My, how time flies! And what a difference a week makes! And when it rains it pours! And July storms make people spend more money…wait, no. That is definitely not the case 😉
A month has passed since the last blog post, but I have composed quite a few in my head. Last week, I even went so far as to put words to print, but couldn’t bring myself to post it. I am so glad I didn’t because it was #grumpy! I won’t bore you with the details (whining) but let’s just say a downpour in the middle of a market that didn’t sell out wasn’t a boon to my confidence or attitude.
This past week’s market was back to regularly scheduled awesomeness and success. We had perfect weather and people were happy and we had a few customers seek us out specifically for this or that reason. We updated our signage and added some “street” signs to draw in more customers. We had the start of the dahlias and more zinnias this week, alongside some gorgeous (if pollen laden 😬) sunflowers which combined with our brilliant white limelight hydrangeas to make really beautiful arrangements. Our name is starting to become more recognized and the billboards that went up this week were mentioned several times. To top it all off, we were approached by the market manager and asked if we wanted to move our location to a more prime spot starting next week! In all, the nap taken that afternoon was one filled with sweet dreams of smiling faces and our flowers brightening up so many spaces.
I could stop there and just celebrate the success and move on…but (this won’t surprise you if you know me at all) I can’t let these first highs and lows go by without deriving some lessons and gratitude from them. In brief here are my take aways from our first 6 weeks at market:
Sunshine filled markets are way better than rain filled ones 😉
Rain is essential for basically all the things we do (and in life), so being negative doesn’t do us any good. It also reduces that very cumbersome task of watering the fields, so…
Running a business is an emotional endeavor on top of all the other pieces and parts and needs to be approached as such.
Setting a goal for success is important. Only allowing that one measure to define success is a recipe for failure and heartache.
Setting multiple small goals is critical. I know this and practice it in all the other areas of my life and clearly need to work on applying that principal here.
Sunshine really helps people spend money.
Shared time with friends and colleagues in the garden is precious and fills my cup to overflowing. (If you haven’t tried it yet, we have plenty of opportunities for you to do so.)
Japanese beetles are high on my list of “do not like” and milkweed bugs are pretty terrifying to watch in action. Go ahead and google them, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Market signage is more important than you think. The investment is worth it.
Young people standing behind your table really do attract families and engage people who might otherwise be intimidated. And the chance for those young people to experience selling and representing can’t be measured in dollar signs.
There is comfort in doing all that you can and realizing that there are so many things out of your control. (Thank goodness!) Although, more volunteers pulling weeds sure does put a dent in some of those mitigable areas…🤔
In short, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this discourse with nature and to learn how to be in it rather than in (the illusion of) control of it. The highs and lows and all the middle parts combine to make the most beautiful of tapestries (or bouquets, if we are sticking to theme here.)
Thank you for joining us on this journey! See y’all at market this week!
P.S. I tend to over think things and edit and rehash to the point that it drives me (and those around me crazy) so I have decided to just blog the same way I do everything else- from the heart and in the vernacular that comprises my daily speech. My love languages are truth and kindness with a heavy dose of snark and sarcasm. I also really like emojis 🤷🏽♀️ and hashtags #sorrynotsorry.