New Year, better year?
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photo showing 2025 calendar for events bookings

Dropping bad habits and shredding the weight....

I’m a lover of food, all things chocolate and can quite easily demolish a raspberry meringue roulade (with melted dark chocolate drizzle) in one sitting by myself armed with a fork and a cup of tea to wash it down.  But while I could stand to trim up a bit I am not talking about a new year health and fitness plan.  I avoid resolutions and honestly I’m not built for running. 

I am talking about starting this year in a better mind set.  I will be shredding the weight of my own insecurities and negative thoughts and being more tough, not picking up the heavy negativity from others.  Its too much to carry, its getting too heavy so this year I am going to, in the words of Elsa…. “Let it GO!!!” 

So here it goes.  Bye Bye 2024!  It was a tough year.  Markets were quiet.  I just could not find my people, my target audience.  I was selling but not enough.  Online sales were few and far between and social media (insert frustrated growling yell here) has been and will continue to be the bane of my life.   I really struggled and started to lose the joy.  The long days and late nights started to be a chore and it was beginning to break me.  Markets and events were getting less and less profitable and although we have an amazing small business community and I have been so lucky to join events where organisers work so hard for us, it just wasn’t fun anymore.  The effort, hard work and disappointments outweighed the rewards.  Times are hard and getting harder.  No one has pennies spare for luxuries and treats.  Each time things looked like they would pick up there was another news report, continued fighting, taxes, fines, doom and gloom and I’m sure we could hear wallets and purses snap shut up and down the country.        

Handcrafted wooden jewellery and wood turned decorative dishes, how ever nice they may be, are not a necessity when you’ve got bills to pay families to feed.   

I usually take a step back from markets while the mini Gs are on summer holidays, but by the summer I was starting to feel burnt out and I really considered shutting up shop. Self doubt had crept back in as well as the impostors syndrome.  I’d been business owner and mum all while having a house extension completed and being on tea duty and keeping track of where I’d packed all our belongings (I’m still missing boxes I’m sure) .  Luckily the green hills of Wales were calling.  Five days, beautiful scenery, wildlife, walks in the woods and food. 

 

Photo of a river waterfall in Wales - Rhandirmwyn

Summer reset with Mr G, the mini G’s, Grandma and Grandad G.  No phones, no internet, no TV just walks in the woods, BBQ family meals and UNO.  Lots and Lots of UNO (Grandad G and Mr G cheat by the way). 

It was great to get away and have a complete reset and refresh.  

It did the trick.  I was rested and ready for the build up to the busiest time of year.  Christmas markets are so much fun.  

 

Up, down, good and bad

The break helped and I was ready for the busy season.  September to December was going to be busy with nearly every weekend booked out at an event or set aside for restocking or being in the workshop making.  Busy days working around school runs, mum duties, sock finding and the inevitable germ fest that finds its way home from school at the most inconvenient times.  I can sleep later, after all that’s what the week between Christmas and New Year is for right?  You feast for Christmas dinner, snack on left overs and then hibernate for a few days when the exhaustion finally catches up with you.

After a quiet year it looked like things were picking up.  It looked like I was going to be able to balance out the quieter months.  I actually had my second best weekend of all time at Tissington Craft Fairs in October, my favourite pieces were sold. People were getting in the mood and thinking about buying gifts.  

Unfortunately though my high wasn’t long lasting.  Despite the fantastic efforts of the event organisers foot fall was well down across all the markets or people were just not buying.  They were waiting, holding on to their money, being more careful with their purchases.  I get it, I was there too, no spare pennies for treats and trimming down my Christmas present list.  You know its bad though and times are tough when food vendors don’t sell out and there’s cakes and cookies left!

This all combined with the Great British weather, which had been pants for a good chunk of the year hasn’t helped at all.  Nothing puts a downer on your day like rain and we had lots of rain!  We’ve had high winds, ice and snow, floods, more rain and more floods.  It got to the point where only the hard core market goers were out.  You know the ones.  Hell or high water these guys are going and they’ve got their big coats, welly boots and thermos with the just in case cuppa for when it gets really cold and wet.  Many a market was finishing early or cancelled, thankfully before damage was done but I know some stall holders who weren’t so lucky.

The silver lining though is that all the small businesses I know are in the same boat.  It wasn’t just me struggling.  We all were having quiet times, well behind where we have been in previous years.  We had the odd good day but on the whole we were all struggling.   It doesn’t help much on the day and its an odd thing to be happy about but it wasn’t anything I was doing wrong.  We were in it together.  A small business community trying our best.

So what's next? To close or not to close...?

I didn’t finish the market season well at all.  I was well behind where I needed to be and then I had to make the tough decision to cancel my remaining markets (that weren’t called off for bad weather) because life chucked a couple of hurdles at me and family come first and I needed to be here.     

2025 will be my fifth year as a business.  It feels like I’m starting again from scratch but I am determined to carry on with positivity.  I’m starting the new year with custom orders and requests.  I have already booked in markets for the year.  I’ll be returning to some of my favourite markets, venturing out to new venues and will be planning on bigger and better things.

CG WOODCRAFTS will be carrying on.   I will be still making my pyrography and woodturning.  

I will get a handle on social media.  I have plans, I have new ideas and the drive (some might say pig headedness and a stubborn streak).  I have my goals for: new bigger lathe, dedicated workshop / she shed, drive more traffic to the website, get a newsletter up and running. 

In short put on my big girl pants and blummin well get on with it!   

I look forward to seeing you all out and about.  If you see me come and say Hi! Drop in on the website have a nosey and give me follow of social media.  Where you can buy from the small businesses and independent shops.  Visit the markets where can buy direct from the maker and know the story behind the pieces.  If you can’t make it to the markets shop the websites.  Every little bit means the world to small businesses like me. 

 

Thank you muchly 

 

Carrie 

 

CG Woodcrafts

Written By:Carrie Gallimore

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