Ok, so it's not something that Alan Sugar would be jumping up and down about - but it's a biggie for us! We are venturing into the world of retail. Very, very small to begin with - but hopefully in time we can do ok with it. The parental support has been fantastic, if tempered with the realism of 'have you worked out your costs?' but equally playing shop is one thing as a little girl, making a shop work to bring in an income is something completely different.
A wise friend of mine said 'if you can make something work when the economy is this depressed, just think what you can do when it picks up' and she is so right. Her words were said years ago to me, but they've always stayed in my head. Before I get carried away with dressing the place, without thinking ooh eck I need to pay for that I would like to say thank you to all those lovely people that have supported us to getting this far. New businesses start and fall by the wayside all the time, we've tried to keep true to our ethos and not just respond to faddy trends.
At the end of the day what we make is hand crafted, it does all start life as a doodle at the dining table and then you have to fight the cat off the kiln to make it. We are an old fashioned cottage industry and hope to keep it that way. Friends make the journey fun, friends pitch in with the paintbrush and if you have continually chased the bottom line of profit then you will quickly lose these friends. So a huge, huge thank you to all of you who have helped us along the way - and if we forget this then please feel free to shout up! xx
