“You want to do what??!”
…Was the general response I got in March 2023 when I first proposed – in true midlife-crisis, empty-nest style – that I wanted to give up my well-paid, secure corporate job of 20 years and buy a wool shop in the Cotswolds. But after a few visits to The Bourton Basket (as it was called then) my heart was set and by July 2023 the keys were in my eager paws.
So hello from the new owner of Bourton Yarn Basket! The insertion of ‘yarn’ in the shop name reflects a re-focus on my True Love yarn and avoids confusion (online and IRL) about what exactly the shop sells (I have been asked if I sell baskets).
It’s been a whirlwind first summer and Christmas season and I’ve been on a steep retail learning curve but some January downtime has given me the opportunity to finally focus on rebuilding the shop website and launching some social media, including this blog.
So what have I learnt in the past six months…?
- Bricks and mortar retail sounds like a really simple concept – offer great products that people want at a realistic price point. But uhnh, it’s so much more complex than that…!
- Customer interaction is the biggest joy of the job – from two minute sales transactions with international visitors to the in-depth conversations with craft-passionate individuals and longer chinwags with my lovely regulars and locals. Craft people tend to be nice people – just genuine and passionate about their hobby and nice.
- Being a one-woman, self-employed business person can be a lonely place in the quiet seasons. Bourton is a very seasonal village – crazy busy in the summer months and spooky quiet in winter – and having jumped from an organisation of 6,000 colleagues to ‘just me’ finds me chatting to the plants on very quiet days in the shop. That’s been a mental re-adjustment.
I’ve learnt much more than that of course, but I won’t bore you with it all today, let’s save some.
This month has also seen a little paint job in the shop and a re-jig of the layout. I’m keen to open up the space and create capacity on the lower floor for a large table to be able to host crafty coffees and workshops, so watch this space!
So every month I’ll try and bring a little flavour of Bourton and the Cotswolds to you on this blog. I know lots of visitors to the Cotswolds love it here and return repeatedly – so whether you’re in Brisbane or Baltimore or Bologna, if you can’t get to Bourton I’ll bring Bourton to you.
I’ll also share what’s on my hook and floating my boat this month in a separate ‘On the Hook’ post.
