So, how did we get here, really? I love that you're thinking forward and even identified not to make the same mistakes over and over. What were they, again? How viable is the business? I watch retail spots close and re-open as something else all the time, in Arizona and in Illinois. Someone thinks brick-and-mortar is worth it. Where are the customers? Even amazon is hurting. Tech businesses are laying off people left and right. I guess it's not just brick-and-mortar that's hurting. How are Zuckerberg, Bezos and Musk going to save the world from itself? They're not. "Little guys" like you are. With grit, support, the ability to build loyalty and most importantly, faith. You're fortunate to have the support you do and to be multi-talented. I have faith you'll do the right thing, even if it means walking away.
Trying to find that narrow corridor where this type of business works where others (read: tech companies) do not. You CAN succeed running a brick and mortar retail business, you just have to be extremely careful about cash flow. You also can't get rich (i.e. earn more than $60-70k per year probably?) doing it, unless you do this plus other things. But I would actually love to see some numbers that validate the compensation numbers I'm just guessing at. How much are people in small business actually making and how is that being subsidized? I'll just partner with a university in my free time...
Thank you. Thank you. I run a small bricks and mortar store (or shop as we call them!). I’ve recently launched a website – MelanieJane.co.uk – because of all the reasons you so eloquently listed. I’m a single lady in my early sixties so no partner or parental support available! It’s exactly the same here. I shall read the links you provided as I need something to spur me on!
That is really hard, I don't know how you make it work! It would be interesting to examine the differences between the U.K. system and U.S. in terms of shop ownership and support. Don't even get me started on how I wouldn't have health care unless I was married to someone who gets it through their job!
We are very lucky to have free healthcare with our NHS. We do pay National Insurance as part of our earnings to fund it, but it’s ‘free at the point of use’ to everyone. Similarly over 60s don’t pay for medications on prescription.
I have bootstrapped the shop from day one, no borrowing was my golden rule. I don’t have staff, just a freelance bookkeeper every month who makes sure everything goes onto Xero so I have a snapshot of the finances every day. Plus she has saved me a fortune in income tax!
I rebranded in October last year so I could concentrate on my best-selling items. I’m now unashamedly focussed on the over 70s in truth. Hard to reach on social media, but their adult children aren’t. A bit like marketing children’s clothes or dog food!
I don’t have all the answers but my 30+ years in specialist magazine publishing have taught me ‘narrow but deep’ can be a successful strategy. I just have to keep my people-pleasing tendencies in check when you get customers ask for an item I know the MOQ is 24 and they are likely the only ones who will buy one this year!
This was amazing. Thank you for this post. I particularly appreciate your explanation of how you can afford to do this. I’m in a similar boat—running a micro business I feel SO called to, but that does not pay the bills (while my partner takes on that responsibility, for now). And I have felt so ashamed because of it. But how else can it be done? There are individual customers who love my business, but they alone can’t support it. The economy is not built for us. I’m filled with dread when I see closures, like Folia’s, of businesses in my industry that appear so much more successful and established than me. It’s like a gut punch. Thank you for talking about it.
Thank you for commenting this! Because if more people don't speak up and say, "I'm not paying myself here because this type of business can't make enough," it doesn't always mean that we are failing to become six figure entrepreneurs at something. It might mean an entire industry cannot exist without the subsidy of a second income. When that is the case, we have to examine who we are failing to let in because they don't have that privilege. I think of it like pushing back on the whole unpaid internships idea.
Thank you for sharing what so many of us are experiencing and giving others the space to feel validated.
So, how did we get here, really? I love that you're thinking forward and even identified not to make the same mistakes over and over. What were they, again? How viable is the business? I watch retail spots close and re-open as something else all the time, in Arizona and in Illinois. Someone thinks brick-and-mortar is worth it. Where are the customers? Even amazon is hurting. Tech businesses are laying off people left and right. I guess it's not just brick-and-mortar that's hurting. How are Zuckerberg, Bezos and Musk going to save the world from itself? They're not. "Little guys" like you are. With grit, support, the ability to build loyalty and most importantly, faith. You're fortunate to have the support you do and to be multi-talented. I have faith you'll do the right thing, even if it means walking away.
Trying to find that narrow corridor where this type of business works where others (read: tech companies) do not. You CAN succeed running a brick and mortar retail business, you just have to be extremely careful about cash flow. You also can't get rich (i.e. earn more than $60-70k per year probably?) doing it, unless you do this plus other things. But I would actually love to see some numbers that validate the compensation numbers I'm just guessing at. How much are people in small business actually making and how is that being subsidized? I'll just partner with a university in my free time...
Thank you. Thank you. I run a small bricks and mortar store (or shop as we call them!). I’ve recently launched a website – MelanieJane.co.uk – because of all the reasons you so eloquently listed. I’m a single lady in my early sixties so no partner or parental support available! It’s exactly the same here. I shall read the links you provided as I need something to spur me on!
That is really hard, I don't know how you make it work! It would be interesting to examine the differences between the U.K. system and U.S. in terms of shop ownership and support. Don't even get me started on how I wouldn't have health care unless I was married to someone who gets it through their job!
We are very lucky to have free healthcare with our NHS. We do pay National Insurance as part of our earnings to fund it, but it’s ‘free at the point of use’ to everyone. Similarly over 60s don’t pay for medications on prescription.
I have bootstrapped the shop from day one, no borrowing was my golden rule. I don’t have staff, just a freelance bookkeeper every month who makes sure everything goes onto Xero so I have a snapshot of the finances every day. Plus she has saved me a fortune in income tax!
I rebranded in October last year so I could concentrate on my best-selling items. I’m now unashamedly focussed on the over 70s in truth. Hard to reach on social media, but their adult children aren’t. A bit like marketing children’s clothes or dog food!
I don’t have all the answers but my 30+ years in specialist magazine publishing have taught me ‘narrow but deep’ can be a successful strategy. I just have to keep my people-pleasing tendencies in check when you get customers ask for an item I know the MOQ is 24 and they are likely the only ones who will buy one this year!
Lots learned in the past three years.
This was amazing. Thank you for this post. I particularly appreciate your explanation of how you can afford to do this. I’m in a similar boat—running a micro business I feel SO called to, but that does not pay the bills (while my partner takes on that responsibility, for now). And I have felt so ashamed because of it. But how else can it be done? There are individual customers who love my business, but they alone can’t support it. The economy is not built for us. I’m filled with dread when I see closures, like Folia’s, of businesses in my industry that appear so much more successful and established than me. It’s like a gut punch. Thank you for talking about it.
Thank you for commenting this! Because if more people don't speak up and say, "I'm not paying myself here because this type of business can't make enough," it doesn't always mean that we are failing to become six figure entrepreneurs at something. It might mean an entire industry cannot exist without the subsidy of a second income. When that is the case, we have to examine who we are failing to let in because they don't have that privilege. I think of it like pushing back on the whole unpaid internships idea.