Opening a small business during the pandemic was the craziest thing we ever did

Hello! 

When you tell people you’re thinking about opening an indie ‘beauty’ business, they’re quick to respond, I’ve always wanted to do that. 

It’s every beauty lover’s fantasy. Yet nothing can quite prepare you for the reality of starting any business, even under normal conditions. 

Throw in the pandemic-that-shall-not be-named devastating supply chains, destroying businesses, and killing hundreds of thousands of your fellow citizens.

See, early last year we put our life savings into building Very Pretty Vegan. 

Built in our hometown of Lichfield Staffordshire we wanted to add to the thriving small business community. 

Then along rolled March and all that initial excitement turned into ‘I’ve made a huge mistake.’

I thought I had crunched the numbers… turns out I hadn’t predicted a global stand-still combined with no childcare and school for the best part of a year. 
 
 

So why do it at all? Why not cut our losses? 

Because we could afford to keep going, maybe. 

Because we could go online, maybe. 

Because I believe that obstacles fuel your fire, maybe.

Deep down I  believe in women embracing their awesome natural beauty and the good that natural products can do for us. 

In a time of social media filters, dodgy influencers, and all sorts of dodgy procedures, this matters more than ever. 

Good things happen outside your comfort-zone.

The good news is our online sales have steadily risen during the pandemic. 

People are waking up to cr*p inside almost all high street beauty products, and are wanting to take care of themselves with products based in nature. 

As the pandemic burned on, we’ve moved to a bigger office space. It turns out that having a nice big space away from the house during a lockdown was an incredible luxury.

We’ve got a snazzy new shipping system and a new storage space for all the products so that our home is actually home again! 

I’ve built tighter bonds with the other indies in the supply chain. Sometimes over success, sometimes over failures, sometimes over a rum and diet coke. 


In truth, like everyone, we’re not out of the woods. We’re still waiting to see if this will work.

 

Remember, good things happen outside your comfort-zone.

Love 💗

Emma x