Happy one-month birthday!

On Monday 8th September, CCCK was officially one month old. On Monday 8th September, we also had our new lightbox installed, some locks mended and all our skanky eBay furniture steamcleaned to stop our customers from having allergic reactions whenever they sat down. Amidst all the chaos of locks, electrical installations and steam, I sat and thought about what I've learned in the last month. I came out with two lists.

Things I have learned about business:

• Everything you try to do that involves technology will take at least twice as long as you expect. No matter how many websites you have created, there will always be something special about this one that will prevent it going up on time.
  
• The power of word-of-mouth advertising is truly phenomenal. Even though I still haven't finished the website or bought any advertising, I have still managed to build up a mailing list of almost 400 people. Thank you, thank you, thank you to 'Merlot' from Ravelry, who put up a note on our first day of trading telling people that we were open for business.
  
• No matter how much stock I buy, there will always be someone who wants something that I don't have. Developing an ordering system has probably been the smartest thing I have done so far. Now if I could only work out some way to shorten the lead time for Rowan orders...
  
• Create a compelling vision of where your business is headed, share it with your staff, then let them run with it. They will come up with ideas that you would never think of in a million years, and they will back them 110%. Let them grow and watch your business grow with them.

Things I have learned about my customers!

• There are people out there whose creativity absolutely brings me to my knees in awe! Since I started this shop, I have seen more amazing pieces of textile art and craftwork that I could ever imagine. I look forward to seeing many more in future!
  
• There are other people in this world who squeal with excitement when Rowan releases a new fibre and who can admire a finished project in a new yarn for hours.
  
• There are other people in this world who, after admiring a finished project in a new yarn, go out and buy enough of it to knit a jumper, even though they already have five or six projects on the go.

By Tuesday, my locks were fixed, the furniture was dry, and I proudly turned on my new sign, before heading off to a well-earned one-month-birthday dinner with my friends. Being a wool shop owner has been a wonderful journey so far - hanging out to see what the next month brings!