What a fantastic bank holiday weekend we had at Tatton Park near Knutsford in Cheshire.  We used the space to launch some of our new products, Billy No Mates natural flea treatment (who wouldn't want to buy it with a name like that) and Grizzly salmon oil. 

All the products got a warm welcome, especially the salmon oil and we had sold out by the end of Sunday.  One customer sent an email today saying 'Thank God I've found you!'  Doesn't get any better than that does it?

Lots of pet owners wanted to know more about holistic food, herbal supplements and a natural approach to keeping their pets fighting fit.  So we know we're on the right track.  One lady bent my ear for a good ten minutes on the benefits of my biodegradable cat litter.  I didn't know you could talk about maize litter for that long!

One of our customers had an especially good day when he got hold of one of our hemp tug toys.  He liked it so much he wasn't letting go any time soon, as you can see from this short clip recorded on my phone. 

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Well, that's it for now.  I'm off to do a week's decorating!  Mortgage, mortgage, mortgage.  What're you going to do?

Sorry I have been gone for ages, it's not like I've been slacking, lounging by a pool somewhere hot, under a glorious blue sky while someone plies me with cool drinks and tweaks my sun umbrella a couple of inches every time the sun creeps round a bit.  Although my entire being aches at the very thought.

Heck no, I’ve been wading in mud, sitting in the rain, working to pay the mortgage (I wish my business grew as fast!) and adding groovy new natural products to my online store for all my lovely customers.

But I’ve got to wonder how much better off the business would be if it hadn’t rained so much this summer.



Next time you think of attending an outdoor event, wake up to see it raining and decide to stay in bed with the Sunday papers and a bacon sandwich (and who wouldn’t?) spare a thought for the poor stall holders like me who are eating a poor representation of the same, while shouting at their hard pressed helper across five feet of tent space because the rain is beating SO hard on the roof we can’t hear ourselves think!

To put it in perspective I estimate that my business is probably a couple of thousand pounds down on what it would’ve been had the weather been set fair this summer.  And that’s just me.  That’s damaging for any small business let alone a fledgling one, wet behind the ears.

The knock-on effect can’t be underestimated either.  My last show was flooded out.  We got to one mile away from the showground the day before, to set up then spent 7 hours getting the last mile because the ground was so waterlogged the road was being used as a car park!

We had rented space in a marquee.  It was under so much water you couldn’t see grass or the bottom of the tent.  We got a refund but let’s just add up the costs:

30 stalls cancelled at £400 each that’s £12k lost.
The B&B we stayed at lost £140 in trade because we went home.
The van hire company lost £100 because we returned the van.
The pub down the road didn’t have the pleasure of our company for dinner every night.
I couldn’t trade at all, that’s anything up to £1000 lost.
It cost me £250 to get there and back and NOT take a penny.

And that’s just little old me.

The effects of this summer’s rain have been devastating for thousands of people.  I’m incredibly lucky, I haven’t been flooded out or lost a loved one through it and I count my blessings. 

But financially, it’s the unseen, quiet losses we don’t give a second thought too as we turn over and snuggle up for a sneaky snooze while the rain hammers on the windows outside which shouldn’t be underestimated.