Hello strangers,
Sorry for the radio silence. As always, I’m juggling many things, and as time goes on, small tasks like newsletters always get pushed to the bottom of the list. I’ve also been trying to have a better work/life balance - HUH!? Cries all small business owners - yep, I bloody well am!
So, before I get into all the doom and gloom of business rates and money, I want to say I’ve got a little bit into surfing and solo holidaying. I went to Morocco on a surf school adventure at the end of April and loved it! It took so much confidence to turn up at the hostel – a 41-year-old, solo-travelling woman – joining a bunch of Spanish 20-year-olds! I had so much fun once I shook off my nerves. We danced around a bonfire, rode horses at sunset, surfed (of course), went to hotel beach parties, and ate all our meals together (cooked by the hostel owners).
In May, I went to France to spend a few days cycling along the Canal du Midi and a few days in Sète. I highly recommend a bit of solo travelling, especially as a woman. It’s really given me a new lease of life and better focus at work.
So… back to the doldrums. It’s so bloody hard, this small business life. So many of you have been getting in touch to ask if we’re keeping Cabot, and in all honesty, I still don’t know! It’s getting really critical again, and I feel like I’m a broken record. My team and I have tried everything. We’ve pivoted and diversified our offerings - coffee and cake, music nights, a plant shop and café area.
We’re writing more blogs with ‘get to know’ interviews and working hard on SEO and e-commerce. I’ve heavily reduced overheads: reduced my staff team, stopped our press feature applications, and cut back on all spending - and yet, we’re still struggling. We just have less footfall, and people are spending less. We’d be okay if we didn’t have this new business rates bill to deal with.
Our business model is to support small-batch makers. This means our profit margins are heavily reduced compared to our competitors and retail neighbours. We have to pay VAT on our turnover but can’t claim it back from the small, non-VAT-registered local businesses we support. We only have 30% of our revenue to cover our operating costs. So, to cover our new business rates bill of approximately £1,800 per month, we need to generate a surplus of sales totalling £6,000 (since £1,800 is 30% of £6,000).
Our cashflow pattern since 2021 has been that we take one-fifth of our income in December alone. This revenue keeps us afloat during the first two ‘quiet’ quarters of the year. However, due to the loss of Discretionary Rate Relief in 2023, we used our ‘Christmas money’ to pay off the outstanding business rates amount, which puts us at a deficit for the coming year. That, plus an increase in our general overheads, low customer spending, and reduced footfall, has created the start of a deficit spiral.
I’ve just applied to Bristol City Council Hardship Fund to see if they can help. I sent them a 7,546-word document… They must LOVE me by now. 😂😂 I should send them a mouse mat, or a mug with my face on it.
I’ve also been speaking to The Bristol Marketing Company, and they said we have lots of ‘low-hanging fruit’ for our e-commerce/online shop to really ‘fly’. I believe them – the online shop is great, we’ve got everything set up, and we have excellent reviews for our shipping service – but I can’t afford their services to work on our website. :(
I’ve signed up to a few webinars this month about funding and loans, so I’m going to look into that before making any big decisions. I really don’t want to do another Crowdfunder or flash sale product campaign.
But back to the good news! Who’s been to our BS5 shop?
It’s doing okay up here on Church Road - I’m sat in the shop now at 6.15pm writing this. I’m spending a small fortune at The Loaf and The Crafty Egg, but it’s great that small businesses support other small businesses on community high streets like this. Sales here are okay - not enough to cover the whole setup of PRIOR if Cabot closes (HR company, website management, security subscriptions, card readers, bank fees, online packing, Royal Mail invoices, and so on), but enough to cover the general building overheads of a smaller shop.
I’ve come to realise that maybe there is never a ‘plain sailing’ month for retail anymore - and maybe there never will be. I just hope it gets a little bit smoother soon and we make it to Christmas.
We’ll be welcoming more makers to our cohort soon, and opening our new gallery space on Church Road this month too! All very exciting things.
Love,
Beck x
P.S. Shop online, visit our shops, and tell your friends! 🙂
P.P.S. Visit The Wave in Bristol. It is incredible!
