Manchester calling

On Friday I spent a day on my own, shopping.  Yes, you did read that right, a whole day on my own.  And I didn’t buy a thing. No, you still don’t need glasses.  I just couldn’t find anything that I really wanted, or that I was prepared to pay full price for.  It didn’t matter a jot though, it was just lovely to wander around the shops on my own.  My eyebrows are now in shape, thanks to the Benefit Babes, I’m loving the 50’s arch they do.

The reason I was in Manchester was to meet my gorgeous friend Jenny.  It was so good to catch up that we did our usual and stopped up until 4am chatting again.  She even popped out in a taxi for more wine at one point.  I mean, what were we thinking, two bottles between me, Jen and her boyfriend? Amateurs.

Earlier in the evening we went to Aritsan, Manchester.  In other posts I have talked about the importance of getting service – and the food – right.  Somehow this place missed.  It felt a little like every member of staff had come via the American academy of customer service.  We were asked repeatedly whether we were ok, if we were enjoying our food, if we wanted anything else. Ask us once.  It is sufficient.  Especially when you have to duck around the trendy, but stupidly low HUGE lamps hanging down.  I have a suggestion – raise the lampshades.  Then, should there be something I want I can catch your eye, rather than perform a contortionists act to ask for a drink.  That said. it was a really enjoyable evening.  The food was good, the place looks great, the company was just amazing. Thank you Jenny – next time we wont save it so long.  Oh, and I will try to remember to charge my phone next time.  Mx

 

 

Orders

I am not one for taking orders.  The Dazzler – and all those who have tried before – will tell you that I am inclined to do the exact opposite of any order I’m given.  Many a time my parents have told me I ‘like to make life hard for myself’, and don’t tell them, but they are right.  Sometimes.

Funny how the first few orders for Typical Type haven’t had this effect.  They have made me jump for joy and I can not wait to fulfil them.  We want our customers to get the service we would expect.  And trust me, we expect a lot.

Launching a new business has been more nerve-racking than I thought it might be.  Just because we love our product doesn’t mean others would.  What was once a tiny thought, a few pins on Pinterest and a handful of letters produced in the garage is now a reality.  With no budget we launched.  I won’t lie to you – we needed a second revenue and we thought about the things we could with all the things we already had.  For once being married to a ‘gatherer’ had it’s benefits.  We thought about what we would like to do and what we thought others might like and Typical Type was born.  I am learning all of the time – WordPress, a website, a Facebook page, about markets as well as marketing.  I have sent my self on a crash course – so far it has been two weeks and I have way too much to learn before I feel like I have stopped crashing!

Eventually we decided we had thought about it all too much.  For years we have been talking about setting up a new business and putting it off.  Funny what necessity will do.  So we went for it.  Initially we had quite a few enquiries and then suddenly all went quiet.  We were worried – had we got it all wrong?  Did others not like our work?  Then this week we have taken our first orders.  Some names, some letters and even one whilst I have written this.  We have new products ready to launch any day now too.  I am no fool, I know a few orders wont make us a fully fledged business, but I also know that getting these orders right will make all the difference to our future success.

This time I will be making life easy for myself and listening to those orders.

Mx