Have you seen this in the news today?
After my last post, this feels like a very ill-timed slap in the face. Thanks, Royal Mail. My post probably read as the moan it was by most people who stumbled across it. I’m sure they sighed and moved on swiftly. The comments indicate to me that I should probably have expanded more on the difference between being generally busy and being BUSY busy.
I think just about everyone I know is generally busy. I am generally busy. I don’t take well to being sat doing nothing. In fact, I don’t really know how to do that. That’s not what I was getting at all. Neither was me being irritated by people being generally busy. I’m not. I guess everyone has a million things going on in their lives. Maybe I should just shut up and get on with it.
This price hike by the Royal Mail of over 30% on postage prices is another straw on the camel’s back. There is no way I cannot afford to rise my prices. That is surely not going to help an already slow rate of sales. My indie business compadres have been up in arms about it today over on Twitter. We’re all annoyed but the fact of the matter is, until someone comes up with a viable alternative delivery service that doesn’t also cost the earth and take forever to deliver items, then we’re fucked. We’re stuck with Royal Mail. And our customers have to pay the price for their greed. Awesome.
On top of that, one of my main suppliers, to which I have found no viable alternative in 3 years of searching, informed me a couple of weeks ago that they had raised their prices with immediate effect by over 25%. I didn’t pass this cost on to customers at the time, but there’s really no choice but to do so now.
I really hope that this series of blog posts does not turn out to be a diary of a failed business. I’ve gone full circle from last year’s “stop the world I want to get off” feeling to a gameshow-esque “well, I’ve not won but I’ve had a lovely day…”. I want to keep on going and be a success, but life, you are really getting in the way of that right now.
Prices over at Miso Funky will rise on the 1st April. If you need me, I’ll be with my calculator.
Anti Bullshit League 
Just a thought, and you may have ruled this out already, would it be viable to get a number of local indies together and use a courier company. Easier said than done I know but it might make the prices more realistic.
Totally agree with your points by the way. Don’t know how they can put the prices up like this when the service is less than satisfactory.
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That’s something I looked at a few years ago, just locally, but the uptake was zero. It wouldn’t really work for me I don’t think, not least as I now live far away from all my local “colleagues”, but also because my posting days are pretty erratic. Good idea, though. In some communities, I think that’d work really well.
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I thought your last post was honest and clear-headed, and it didn’t read as a moan at all. It’s great to hear another businesswoman thinking out loud about what’s on her mind – especially when it’s someone as well-respected as you are.
Please don’t stop telling it like you see it – whether that’s good news or the hard side of running your own business.
Also, you rock. That is all.
Clare x
PS Sod the Royal Mail. People love your work and those customers won’t mind paying a little extra for shipping if it means getting a lovely package from you in the post. Just saying.
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Thank you so much for your comment – it means a lot to me that someone of your background thinks that, I’m chuffed to read it. It’s hard to know when you’re sharing too much on this topic and what’s not enough. I guess I’ll just keep on keeping on! Also, YOU rock!
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