tight as a gnat's...

business is picking up but NOT ENOUGH!!!


ok, i'll pipe down, but it's a tough time. we've gone into overload on offers. 10% off here, 15% off there, now a prize draw, next a loyalty card... but that's retail life. what i'm realising is that there is a reason certain 3 and 4 letter high street brands can offer these prices all the time: because their inital prices are so pumped up.

those 3-letter and 4-letter clothing retailers, pump up their prices, so they can appear to offer great deals. we won't do that (i'd say we can't but we could... however, we won't!). but we also have far better clothing, so the gloves are off... we had a member of staff of the 4-letter retailer in the shop in mid-winter who said that their own winter jacket was rubbish, so she came to us. we didn't see her for months until she came back this week to buy some more of our outdoor clothing. that, hopefully, speaks volumes. brill!!

and that's what we're about. good quality, practical clothing that's fun, funky, cool and brilliant value for money. i'll not shy away, didriksons and maxomorra offer outstanding value for money. no, they're not the cheapest but then you can buy cheap and buy twice or buy what we've hand-picked and hand it on to the next child/ cousin/ friend... and the next... and...

we don't just believe in our clothing, we love it. pass it on, they'll thank you ;-) www.funkyrascal.co.uk

motivation

a little over 6 months ago, i thoroughly resented my working day stretching to 12 hours, sometimes more. today, i got into the shop at 9.15am and left at a little after 8.30pm and walked home feeling overjoyed. why?

in fact, i was thinking about work from the moment i woke and i'm still doing so now. i'll continue to think about it, make notes (mental or otherwise), read about it and make decisions until i got to bed at around midnight. and do you know what? i'm STILL not getting paid ;-) well, we're not getting paid but that's not the point.

the point is that despite the almost incessent requirement to think about our business in one regard or another, i'm happy to do so. and the reason is that i can see what that will bring. not a lot, financially, in the short-term but in the mid- and long-term i can really see where this "project" is going. it will bring us financial "comfort" but much more than that, it will bring us far greater happiness as 4 people and a cat :-)

it's more than just a project, obviously. this is our future. however, we're trying something new and we're priviledged to be able to do so, i realise that. i now take liam to nursery school in the morning on his scooter. we talk about the plants, flowers, slugs, birds.... that we see on the way. i didn't get that when i drove furiously to work 20 miles away (ok, i enjoyed the cross country drive in my little car). however, i can now enjoy my commute in a way that i think most people simply can't imagine. if liam wants to stop and look at a caterpillar, we do it. if we want to look at all the new azalea blossoms in someone's garden, we do. and then i get to work...

how can you fail to arrive at work enlivened when that has been your commute? we'll take a salary one day soon but in the meantime, i take my recompense in being able to live my life in, i think, the way i'd always wanted to. and that means a lot.