The Truth About Small Business Ownership In the UK

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Ok, first of all, let me tell you that I'm writing this blog after six hours on the phone to Companies House and Gov.UK today alone, so the content might be fuelled by frustration, caffeine and the need to express myself through varying degrees of profanity... but, we thought this would be an interesting post showing just a few highs and lows of #smallbusiness ownership in the UK. Now, this is solely based on our experience and #business and I'm sure other people will have different highs, lows, hints and tips for anyone thinking business ownership and running might be for them.

That's lesson number one, every business and business owner if different, speak to them, learn from them and whilst healthy competition in business is good, let's remember, as the 'little guy' (and this is what small business is compared to corporate settings or the big dogs, however, that doesn't diminish impact or importance), nine times out of ten, we all want the same outcome, a business which makes just enough (and this is relative to #lifestyle...) doing something we're passionate about with freedom to (eventually) balance our valuable time so we can live life too. We've come across too many small business owners who don't seem to have 'mutual support' in their vocabulary. It's important to say this mutual support will only come with mutual respect though!

Now, that balance of work and life is hard to find, especially in the initial stages, which for us, we're still in. When we launched Evans & Moose in 2020 we were still #employed elsewhere and in the throws of a worldwide pandemic with no start up funds. Having relocated and #renovated our current farm, we are only now full steam into business. I've seen some reels recently of people spinning around on a chair demonstrating the many roles they take on in their business (you know the one, we know you've seen it when you're having a cheeky doom scroll on Instagram) and honestly, I've not seen anything more accurate for a while. From product photographer and content creator to cashflows and customer support, unless you outsource (good luck with that), the experience on your CV just got a real boost with everything else you can now add to it. On that note, as a business owner (if all goes to plan), you may never need to send a CV again! But honestly, for us not having your life dictated by someone else, someone who in some workplaces you may never even meet is beyond worth it.

Something else to be aware of if you're thinking of going into the small biz life in the UK is that you need to be flexible... nope, not 'I can work weekends' flexible, more like I can do the splits flexible because the amount of hoops you have to jump through for HMRC, Companies House etc requires some serious athletic capabilities. I refer you back to the first part of this blog post... Six hours on the phone today, five hours two weeks ago and numerous emails all to be told they have a system error... What I mean to say is, sometimes it can feel like running the business is getting in the way of doing the business and whilst that's not nice and can feel overwhelming, it's OK, most people experience that and we've been assured it will iron itself out eventually. Get yourself a good accountant and they will help you through a lot of this.

Now let's talk support. Again, going off our experience you fall into one of two categories, one is that your friends and family are the loyalist of supporters, sharing and engaging with content, buying for friends/family and generally spreading the word far and wide. Or you might be on the opposite side of the scale, when friends and family still act like what you're doing is a hobby or phase, which is tough. Either way I promise you, you and your small business will find it's people, get your name out there, engage with others who are like minded and you'll find them!

All of that might seem pretty damning, and if we're honest the UK isn't the most encouraging environment to run or nurture a small business but if you find something you are genuinely passionate about, stay willing to learn whilst respecting other people's hard work and are adaptable in business model, there is genuinely no reason you can't be your own boss too. Yes, we're incredibly busy and haven't had the money or time for a proper holiday in over a decade but honestly, we're creating a calmer, more considered life we won't need a holiday from. We're not only seeing our husband, wife or partner for a couple of hours a day, instead we're sharing in the creation of our lives from the ground up. Yes, owning a business is tying but it's also incredibly freeing. We enjoy all our meals because it's not crammed into a half hour lunch break, sat at a desk, flooded with artificial light... It might be crammed into ten minutes sat in the cab of a tractor with a dog trying to steal the last of your sandwich or even abandoned completely because you need to make it to the post office in time to ship the last batch of orders... but there's something so refreshing knowing that's of your own doing.

Also, that first order feeling or booking? So good! Scary and daunting, it makes everything suddenly seem real but so worth it. Knowing your 'little' dream business has helped someone and to them there was nothing 'little' about it. I've seen the joy, sense of accomplishment and freedom people has gained from our floristry workshops and the excitement of purchasing our products, it's a great feeling.

We're by no means small business gurus and we're still at the start of our #business journey. This post is, as we've said, based on our experiences and our lifestyle business which has a variety of different threads. But we are all for people following their dreams (cheesy I know) so, if we can help in any way or you have any questions feel free to reach out.

Right, I think I might go and get that coffee I was craving when I got off the phone after my on hold marathon...