Hello and Happy Valentines.
I saw this image on instagram and wondered if it would be a good starting point for a blog, so here goes…
Stop Doubting yourself…
Running a small business is one of the most challenging things I have ever done and it needs looking after in a similar way to your mental health so when I saw this post it struck a chord. Doubt is definitely prolific when you set up a business, will it work, will people like us, will we manage to pay everyone this month, and so on. But as you become experienced you start to realise that you can’t second guess people and that the only thing you can do is your best and what you love and hope people like it as much as you do.
Worry a Little Less…
When I first started this business we used to try and rotate everything across different days and times and it was an organisational nightmare. I still get voices in my head “what if the people who want to learn crochet can’t make monday evening? will we still get enough people?” This worrying just tires you. Now we do our best to offer as much choice as we can without giving ourselves ulcers and wasting time making things too complex.
Make Some Me Time…
This is one of the things our business is all about and yet for the first 6 years of running it – I forgot about me time for me! I was too busy focusing on making us the best that we could be and allowed the business to envelop me to the point of suffocation where the business and me were indistinguishable. I think this happens to lots of people for many reasons and one of the aims of our studio is to provide time and space for people to get creative and enjoy some time to themselves away from the stresses of daily life.
Be Patient yet Persistent…
Businesses like learning new skills take time to develop. We regularly hear adults getting frustrated sometimes only half an hour in to a ten hour course being hard on themselves because they cannot do it yet. Patience is important in all aspects of life and running a business is definitely one of them it takes time and energy to grow into something successful. Be kind to yourself.
Be thankful…
We are thankful everyday for everyone who has helped us get to where we are today, be that as a customer, an employee, a volunteer or even one of the many many kind people who regularly donate things they no longer need to help support our small not for profit business.
Spend more time with those who make you laugh…
It is a form of laughter that is at the very core of what we do. It’s the proud giggle of a learner when they realise “I made that”. This is why we do it and why we will continue to do it for many years to come.
Sleep like a human (not an owl)…
You may have noticed that in some ways we are doing a little less than we used to. We realised that we were running on empty sometimes which is why we shortened on opening hours for drop ins, doing a few less children’s parties and less events to allow us to focus on being fully awake, alert and perky for you when we are open. After all less is more.
Read…
We have started trying to show you more things that are of value to you on here and through our social media pages. I personally am also trying to read more, although its not going well so far. Although I do think that rereading your favourite books is a great idea.
Visit New Places…
We work really hard to make sure that if visiting somewhere new brings you out in a cold sweat that you will feel comfortable coming to our studio. You can pop in for a look around when we are open Tues, Wed, Fri and Saturdays 10am – 2pm, give us a call, drop us an email. Pop in for our friendly Woolly Wednesday social or just brave our small class sizes in our relaxed and friendly atmosphere for a workshop or a course straight off. Don’t forget everyone else is new too!
Be Happy…
We hope that you enjoy visiting us and learning with us as much as we love nurturing your creativity and having a good old natter with you. With today being valentines today we thought we would share some love with you. We will be picking five of our reviews at random over the next five days and giving out vouchers to the lucky learners. Reviews will be picked from our website, trip adviser, google, facebook and else where so if you want a chance to win make sure you have shared the love with us and then start browsing what to spend your vouchers on if you win.
Happy Creating, Karen x
ps. Thanks to the blurt foundation for the image included in this post. Here is the original source