Capacity of the small maker - and why it's important to know these things!

This is something that is increasingly cropping up in conversations from those asking how to set up their own shop so thought it might be useful to explain.  I regularly get phone calls or visitors all excited because they have this dream of setting up their own shop and are bouncing away telling me all the fabulous things they will do.  But on digging a little deeper they have often understood how much time they need to do all the fabulous things they describe. 

To give you an example of the capacity issues: a friend of mine - let's call her Lucy - wants to set up a cake shop.  It doesn't have to be cakes, it could be anything that requires your time and expertise to make.  And she is rather good at making cakes, that isn't in question at all as my tummy has enjoyed them!  This is where it gets more tricky for her - capacity. 

For any small business starter you need to know your numbers.  Here's a basic breakdown:

1. How much do you need to bring into your household each month to survive (notice I said survive, you are a startup so work on worst case scenarios as anything else is a bonus in year one)
2. How many hours can you realistically work at your business - you need to sleep, take small people to school, visit your Mum and see your friends from time to time. If it helps keep a little calendar check of your schedule for a week and then work out the hours you do have or could make available.
3. How long does it take you to make each item - if you batch make something then work out a time for 10 or 20 perhaps but as long as you know for example 20 cakes = 2 hours from start to completion.
4. Now you need to work out how much profit you have after selling your work - ignore the time for the minute, just deduct materials cost from selling price.  Remember to include packaging!

You now have your four basic figures to work out if you can survive:

1. Use the time per item and see how many you can make in your available time, eg if 20 cakes takes you 2 hours and you have 6 hours in a day then you can produce 120 cakes
2. Now multiply that number by your profit per item - again, if your cakes have a profit of £1 per cake you have £120 profit per baking day
3. Does that £120 per day multiplied over your working week or month cover what you need to survive?
4. If yes, fantastic; if no what can we change?

I am often accused of being too commercial in my approach to the small craft businesses but the reason is that you do not start out to make a loss! And without knowing your cost base you may well end up in that position.  Many crafters have no intention of turning it into a business, but if you do dream of doing that (and good luck to you) then you do need to keep one eye on the costs.

If you end up with a situation where you realise you cannot produce enough to cover your required income then look to diversify.  In the case of the cake shop, can you sell supplies for cake makers?  Could you get a friend to do some classes in exchange for something?  Rather than you launch your own cake shop can you supply local cafes or shops to start with and build up your customer base?

Capacity is the hidden curse of the small trader - we are required to be all things at the beginning, maker, seller, advertiser, accountant, shopkeeper and the list is endless! This is where it is useful to look to what is sensible, where is your time best spent? What use of your time is going to best move your idea forward? 

Having said all that, there is also an element of risk attached to any start up and you have to decide where your personal risk limit is.  Some are happy to take on a shop lease and work out as they go along, some are more cautious and need to have a full spreadsheet in advance of looking to open.  Neither way is right or wrong, it is an incredibly personal decision.  Whichever route you choose, just make sure you stay on the right side of the balance sheet and have fun discovering your potential!  Also, don't forget there is loads of help out there to bounce ideas and get going.  We love being part of Enterprise Rockers as there are so many supportive and knowledgeble folk in that group, so make sure you take full advantage of the help out there to make your business work for you.


First published by Enterprise Rockers at: http://sme-blog.com/guest-blog/capacity-the-hidden-curse-of-the-small-business-and-how-to-resolve-it

Can jaffa cakes solve competition issues?

We have noticed in the short time that we have been open that competitors take many forms and some are not so subtle about it! We know we have fabulous makers that create amazing products, we know we have a loyal and returning customer base and we know we're good at what we do.  When we first started this all up I was accused of only being commerical, and I am beginning to realise where this comment came from.  If you are used to dealing with projects that support makers you sort of expect them to not worry about the finances because they are already covered through funding.  However, if you have no experience of real business then I agree, you would consider me commerical in my outlook because folk keep expecting me to pay them for things like rent and insurance!

However, it's still a jungle out there in terms of the business.  I recently went on a course about setting up and sustaining creative businesses and it struck me how much we have done intuitively and equally how much further we could go with the Hippos.  It got the small brain all fired up again on the possibilities and the fact that things don't always move in simple straight lines.  We know that our competitors come and go and some have even openly copied our working model, even to the point of emailing me the direct questions! In many respects that's actually quite flattering that we're worth copying and replicating, but equally it's not difficult to copy us.  You find some fabulous crafters, open a shop and say ta-dah come and buy this wonderful work - not exacly rocket science is it?

I don't have an issue with competition, after all BHS can't go into Marks & Spencer and whinge that they also sell red jumpers so please remove them from the shelf.  If we want to be treated as a business then we must act like one and accept that there will always be new and varied hurdles placed in our way.  Competition keeps you on your toes, makes you maintain customer service, keeps you searching for your next break and keeps you hungry to succeed.

One thing that has become apparent is how externally funded projects doing very similar to us is having an indirect effect on the Hippos though.  We recently discovered that a venue was overcharging us for room hire because they thought we had Portas funding and when I said we were likely to drop them due to proving too costly this all came to light.  They were genuinely shocked that we don't receive any support because of how we work and instantly halved the room hire when I explained which was helpful.  However, what worried me was that they had decided that if we had funding we were able to pay more, and it got me thinking.

Another issue that's cropping up is the capacity of our makers to keep us supplied.  We try to only deal with small, independent makers and support them as they move into self employment of their own and been fairly successful in doing so.  However, popup shops often have little or no overheads and can offer them a better deal because of it. Again it's not rocket science, if your outgoings as a shop are lower you don't need to raise so much to stay open.  Makers move or prioritise those offering a better financial deal - and quite rightly on their part, who wouldn't go where they can get a better deal?  They have overheads to meet and families to look after too, it's called shopping around for the best deal for you and it's not personal.  Small makers are not factories, they have a finite capacity level so 10 items made means they have to decide which outlet to put the 10 items into.  However it potentially causes problems as without stock we cannot generate sales, without sales our doors close .... unless

We have to look at the Hippos and decide how to help our own survival - or whether we can survive as we currently are.  We have to look at whether what we're doing is viable.  There will always be pop up shops and there will always be funding for small start ups.  Again, I have no issue with either as quite frankly who wouldn't take some help if it were offered - we certainly would! But, it does make me re-examine the very sector we're trying to support and whether we can continue in the same way or whether we need to take a sideways look at what we do. 

There are some elements that are unique to the Hippos, we can offer a very personal service to customers and makers.  We know all our makers and are able to take the time to help them develop.   I know that there are issues to be pondered over, and that's going to take a lot of jaffa cakes!  But equally I know that there is an answer, it just hasn't appeared yet.  Answers have traditionally appeared from the most random sources so it's all about looking and recognising those opportunities when they crop up.  Someone once told me there is no such thing as luck because luck is merely the ability to spot and take an opportunity so Hippo's on the lookout, and armed with jaffa cakes of course!  The next cunning plan is just around the corner and Hippo's on a mission to find it .... back soon :) 

Next stage for the Hippos

It's getting quite interesting at the shop, events and for the Hippos in general.  We seemed to have kicked up a gear, mainly because I actually got myself organised with the back office.  Cannot believe how lovely some of our artists were in not chasing me for information - most of the responses to my humble apology were things like don't worry, figured you were busy.  Without such a fab group around me think I would have gone nuts (no heckling from the back over that comment!).

So, next stage - friend told me about the Own Art scheme which is something I would love to achieve for us.  It's basically a credit scheme backed by Arts Council England where customers can buy larger pieces on credit and the scheme allows us to be a broker.  Win win :) The customer gets to buy larger pieces in stages, we get to sell more originals, artists get to be seen more so everyone's happy!

All the criteria is around having original work from living artists and the permission from the artist to sell them which we do.  Just got to wait till August to apply because we will have been at the shop for 12 months then which is the other criteria.  Can't believe that twelve months ago we were in a little garden shed on a really quiet site and now looking to Arts Council England to apply for their credit scheme - it's just such a positive progress marker.

We now have almost 60 local artists and makers in the shop, all fabulous people with amazing work and all so different.  Truthfully I think that's why it works, because we celebrate that uniqueness, they all come from such different backgrounds and some have had a bumpier ride than others but they meet at the shop on an equal footing.  Personally I don't give two hoots where (or if) you trained formally, some of our best artists have never sat through formal art training!  The thing they all have in common is they like making what they do so it's all good.  And the really lovely thing is we actually know them all to chat to and ask what mischief the dog got up to last week and other normal things so it really is like having a creative family that all trundle along together.

The other thing I didn't anticipate is how much button thumping I would do! This is my non technical speak for all things computer based such as blogging, twitter, websites etc.  Someone kindly pointed out that actually it's only me that calls it button thumping, oops.  Also, didn't anticipate the interest we would generate from other sources.  The amount of customers and artists popping in or contacting me via a referral is awesome, and there's me thinking I just stick a purple Hippo on things.

As always, a huge thank you to everyone that has allowed this to happen - and to allow me to see the possibilities of where we could go next.  Already in discussions about the next cunning plan with someone that sees opportunities the way I do, will share when there's something more definite to share but think it could be rather exciting. 

See you all soon, Hippo xx

Dreaming is what Hippo does best

Apologies for not posting for a while, been slighty chaotic inside the small brain lately!

Ok, so where have we got to? We now have over 40 makers in the shop, not exactly setting the retail world on fire but it is taking off.  We're seeing lots of returning customers and they love the stories behind our makers.  Who wouldn't? They are so varied and each maker arrived at us through such unique routes it's fascinating.

Craft fairs, again getting there.  We struggled a little last year because footfall wasn't the greatest at some events but as always we take the criticism on board, listen to the grumps and try and put them right.  We know that the venue is critical, but balancing the accessibility against venue is tricky on times.  Had an interesting conversation with our newest Hippoette about this on Sunday, and thankfully the crafters see all the hard work we put in and just feel flat for us that sometimes the venues don't seem to be as supportive as they could be.  So we are trying to be more realistic.  Stick to those that are working, try new ones for a while but need to be a little more business minded and cut them if they don't work.

I have also discovered that I am now getting bored! Not that the shop isn't great, and loving what it's achieving but I didn't set out to be a shopkeeper.  Nothing wrong whatsoever in being a shopkeeper but we're starting to get some serious interest from economic regeneration teams around our area and that part really gets me excited.  The thought of being able to create something of a meaningful scale is just too tempting to my brain.  I've already had talks with a few people about expanding the Hippos and if we can get it to work, my goodness it will be awesome for everyone.

One thing I've tried to stay away from on here and on FaceBook is the politics of it all.  However, think it's reaching that stage now where you kind of need to hear some of it.  So, for all of you that just want pictures of the cat - log off now!

One aspect of work that is particularly frustrating for many is having no control over their own destiny, even William Morris recognised this one.  And for us as the Hippos what we are trying to achieve is a working craft village where they do start to take control of their own work.  For some it may not work, but the chance to try it is something that just seems too far off for many and that needs to change.  We're not trying to say we are the only ones that can do this, however we are finding that folk trust the Hippo idea, feel confident to ask the questions and we have seen some amazing growth from so many Hippoettes that it would be fantastic to offer that out a little more. 

So, the small brain will continue to come up with random ideas - some will work some will just be too bonkers to consider.  But think about this for a second, if no-one ever tried something so silly we wouldn't have aeroplanes or radio or other such amazing inventions and ideas.  The dreamers are needed, but thankfully I have a lovely sensible group around me to flesh out details into something manageable.  Hippo xx

The sordid topic of coin

We've hit a bit of a snag! Not a major one, but if we don't address it soon it will become a major one and possibly close us down which would be a crying shame as we are so so close to being really sustainable.

The snag:  we need to create an income to pay all our bills but we're not quite managing it yet.

Possible solutions:
    increase the % we charge all our sellers
    only deal with what we call professional crafters
    buy in items to re-sell
    close down

With each of these options there is a plus and a minus, some obvious and some not so obvious.  If we increase the % we charge all our sellers then all the prices need to go up to ensure that what each crafter wants for their item is what they receive which may well put customers off.  Also, some sellers may be uncomfortable with this idea as they have an idea of what the market will bear for their work so either need to reduce what they are happy to receive or use an alternative retail outlet.

Only deal with professional crafters - the reason this option is on the table is because if each seller sold at least £150 pcm all the %s add up quite nicely to pay the bills.  However, a small crafter often produces smaller quantities or lower value items due to their capacity issues as most have a main job while they try to transition to becoming a full time crafter.  The obvious snag here is that if we only deal with professional crafters we lose the ability to offer hobby crafters the chance to show off their work and gain valuable feedback to take them to the next level.  If we had sufficient stock from everyone it would probably work, which takes us back to potentially only dealing with professional crafters who have the capacity and means of production to produce in volume.  And, again if we asked smaller crafters to produce in volume it takes away the fun and the reason they started - often to escape the 9-5 pressures of an external employer which is the role we would have to take on and that in turn would mean they say I didn't sign up for this.

Buy in items to re-sell - the obvious thing here is that it completely goes against what we stand for in that we want to offer locally hand made original work and buck the trend of only finding the same things everywhere.  However, we do stock some items that are not hand made already such as books and kits so allowing a small element of stock to be re-sold items isn't quite such a horrific thought.  But obviously we can't buy in items that one of our crafters currently makes, the easiest example is dreamcatchers. 

There is a big argument for supporting fair trade and giving workers around the world a fair deal, and we want to do that too.  If we ask crafters to reduce their costs they in turn have little or no chance of making it for themselves and we would be doing them such an injustice that quite frankly we would deserve to be closed down.  There is also the argument that we are in retail, we do have to compete with the real world and maybe the fight can't be won, maybe we were a little too ambitious in our thinking.  Or maybe we just got the figures wrong in the first place. 

But here's the rub - we are just so so close to making it work that with a few tweaks here and there it's almost touchable.  But, at what point do we draw the line and say we are unable to subsidise anymore.  Because up till now we've taken the hit, we've never taken a wage or even been paid for our work to allow for the cashflow to build up.  We don't expect sympathy, it was our choice after all but we did anticipate it turning around slowly so that the early months of not taking payment would eventually turn around but sadly it's not turning that fast and our food cupboards are constantly empty!

So, to all you crafters out there - we'd love to hear a suggestion or solution.  If you were working for a company that continually didn't pay you yet expected you to work a 60 hour week I can imagine what most of your reactions would be! Sorry if this sounds pessimistic for the Hippos, but we will work something out and I suspect the simplest one is to put the % up so that everyone can get involved if they choose to.  But if someone has an out of the box solution that we didn't consider then please shout up, Hippo xx

Humble Hippo saying thank you lots to fab folk!

Today was mainly spent button thumping - or web site building to give it it's proper name.  We now have a new shiny website to showcase the amazing and talented folk that make up the Hippo Family.  And then it dawned on the small brain that we have so many people to say thank you to that this post would rumble on for pages and be like a Gwyneth Paltrow acceptance speech if I did that.  So, I will try to narrow it down to the core bits.

Firstly, we trundled along to Apley Farm Shop with a few humble possessions, a fingers crossed attitude of 'hope this works' and a few Hippo-ettes trundling along with us.  So, firstly thank you to Clare's Prints for allowing us to fill our walls with her fab pictures in those early days.

Then the fun really started! Err, this is a big space folks and we don't actually have a lot of stock.  And then, from nowhere this voice popped round the corner saying 'hello, I do paintings, do you want to have a look?' Being blissfully ignorant of who this person was, or what they did we just said 'ooh yes please'.  And then this amazing array of pictures turned up from Simon along with various helpful things like browsers for prints.  Then there was Maureen who giggled her way into the shop with the most amazing quilts ever, and again then turned up with helpful things so we could show them off better.  We cannot thank them, and others that joined in the early days enough.

Here we were, two strangers just arrived to take on a lease who they didn't know and all these amazing artists trusted us with their stock that had taken them hours to produce.  In some cases the work they use to raise funds for their charities which means so much to them and now to us, thank you John and Kath. 

I look at the button thumping done today and realise that we are incredibly fortunate to be trusted with some fabulous work, have and continue to meet some lovely people who are just so talented it's jaw dropping on times.  From about 3 Hippo-ettes we have grown to almost 30 in a matter of four months and most have been like Simon, Maureen and John just popping their head round the door to say hello.
Apologies if you now feel like calling me Gwyneth, but this is a truly Humbled Hippo at how much we've gained in terms of new friends just from putting up that sign that says 'Hello, we are open so please pop in and say hello'.  Hippo xx

Facebook for small businesses

This is meant to be helpful to those just starting out using facebook for their small business, but equally may be useful as a reminder to some.  Not saying this is an exhaustive list, just some helpful things we picked up along the way!

Is is a page or a person?
This might seem like a daft question, but what we've found is that some don't set up a page for their business which means they can't be 'tagged' in posts and we can't direct traffic to them.

How to set up a page:
while logged into your personal account enter this in the search bar: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

go through the various choices depending on what you want to set up and there's your page done!
make sure you add some pictures, your contact details, about you etc etc BEFORE you start going after likers - give them a reason to like your page.
once you do start advertising your page you need 30 likes from people not pages in order to secure the URL which means the name then becomes yours - once this name is set it can't be changed, so make sure you search through beforehand that the name is avaiable.  And where possible try to make it short to avoid folk typing in the wrong name when searching for you.
Does your page look pretty?
Pretty obvious question yes?  Well in some cases no.  If you're asking folk to come along and 'like' so make it personal, show people what you want them to see.  If you want to say you're the best hairdresser out there show some of your best work, or your salon with happy customers.  It's sometimes hard to think from the other side so often it's better to ask a friend if they would find it interesting.  It's easy to miss something obvious or simple because you do it all day, every day so always ask for outside opinions.

you're got your page - how do I get the likes?
This is tricky - you require patience now!  There are various sites out there offering '1,000 likes in 10 minutes' however from personal experience I would avoid them.  Why? Because visitors aren't that daft, if you set up 2 weeks ago and suddenly have 500 likes if can look a little odd, better to let it grow slowly and steadily and be able to know that all those likes are there because they are genuine and you get the chance to interact and be seen to interact with them.  If you're in any doubt have a look at our facebook page, full of pics and happy banter. 

However, one sure fire way to get people coming over to you is to share.  Might seem a really simple thing, but if you are the one saying 'wow look what I found when I visited @fredscats' people don't think you only care about yourself.  There are hundreds of pages out there all competing with you, stand out by being lovely!

How to tag posts:
This is one that a lot don't realise but it's dead simple!  Firstly, if you want to tag another page on one of your posts you have to 'like' them so make sure you've done that bit first.  So, using @fredscats as an example pop over to their page, like it and say hello to them so they know where the like came from.  Because in order to raise likes they have to come from a person, Fred's Cats won't know that 'Abi Smith' is 'Hair is Lovely' so what you say is:

Hello from @hairislovely, thanks for the gift today it was really kind of you, see you soon Abi' or similar depending on how you met them.

notice the @ sign?  This is the magic symbol for tagging!  If you want to include a page you must put the @ sign in front of their name, if you have already liked them it will immediately start to find them from your list of likes.  If it doesn't find them, it means you haven't liked them so go back, like them and tag them again.

Also when you share pictures make sure you add a comment to the effect of: 'We just had to share @fredscats pic, it's so cute!' that way you not only share the picture but you tell folk who you are, where the picture came from and you also tell the other person you shared it because it will now pop up on their timeline.  This is what you're trying to achieve, pop up on as many timelines as possible.  Those statistics that mean not a lot?  The reach is about how many people saw your post, and if you are new you won't get it on your own but by sharing and cross promoting you increase their audience and yours.  If you are asking people to trust you as a brand, a business or an enterprise they want to know you will share and help because that adds trust, it proves you're human and not just about yourself.

Hope that helps, but if not please add bits!  Hippo xx

We are having a shuffle around!

We are aware that the Hippo names have probably caused a little confusion over the months, wasn't intentional just a natural progression of things!

It started with the idea that Chez Hippo would make the glass and Little Hippo Presents would be the shop selling the glass and work from other makers and that this side of it would become the community business.  However, it's got a little muddlling over time.  So, we've decided to re-name things properly so folk can follow our logic (or not I hear the hecklers from the back - Sarah, Justine and Rachel I will see you lot after class!)

Ahem, drum roll please .....

The shop will still be called Little Hippo Presents, because after all I am Little Hippo and I am presenting other fantabulous work from superb makers so that name still makes sense.  Plus I get to tweet as #happyhippo #busyhippo and all the other hash tags that keep appearing.

The glass will be made under the name of The Glass Shed:

still exactly the same products, still available from the shop just under a new name is all.  It just makes life easier when we try to explain how the names are split, the fact that yes the Hippo's sell their own product but they are a seperate maker as well and the umbrella organisation is a different entity.  Also if we want to do craft fairs we can now ask 'do you want us as the Hippos, a community group or as The Glass Shed, a separate maker?'

 

Might seem like we're being a bit pedantic over names, but as things progress with Little Hippo and the other projects that are bubbling away it just seemed appropriate to do this - plus it was getting confusing as anything thinking 'am I putting this post as us the maker, or us the shop??' 

 

You may have noticed that the blog name has changed too, it now reads as Little Hippo Presents, again to allow The Glass Shed it's own blog should it want one - though quite what a shed would write about is anyone's guess!

 

Hope that's not too confusing, or if anything settled some existing confusion we previously created!  See you all soon, Hippo xx

 

We sincerely apologise for being viable!

Hippo's on a slight rant, so step away now if you are just tucking into your tea and winding down for the evening!

I am getting increasingly cross that people seem to be missing the point of what we are trying to do, or rather what we are actually doing - and more's the point, winning!

We are a community business, in extemely simple terms we take work from other artists and makers and sell it in the shop for a percentage commission of the sale price.  We take this % because we have bills to pay such as rent, card machine and packaging to sell their lovely work to happy customers.  What we are not is a pity case.  We only stock work that is well made, by hand and by brilliant local makers who will hopefully each make the transition from hobby crafter to professional crafter (but only if they choose to - that's their decision to make not ours to impose).  Sellers or Hippo-ettes offer time to support the shop, either in delivering leaflets for events, marshalling cars at events, or working in the shop for the day.  No staff are paid, we all do it to support the wider ethos of the Hippos.

What irks me somewhat is that because we have a great shop, in a great location full of fabulous things that are so well made we are sometimes viewed as a purely commercial venture.  We didn't set out to look like a community business, we set out to look like a good place to come and buy some quality gifts - and not surprisingly, we're doing just that.  Yes we do make money, not much though!  Yes, we do have a very decent turnover, and yes we have hit breakeven after only 3 months trading which is no mean feat in this climate.  But that's because everyone works like mad in the background as a group.  We have to beg, borrow and barter our way through it all.  One of our painters who is world known lends us an easel to stand his work on because we don't have the resources to purchase one! 

However, because we don't look like a 'needy' group, we all work extremely hard at what we do.  We don't ask for charity - of course we'll accept the easel and other such helpful things but we want to be a proper trading community business.  So, my apologies for not putting posters all round the shop showing you all the people that are actually helped by customers loving what they make, my apologies for trading effectively and not requiring external grant funding because we got our budget right, and my apologies for us working hard and not just going cap in hand to councils for a hand out because we can't get our business model right.

Here endeth the rant! I will now go off to find some chocolate and watch drivel on telly while thinking of our next cunning plan to put a Hippo on your High Street too!  Hippo x

The Hippo Pages

A new cunning plan from the small brain!

We've all seen this image:

But ... what if it looked like this:

 

And what if, it contained a listing for as many crafters as we can find?  It's quite a simple idea really, in the same way that people used to have a listing in the Yellow Pages crafters could have a listing in the Hippo Pages.  That way, crafters get some advertising and those looking for a crafter know where to look for them.  Not sure on the details as yet, because with all these things it starts as a small, easy to manage project and before you know it it's snowballed and become a whole entity in itself! However, the snowballing would be rather fantastic if it did happen :)

Because we ultimately want to become a self sustaining co-operative it may become a brilliant project element of the business in it's own right - time will tell.  But for the time being I will stick to chuntering with my facebook and twitter buddies and we will begin to shape the first Hippo Pages - will let you know how it all goes.  Hippo x

finding that USP

It's taken us a while to figure out who we are, who we sell to and more importantly why people buy from us.  In the early days of business you are so caught up with the shiny bits like 'wow, that's my branding on that bag' that you don't really get chance to sit back and analyse it.  Or more importantly, you don't really twig why you should analyse it.  There you are with a shop full of beautiful things that you adore, so why shouldn't shoppers adore them too?  But, that only works if your shoppers are exactly like you!

We twigged a few weeks ago that our USP or unique selling point is the stories behind the product.  In reality there are hundreds of fantastic photographers selling up and down the country so why buy ours?  The reason is  that we can tell you who took it, the giggle he had trying to set up a tripod in the snow and the daft sheep that were trying to escape while he balanced on the gate.  And, we can tell you his name, point out the track across the field he takes to get to us and the fact that it turns out he taught one of my friends at school.  Now you start to get our USP - and we can do that for all our products.

I was taught a long time ago by a fantastic PR guru the importance of connection, but didn't realise the importance of this till now.  People buy from people and love being able to chat and meet the makers.  We have a really unique service because we can say 'hang on, I'll call and see if they're in and able to pop down for a chat' when the customer asks 'is it possible to make that slightly bigger?'.  And while the customer goes across to the cafe for a coffee, the maker will trundle down to meet them.  Now, that's customer service by the Hippos!

The other thing that comes back to us loud and clear and on a regular basis is that our crafters love meeting up with each other, they like being part of the Hippo family as we have now become.  Our last craft fair on Sunday was full of hugs and 'how lovely to see you again' along with the err bribery of cake so that I would put people next to each other! We seem to be gaining a really fabulous bunch of happy makers that all share, get along really well and the amount of pitching in for gazebos by committee is fantastic. 

We see these building blocks as more important than the till receipts.  Get the foundations right, create a happy experience for everyone and people will come back for the next story - and they do! We have a real core of returning shoppers now eager to see what new stuff has been made.  They have a sit, and then tell us stories they know and the spider web of connections is becoming so interwoven that it's now a patchwork of people and stories with overlapping seams everywhere.  The day job has shifted - I am now a storyteller of journeys :)

How we stay in business

Our business idea isn't really that complex to follow, and for anyone that wants to replicate it - feel free to borrow our model.  And if you want help setting it up then please get in touch and we can help you become the next Little Hippo Presents :)

What possibly is slightly different from us compared to others is that no one person makes a living from someone else's work.  Our personal income, as with all the other sellers, comes from their own work sold.  All the percentages taken from sales pay for boring things like rent, telephone, bags, stickers and all the other things we need to operate as a retail outlet.

The Hippos are a community of makers, we all want to make our living from what we make but none of us want to take anything away from another maker.  We started from the position of adding up all our bills, working out how much shelf space we could fit in, how many craft fairs were sensible to do in a year then dividing it equally between folk - and that includes our glass.  As makers selling through the shop we also pay shelf space and also pay our sales percentages towards the bills just like other maker in the shop. 

What we now have to sort out is spreading the time and workload a little better, but that will come as we build the business because it is a business.  We do have to be accountable to our customers, our makers, the tax man just the same way as any other business has to.  The difference is we just choose to use any profits made to make the shop stronger, or put on other workshops, or invest in things that help many.

This is basically the model we work off, each element contributes to the whole which spreads the risk, helps the cashflow and stops us getting bored! 

The reason I felt the need to explain was that someone pointed out that it was fair to take a % as we had to make a living and they seemed really impressed that we don't make a living out of other sellers, we make a living by making things that are sold.  Hope that all makes sense, and see you all soon.  Hippo xx

Behold I give you the internet!

For those of you that follow me on Twitter or facebook you will be aware of my err slight rantings at the ineptness of BT over the last few weeks.  And that is probably the understatement of the century :) However, during all the various phone calls and emails to get us up and running I constantly felt as if I were in an episode of the IT Crowd.  For those of you not familiar with it, this is the episode I mean:

Behold, I give you the internet!

Bless em, not sure BT realised at the time but this is how they actually came across to me.  On a more serious note at all times they were reactive, unable to talk to each other or to me effectively.  Just out of morbid curiosity I looked up what communication actually means and this is what I got:

          "Communication (from Latin "communis", meaning to share) is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior."

Interesting! hmm a couple of key words there - share, convey, exchange and information.  So, a company with the word communication in it would quite rightly be expected to convey and share information to a paying customer? Yes? well actually no - this would appear quite difficult for them.  Even the chap who runs their twitter account was laughing at one point when he told me that the team wouldn't be able to see his notes as they had access to different record logs.  So, if they can't communicate with each other it's not really a surprise that they can't communicate with customers who foolishly hand over shiny pennies for a service that as Jen found out - we don't know what it is, we don't know how to find the elders and it is all shrouded in such mystery that we should just be in awe of the fact it happens at all.  To BT I present to you the elders of the miffed customers, you are unable to find us, you are unable to know what we think and you are unable to talk to us - mainly because you don't try very hard!

My teacher comments for this would read

"you have failed to understand the question.  What you have done is interesting and you tried very hard but next time please make sure you read and understand the question before answering it.  Also, you would have got higher marks had you structured your answer to guide the reader through your train of thought as it felt a little disjointed and muddled at times, almost as if you were panicking to reach the word count and at times I was unsure what you were trying to do.  Your links to other material and quotes from others did not support your arguments, and at times contradicted your original statements but good attempt overall" D+

Before and After!

Before ....

our pitiful belongings brought from the Purple Shed, which looked so lost when we first arrived!  It was really odd that everything echoed, and just so lovely to not be bothered by rain anymore cause we're all snuggly and cosy indoors now :)

 And after ...

See what I mean about the vast space we now get to fill?! And it all got filled up in about 8 weeks, which is pretty awesome really considering we work on buttons for pennies!  21 amazing artists and crafters from the area now sell with us and these photos need updating again to be honest as there's even more stuff in there now!

And apologies to all those expecting a giggle at my ranting at BT, that will be posted up tomorrow, Hippo xx



ooh tents at basecamp - hello all!

Ahh, someone turned the light on at the end of the tunnel - thank you xxx

Well, not quite true - several people all put their lights on and made a lovely chain of lights to make a path for me to follow, but best of all it feels like we're holding hands along the path.  The easiest way to describe it you know when it goes dusk and you're not sure whether to put the garden lights on or not?  It's that half light where you can still see, but the details have all gone a little fuzzy round the edges but because you know where things are you don't actually see them anymore? That kind of describes where I am right now.  And because these people are such a diverse bunch all the lights are different shapes and colours and some twinkle. 

There is still a huge mountain to climb, but suddenly it feels like there are loads of little tents appearing at base camp.  And this time I need to explain the route a little better which I fully intend to.  These past couple of weeks have been a wake up call to me too in terms of needing to be much more open about shouting for help, and also being much more assertive in saying 'this is what needs to be done'.  Not in a horrible way, but I have such a clear long term vision for the Hippos and where we will be in five years that it would probably be helpful if I actually told a few people! The cat, whilst a very clever cat, is not in a position to tell you because lets face it you don't offer him tuna on a regular basis :)

Sadly for reasons of top secrecy I can't actually reveal the next stage of the cunning plan - itching to, but can't due to boring legal stuff that has to be sorted out first.  However, if all the phone calls necessary next week are helpful I should be able to tell you something rather fab, if not err umm ... quickly thinks of something that sounds interesting ...... will come back to you on that one!

The shop's growing up - and so are we

Eek this suddenly turned into a proper business!  Was I asleep when this happened, or just painting things purple?!?  Probably painting knowing me.

Well, what's been happening in the land of the Hippo - yet again I moved the shop around, keep getting told off that things never stay in the same place.  However, it now feels like a proper shop and I feel like it's a proper business.  It actually feels more like yes, we are doing this for real rather than err would you like to see some bits we made? Also, I've got over the initial crafters dread of apologising for pricing stuff - you know that horrible thing where you know that your stuff is worth money because you've seen it in catalogues or shops elsewhere but because you made it there's that stumbling moment of err yes please, if you don't mind it's £xx? To all those crafters out there struggling with that bit, believe me it's quite liberating when you actually cross that threshold.  You suddenly wake up to the fact that actually what you made is good, it is worth money and you don't have to apologise.  Just because you grew up making things that maybe your friends didn't understand or in my case Dad saying 'what on earth you doing this time Ange?' doesn't mean that your creativity and ideas are worthless. 

The other thing I've discovered is that there will always be those that in order for them to succeed they have to push others down.  It's hilarious when customers actually pop in and tell me this about other sellers - slightly awkward but still very funny.  However, we don't need to do that because we know where our shortcomings are and working hard to get around them.  A friend always described that as moving from the unconscious incompetent to the conscious incompetent then to unconscious competent and finally to the conscious competent.  I like that phrase as it sums it up quite nicely. You move from the ooh we have a shop to the eek we have a shop and then to the oh we're selling at the shop to the ahh now I know why we're selling at the shop.  Apologies if you are now all oohing and ahhing as if at a fireworks display!

I love this journey, and can't wait to see where it takes us next - and thank you to all those that have joined the rollercoaster that is the Hippo brain, and apologies if your seatbelt is a little loose :)

Vistaprint business cards - and how to save money

Are you one of the army of small business users that want to get cheaper business cards but using loads of images which means vistaprint gets expensive? Aha, we have a cunning plan!

This is a copy of my business card:

But, how many images or text boxes can you see?

Hippo logo, Hippo background, 4 text boxes at least? All of which vistaprint charge for ...

nope, there is only one!

How to get round their pricing:

open publisher or photoshop, drop all the images and text boxes you want and play around till you're happy with the finished result and then save it as a SINGLE IMAGE which you upload to their site.  You are then charged for only 1 upload because it only recognises 1 graphic and saves you loads!!

Happy playing :)

Hippo HQ and other stuff!

It has come to the attention of the small brain that the shop is not doing what was intended!  No ... it clearly has other ideas, and while I was busy painting things purple and other important things it changed into something rather special :)

It has, in fact, become Hippo HQ!

We knew that the site being where it was, and the state of the economy and other sensible things that it was never going to turn us into retail millionaires.  However, what we absolutely did not allow for was the people we would find along the way and how much better that made it.

We asked some friends to sell with us in the shop initially out of a sensible business decision but had not realised what lovely friends they would all become.  We set up craft fairs and had not anticipated people popping by to show us what they were planning to sell on the day and also teaching us some of their craft too.  And such a mix too - we've met people from all crafts and walks of life and can't wait to see who turns up next!

Parents - although my mother (the little tinker as my friend calls her now) decided to run away with the float one night also helps out in the shop so I can off and do sensible things.  Ok, not always sensible but does give me some time to do errands (ok, ok, divvying around on facebook!).  Friends that offer to ring round to help get advertising for our next event - admittedly we are going to sit through the Jubilee stuff on telly while drinking bubbly and wearing deeli bopper headgear, err isn't everyone??

But basicially what the small brain has noticed is that Hippo HQ is becoming a rather interesting thing to be involved in, and I love the fact that it evolved organically from the people that support the Hippos.  And now, having read back through what feels like some sort of gushy acceptance speech I will end with the fact that Hippo will probably be careering onto the site tomorrow with yet another 20 bags of stuff for the shop that clearly needed three trips back to the car but was too idle to do that - that leaves you with a more normal image of my daily routine!!

Hippo don't do rules!

Oh well, a few weeks in and I now realise that inadvertently some feathers may have been ruffled at the garden centre ... oops!

When we first arrived to sign our contract there were a few things we needed to be sure on, normal business specific stuff.

Firstly:  the cabin was a dull pale blue so before signing I asked 'can I paint it any colour?' and was told basically to do what I wanted as long as it didn't damage the shed.

Secondly:  can we only have our contract saying we are open 5 days not 6 please because we have to make our own stock and need time to do this - contract changed.

So having sorted these two things which were important to us I merrily got the purple paint out and generally pottered around making it all look pretty and colourful.

Ahh, it would now appear that I am one of the few people that asked to change things because others are sighing and saying 'I love the colour of your cabin, we couldn't change ours'.  Also, because I have always been the type of person that spots a potential problem and tries to do something about it rather than waiting and groaning, it would appear that this is not the done thing either! I have now roped pretty much everyone in to helping create a welcome sign for our part of the site - and now find out (again with sighing) that this was tried years ago and never happened; another oops for just getting on with it!

So, the moral of the story as far as I am concerned - if it's your business, take ownership of it and make sure you are able to do the things that are important to you.  It is business, and it is your business - no-one is going to do it for you and all the groaning in the world doesn't sell more stock.

We openly said that if we couldn't change the contract then there was no point us being there - not from a 'oh be like that' attitude but because if the site rules didn't allow us flexibility to trade then it wasn't the right place for us and we would have looked elsewhere.  But as for expecting me to not paint things purple .... come on, that is not the Hippo way!

Marketing is confusing!

This retail lark is somewhat harder than I first imagined! Ok, so I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park but had not prepared myself for the subtle and hidden aspects of retail and marketing. 

Things the small brain has finally learnt!

It took me a while, because for us recycling is a natural part of who we are.  We have always just thought, oh what can I use that for now? but never specifically put the label of recycling on it.  However, in a retail environment we now realise that we need to.  Just because we know we re-use everything possible why should a customer know this? 

The strangest thing for me was watching people pick up the bottle clocks and not know they were glass or not realise they actually started life as a bottle.  So, we took down 3 coke bottles - normal, flattened and then drilled to show people what we do, and kids love the tactility of this. But then, if you've never seen it why would you know? So, now we realise that we have to signpost people a lot more than we have done up till now.  Also, because we genuinely recycle the bottles to make clocks we never know what we'll have next - and I now know that this can be used to our advantage to remind people that if you don't buy it when you see it we can't guarantee another one later.  What did it for me was selling the Chateauneuf du Pape bottle clock and thinking it will be a long time before I see one of those again.  And again, just because we know this how on earth would a customer know this?  Simple answer is they don't, it's up to us to tell them.  Not in a horrible pushy way, but a genuine we never know what will be made next kind of way.  Hard selling based on half truths is never going to work with us, I'd probably end up looking at the floor and apologising to a customer which is not a good or professional technique!

Apologies to those in the know who probably think I am a right donut brain, but the learning curve is great - ok I wish I'd twigged on some things quicker but that's life and the main thing is to use what you learn not just file it away under err useful, maybe?

So, with that in mind I am off to create some posters for the shop :)