Dottymango isn’t a new thing. In fact I first learnt to build my own website back in 2016 when I craved to do something for myself – in my free time. The children were getting bigger and I wasn’t needed as much. I had always wanted to run a shop and work for myself, so I researched and googled and researched some more and found a lovely bunch of wholesalers so I starting buying in! Then I started to get creative!
On 14th September 2016, I pressed “live” and waited for the orders to come flooding in. I was getting anxious – could I keep up with all the orders that were clearly on their way, would I run out of stock??? And then…nothing. A few of my most loyal friends bought from me, but it suddenly dawned on me, how on earth will people know I exist? The world wide web is, so they say, quite big.
Social media filled me with dread, but I done my best and it kept going for a few years until we decided as a family to move to Devon – so all my stock came with us!
Fast forward, four years and I was given the opportunity to rent a tiny shop in the village. So, stock in hand and a quick course in how to wrap some flowers nicely, I turned it into a flower (I am by no means a florist!) and gift shop – I was in my element. Wrapping and selling flowers, giftware and cards made me happy. However, then it became obvious that whilst I had a physical location rather than relying on the internet, I also needed footfall. When the sun was out during school holidays, it was buzzing, but when it was raining in winter, I would become quite downbeat. However, it was my own little gift shop in Devon -what’s not to love?
But then…Covid and what was also obvious is that there was a cost of living crisis on the horizon, this didn’t make for good reading. So, with support from my wonderful Husband, I made a really sad but brave decision to close the shop.
Don’t worry, it’s not all devastation, because despite hitting midlife, I still have a desire to learn, create and do something for myself and I feel totally confident that my experiences in these previous ventures will help me. I now realise that Social Media in business is not a luxury, whilst I am not 21 anymore it is just a matter of putting my big girl’s pants on and getting on with it…
So if you are the creative type who is also hitting midlife – follow along…
Thanks for reading,
Louise.
