We’ve been designing since 2005. Through recessions, uncertainty and now bloody Brexit. Some people say it was the worst time to set up a business. But we said otherwise. I’ll tell you some day if we were right.
Every step of the journey to get to this point has involved being flexible and open to change. Adapting to the economic climate or personal events. Being responsive and fast. And change is what this post is all about.
It’s fair to say a lot’s changed since I started this little business from my mum’s dining room table in 2005. I just wanted to make beautiful things. I had an inventors brain. Creatively sparking most of the time. In truth, I set it up because I knew that I needed to work very differently to most people. I’d dealt with depression for my young life and needed something that would work around me. Let me work the hours of the day that I set. I couldn’t see a future of working successfully for someone else. I’d lost or walked out of meaningless jobs during Uni. And knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up the consistency of day to day rat race. Depression doesn’t work like that. But then neither does money.
So the move from the dining room table to my bedroom was a quick one as the business started getting orders and needed space. I moved from my bedroom to my very own home office (spare bedroom). From this spare bedroom, I took on staff. Which has complications when doing it from home. Simon, was working a regular temp job whilst working on Made With Love Designs at 5am-7am and 7pm-11pm. Whilst I worked on it 9-5. I was a 9-5er and he was a 5-9er (and the rest). We could see the potential. We were selling a lot. And making a lot of product. And somehow never having any money left over. We had our first baby girl (who is 10 now) and after outgrowing the home office and the whole house. Creative stuff has a habit of taking over like that. We became partners selling on notonthehighstreet.com and grew with them at the peak of their boom. I made the giant leap to find business premises. At the time this was the scariest committal thing I’ve ever done. A bit like having a ‘proper job’ with so much more responsibility. But also the best thing. And ‘we’ decided that Simon should quit his job (or our security, a regular definite income) and join the business full time. Which even now, after 14 years, means that some months cash flow is tight. Most people don’t know that this is our households full time job. It’s supported us for most of our life together. Can you imagine setting up something like that. You’ll work your socks off for it and you’ll never stop working or thinking about it. But your whole household income depending on a creative business? Dreams, plans, holidays, house buying all dangling by your creative thread. There’s a lot of pressure involved in running this kind of business as a two-some. But also a whole lot of love and freedom and satisfaction knowing that you followed your dream. And you’ll look back and see how you had it all. You just never realised it. You’re always looking ahead.
We’ve had 3 proper offices in total. Moving on from each once we’d outgrown it or needed different. We’ve had 7 members of staff. We’ve had 2 babies. And I’ve had countless bouts of black dog. All the while Made With Love chugs on. It never gives up.
We’ve always been called ‘Made With Love Designs’ which has long been wanted to be changed and re-branded. Time and time again. As we’ve changed as a business the name lingers on. You have to remember I was 21 when I set this up and the internet was like new. No other Made With Love’s existed. Since then everybody wants a piece of the pie. We’ve set up other businesses, with awesome branding, along the way. Some which have become their own thing. But always always it’s Made With Love Designs. Our customers are truly the most wonderful people who come back time and time again again. Some have been with us from the start. We’ve made things for Royalty. The Queen has had one of our cards. Celebrity. Heads of State. And you + me. And the figures speak for themselves.
So why do I hardly ever talk about this business to people. When I tell people what I do, it rarely involves talking about this. Despite ‘this thing’ being what we spend most of our time on and what pays for our life. And despite being immensely proud of it. I am you know. I do know how great it is. I’m still always embarrassed about it. I feel that it doesn’t reflect me and us and have always set up other businesses to almost compensate for what I feel this one lacks. You’ll notice we hardly ever put our faces to it. And that’s not fair.
The products. Well they keep coming naturally. The ingenious ideas and thoughtful gift products. They still flow. They have to, and thankfully they do, that’s what the people buy. But I’ve neglected the business structure itself, the brand, the thing. It reminds me of my past. A past that I’m always trying my hardest to run away from.
But ‘this thing’ is what’s kept us and we built ‘this thing’ together. Being creative saved me. Maybe it kept me alive. But I never gave ‘this thing’ a second thought. It’s been a very selfish relationship. We mainly take.
So, we’ve come full circle with our business. And this time I’m looking after you dear little business. You’ll be seeing a lot more of ‘me’ (Clare) and ‘us’ (Simon) and ‘behind the scenes’ (what we do – there’s incredible goings on and makings) around here whilst we re-brand the business and give it it’s more up to date look. We’ll still be designing the same brilliant products, in our beautiful studio in the Saddleworth hills (pretty pictures ahoy), with our wonderful creative team (selfie’s ahoy). That stays the same. So does our name. We’ve come to realise that we can’t really change that. The name: our domain name gets a lot of traffic that we don’t want to re-direct and loose any of our search flow. This sleeker look though, allows us to list the products that are super awesome but just didn’t fit with the old look and we would try to find other places to put them. From now on, they’ll be sticking around. And we’ll be wearing pinnies branded with our cool new look. And packing in sleek packaging. We’ll be shouting from the rooftops where we came from and who we are. With our tabards on!
These ideas. All of them, they are us. This is me. And this is us. When all said and done this is my life’s work. And we built ‘this thing’ together. Our things are Made – (artisan made products, made by our hands, human amazing hands, that tell their own story) With Love (More than love. A life force. Everything that we have to give). For you and the most special occasions for the the most important people in your life. We are Made. With. Love.
Thanks for reading. Please tell us what you think? Do you like our new look? Feed back to us – we really love that….
![designer-cards-bouquet-3d-flowers-boxed-mothers-day[1]](https://mwlcards.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/designer-cards-bouquet-3d-flowers-boxed-mothers-day1.jpg?w=500&h=500)
Made With Love Designs 