16/05/2023
This. A 1000 times this! As we’ve started providing feeders as well, I think people forget that we are just people and that we still have day jobs to support us until the business can support itself and then us too.
Because we know this struggle, we’ve been striving to procure our supplies from local small businesses as often as we can. Food, bedding, hardware supplies…. Wherever we can, we try to help support locals instead of filling the corporate pockets of chewy or Amazon.
We are so grateful to our wonderful customers for choosing us. We really enjoy getting to meet the other local reptile keepers and talking about the animals we all work with!
The unfortunate truth of owning and running a business.
Running a business is really hard.
What they don’t tell you is that it can cause severe stress and anxiety, and drains you mentally to the point of depression in even the most laid-back people.
People will talk about you, compare you to others, use you, they will view you as a service and not a person anymore.
Friends and family will expect discounts and people will value you and your hard work less than a big chain store or company.
You have to worry about if you forget to email/message someone back, are they going to think it was on purpose? Did you disappoint them? Will they hold that against you? When in reality you just can’t get to everyone’s messages and emails.
Starting up or Taking over and running a successful business puts incredible strain on personal lives and relationships, many of which fail because there is just often no work-life balance.
You need to be the director, the worker, the admin, the marketing team, the accountant, the cleaner..... All whilst being a parent, a husband or a wife, grandparent, family support, friend...
There’s a reason you don’t see many people succeed in small businesses after 5-10 years. If they are successful they are overwhelmed.
It takes a toll. It’s freaking exhausting. Especially the past couple of years when so much has been out of our control.
Here’s a small reminder that we are just normal people with hectic lives.
Please support small and local businesses. We do it because we love it, despite the stress. It can also be very rewarding at times.
