I think everyone was relieved to see the first day of Spring. Personally, it brings higher heating bills, treacherous driving and walking conditions, and an all-round depressing white fug around us all. As a smaller business, it can be potentially fatal.
Bad weather affects every aspect of our business, and some more dreadfully than others. We're used to high winds and driving rain cancelling farmers' markets and deterring customers from battling down Green Lane for their scones and coffees. But the snow a fortnight ago forced us to close the business for 5 days, which, in business terms, is potentially financially disastrous.
We all became tense when we saw the forecasts. For those of you who have visited us before, Green Lane is a bit potholed hairy at the best of times:in the bad weather, it becomes a slippery skeleton of a route, which neither our employees nor our customers enjoy. The snow which fell on the Tuesday night and continued on the Wednesday forced the MD to close the business. The cheesemakers and the despatch staff (unbelievably, and amazingly!) managed to make it in to the dairy. Cheese was still made. However, none of the orders could be despatched, as our courier couldn't get to us, and no mail orders could be despatched either. The shop and cafe were closed.
On Thursday, we all attempted to make it to work. We succeeded, but were stopped at the top of Green Lane, as police had declared the road impassable and had closed the road. That day, one of our cheesemakers got his car stuck at 7am, and one of our wholesalers also got his van stuck. Both were towed out by tractors! But we were forced to close again.
On Friday, we cut our losses, and made the decision to close until the Monday. That accounts to five days of lost business.
It's worth mentioning that our location- while beautifully picturesque in the summer- is prohibitive in the cold weather. Our poor over-worked and cash-strapped council cannot justify ploughing and gritting our little country lane. But it's to our detriment.
We were lucky in some ways. No one was injured at their commute attempts, and we have a cheesemaker who lives on the estate, who was able to come in and make cheese from the VATs of milk (we would've lost a huge amount of milk were that not the case).
However. Our cafe is extremely important to our business. We had 5 days without trade at the cafe. We're fortunate in the fact that we can weather the storm to some extent. But bits and pieces of loss around trade, mail orders and retail sales make for an unhappy March!
Winter is winter, and it's just one of those things. We're lucky in the fact that it hasn't been fatal for us. But every time you see an offer, or a reduction from a local business- as long as it isn't a supermarket- try to remember that the business has probably suffered a very difficult few months, and they need to be supported by their customers. Support your small and local business:we need you! In the meantime… let's all celebrate Springtime
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