suspicious, is actually just a much larger version of my store.
And while I was there, I saw something beautiful:
Self-checkout registers.
The SECOND I saw them, I knew it was over.
I went straight back to Tanefski’s Bodega, jumped onto the office computer, and ordered three self-checkout machines immediately.
Then I gave Dimitri and Brenda their final paychecks.
Honestly, I did feel bad letting them go.
I even told them I’d write great recommendation letters.
But business is business.
And now that I didn’t have hourly wages draining my money, I could invest even harder into expansion.
Which is exactly what I did.
I ordered:
more clothes,
more groceries,
sugar,
rice,
flour,
cooking spray,
coffee,
basically everything I could fit on the shelves.
At this point, Tanefski’s Bodega was finally starting to feel like a REAL bodega.
Days 9 & 10
Vending Machine Guru
Then I had another incredible business idea.
A vending machine.
Listen… every “passive income” guru on YouTube talks about vending machines like they’re the greatest investment in human history.
So naturally, I convinced myself I was about to become a vending machine mogul.
We started simple:
pink donuts,
sprinkled donuts,
water,
energy drinks,
coconut water,
soda,
peanuts,
strawberry milk.
And honestly?
This thing was a CASH COW.
In just a couple days, the vending machine brought in over $300.
The only issue was that I was starting to run into the same problem I had back on Days 1 and 2:
I couldn’t keep up with restocking anymore.
So I finally posted job openings for dedicated restockers.
I hired two people almost immediately.
First was Deshawn.
Absolute machine.
The guy walks fast, stocks fast, works fast… honestly I’m pretty sure he teleports around the store.
Then there’s Matilda.
Matilda works the late shift and somehow still stays late organizing inventory without even asking for overtime pay.
Absolute legend.
At this point, my job has basically turned into:
ordering products,
organizing the warehouse,
and trying not to financially destroy the business with another insane expansion idea.
And honestly?
I’m loving every second of it.
A few weeks ago, I was stuck sitting in corporate meetings talking about numbers on spreadsheets that didn’t even matter to me.
Now I’m building something chaotic, stressful, exhausting… and completely my own.
Tanefski’s Bodega survived its first 10 days.
Now it’s time to see if it can survive what comes next.