Anyone who knows me knows not to get me started on my small business rant, I LOVE small businesses, I love everything that they represent, I love what they bring to the community I love the fact that each purchase from a small business directly impacts another human in a positive way..........
Anyone who knows me knows not to get me started on my small business rant, I LOVE small businesses, I love everything that they represent, I love what they bring to the community I love the fact that each purchase from a small business directly impacts another human in a positive way.
I know from personal experience the love, passion, sacrifice, commitment, tears and laughter that go into creating a small business. I truly believe that small business are the heart of every community, I have personally seen the impact that small business have on a street of shops. When I started Zoe and Quinn as a bricks and Mortar store I had NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING I cannot stress that point enough my thought process was I love pretty things, I love handmade things, I love supporting other small makers, I love making new connections.
I wanted to create a space not just to sell things but a space where people could come in and wander, switch off from whatever was going on in their own lives and just meander, not feel any pressure to buy anything, not feel awkward if they picked up something to check the price, just a space to have a chat if they wanted, buy something if they wanted or just wander uninterrupted if they wanted.
When I shut the doors on Zoe and Quinn Bricks and Mortar it broke my heart a little bit even though it was because I was finally pregnant. I had put my heart and soul into that shop. I had renovated it on my own during COVID lockdown while my husband was away in the country working. That shop healed a part of me it gave me a focus during our fertility journey and most importantly it introduced me to a whole other community of people. A community of like minded people, people who became friends, through the shops Instagram I built another community, one that has supported and cheered me on throughout my pregnancy and post pregnancy have encouraged, empathized, laughed and shared their own parenting experiences and small business achievements even though most of these people never followed me for my motherhood content lol.
When I say small business is a community let me give a great example. I worked in childcare for 22 years as a trainee then room leader, 2IC then a director for 12 years, during that time I only worked in 3 different services that a long time to form relationships with people. I walked away from that industry and my last service with 2 people I still talk to, now these are women who went through my whole fertility IVF journey, they worked with me when I had my first miscarriage they were there through all my procedures and they knew I was pregnant even though my pregnancy occurred after leaving and I did not receive a single text or phone call from anyone except the 2 women I’m still friends with. Yet the messages and love and support I receive from the humans I have met since starting Zoe & Quinn is unparallel.
We are in tough times, the cost of living Is exorbitant people cant afford to buy essentials never mind luxury items such as hand made mugs, soy candles, heirloom dolls and dress ups. Small business is definitely feeling the brunt of this, so many have shut their doors not just on shopfronts but on websites as well, If hand made items were charged at how long they actually took to make they would be ridiculously unaffordable and makers realize this. next time you have an important birthday or occasion coming up to buy a gift for check a small business first see what they have to offer I promise you it means more to them then it does to the big guys.
Imagine a world where you walked down the street and there was no one in the shops to wave to? No one who knew your dogs name, No one who remembered that you bought that cookbook for your mum and asks if she liked it, but you were greeted by chain stores with no soul selling you the same old tired products mass produced in another country with no heart or soul to them. Buying from an online store and having them check in that you received your package, receiving mail with your order beautifully wrapped and a handwritten note with a little chocolate, instead of one tiny thing in a huge box that’s just been chucked in there with no care. That’s what a world with no small business looks like. your purchases genuinely make us smile, they allow us to be stay at home mums, they allow us to have a freedom to heal, to fulfill our passions and we appreciate you more then you will ever realize.