As November is approaching the home straight to the end of the month, I’m busier than ever & spending a lot of time thinking. When I have “making sessions” I tend to spend long periods of time in my workshop, (garage!). It’s quite a cold & quiet place in the winter months so it’s very peaceful. Unless of course our dog Mabel is with me, then peace is a work of art! But I do spend a lot of time planning, thinking, contemplating & just generally wondering if I’ll still be doing this next year? 

I didn’t plan to be a candle maker, it just sort of happened. But now I’m here, I really enjoy it. I enjoy the community of small business, cheering others on, banter at markets, chats with people I only know through my shop & online messages from all sorts of people. Whether it’s a customer, fellow seller or just an enquiry, small business is about people & the relationships & bonds we form with each other. 

There isn’t that sort of community in large scale retail, & whilst you may get a phenomenal range of choice, I don’t think you will ever get the same level of personal care you get with small business. You may get service, guarantees, a good price etc etc but you will not get individuality, uniqueness & personal attention from someone who genuinely understands how hard earned your money is. 

Small business owners understand whole heartedly how much you graft to earn your money, because we do exactly the same, whilst trying to make it look, fun, creative & appealing online. I do fail here at times, because social media is not my strong point & so much of my sakes are generated there. But I’m always will ing to give it a go & to make use of a few clever apps, (inserts winking smiley face here!).

I suppose what I’m rambling on about is, when you come to shop this “silly season” think about what you’d like to buy. Think about how hard you worked for your money & how you want to spend it. Most of us want to purchase meaningful gifts that make the recipient happy & are memorable for them. That’s why carefully considered, less commercial purchases are better than any immensely over inflated sale from a huge retailer. 

And for the record, yes, we genuinely do, have a little “happy dance” with every order. 

Thanks so much for reading. 

Lisa ~ Tales from the Workshop.

15/11/2023

#shopsmall #shopsmart #colourfriday #supportsmall #supportlocal