It’s been a while since my last blog for many reasons, namely private events, farmer’s markets and a musical.
A musical! perhaps that seems random to you but there’s a strong connection between my love of performing and the scone van. Strange as it may seem, my little business is a cake baking theatre. The stage is a nostalgic glimpse at the past. It‘s all about being transported out of the here and now into a little world of doilies and floral crockery. This is similar to my love of performing. I’ve been on stage since I was 16 and couldn’t resist joining the chorus for one of my favourite shows. In the production of Sweet Charity, I was a dancer in the Fandango and the cool 60’s Pompeii nightclub. My children came to see it and said ‘mummy, you knew all the moves. We were really surprised!’ High praise indeed!
Maybe joining the cast was a bit of a stretch at this busy time of year. The business has grown and so, I have less time to spend on everything including social media. I absolutely love my little teashop so perhaps I should just go for it and focus every ounce of energy into it. It means letting go of some things. This must be a dilemma for every small business. What must we sacrifice to keep the marketing momentum moving? perhaps it’s important to keep the creative wheels turning but being in a production, even in the chorus, was time-consuming and exhausting. At what point should I let go of things that take me away from the business? Our time in this world is very short and I’m the kind of person who likes to try everything. I don’t want to feel that experiences are out of reach. Inevitably though, it does mean spreading oneself as thin as a delicious pancake! Are you a small business owner? What do you think? Should all our eggs be collected in one basket? What hobbies do you pursue alongside your business?
The way I see it, my business needs me. We have a lot of followers on Instagram and Facebook but our main business comes from our face to face interactions. The social media gives us a trendy presence and is a place to share new ideas and examples of our tea parties. The photograph above is a great photo taken by the birthday girl who had a tea party for 4 people including my smiling self as a waitress. Going forward, my plan is to show my face in the local area and find those customers who perhaps don’t use Instagram or Facebook but love a trip to a vintage past. That means putting in the time. Maybe it’s time to give up the performing on stage and instead, concentrate on doing one job really well. That being said, I have still put some energy into inventing recipes over the last few weeks – rhubarb and cream scones were a firm favourite at Brightleigh Farm and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed testing out gin and tea cocktails. I’m still working on the perfect cocktail recipe but what I have so far is:
4 parts cold Earl Grey tea
(we brewed some Tealicious Early Grey and then kept it cool in a teapot in the fridge)
2 parts elderflower tonic
1 part gin (I used Gordon's Gin)
Lots of large cubes of ice
Serve your cocktail in vintage glasses from a teapot to delight your guests
Let me know if you try out the recipe or if you find an even better recipe. We’re going to be making this for our tea party bookings this summer. In the meantime, we hope to see you at Ripley Farmer’s Market this Saturday (14th May).
Have a lovely week
X Mel