The Sweetie Mines News

11th November 2008

Hello and Welcome to the blog mostly about what goes on in the World of The Sweetie Mines.

It occurred to me today that being new in any business is a bit of a gamble. We are in the middle of a recession and it is hard enough to get anywhere today without someone complaining about how much things cost or about how hard it is to keep going in business. Rising costs are making things increasingly difficult.

Most of our customers seem to be concerened with how we are doing in this climate and about how much money we are making etc., I was beginning to feel they were getting a bit personal then it struck me - they are concerned.

I took the shop on under very different circumstances to most people. It was a spur of the moment decision based on the fact that the shop was going to be missed in our area of the world. Lots of people were using it and many were concerned that it stay. Since then of course several shops of a similar nature have opened up or were already open throughout Southampton - aint competition grand...

I based my choice to buy it not on a great business plan or because I had gone into things and I knew it would work etc., Nor did I go into this borrowing money. I had some personal money saved and decided to use this to fund the business so yes I definately have a vested interest in it working.

I chose to work this because I value my community, the place where I live, I value people above all else their ability to rise above hardship and crisis and still come out the other side smiling. And I based it on a personal choice - circumstances had changed within my family group and this fits in with life.

Am I a great mathematician? NO - do I know what I am doing? - Some days not at all. But each day is a challenge and a chance to do more to be better and YES my maths is one of the things improving ...

9th January 2009

Happy New Year and May it be a Sweet Year for us all...

So its the new year and a fresh start which means I have to learn new stuff about how to do the books and make sure I keep the Tax Man happy - which is an important thing to do. We are still in the throws of the recession which shows no sign of getting any better just yet so most of us will have to hang on to hope and ride out the storm making sure that at least in some things we maintain our perspective and remember where we get our money from - The General Public without whom any shop is nothing.

I am hopeful that some things which have started as small ideas will grow and blossom like Spring. The good news is that come March/April we will have the icecreams back in place and have had a conversation with the Slushie company to return our machine all clean and ready to play with for the Summer.

I had my first experience - where I actually noticed - of sticky finger syndrome which has blighted my enthusiasm just a bit, but I am still optimistic that things can be improved upon and that people generally speaking are decent and kind. It meant that where I had taken away a restriction I have had to replace it. Not nice when the weather is cold to have to wait outside - but the few as usual have spoilt things for the many, again a lesson is learned the hard way.

But it is only January and so far for the most part the year has begun well. I wish you well as you go about your lives tc till next time ...

February 4th 2009

A small comment on the weather - it snowed here for the first time in 18 years the upshot of that is the schools got closed which meant for us that on the Monday when we were shut it turns out we could have done a fair bit of business - another lesson learnt. Still we opened on the Tuesday thinking not much would happen and because the schools were still shut we did ok so every day is a bit different. I know if you have a shop on the high street business can be quite steady but because we are a little out of the way things dont quite work the same way. Recently we have also had a lot of very nice people come and say "we keep driving past and noticed you were there and now we have come to see what you have" which is great I hope we get some repeat customers from that or at least a decent report being passed on to friends and family so more new people to meet.

Another small point - I want to thank our regular customers who visit no matter what ... people always wait till their business is on the way out before doing this ... but we are grateful for their custom every time they come in and through this I hope we are making some good friends as well ... Ah well time for work once again tc till next time...

February 26th 2009

What a lovely and frustrating place the world is ... Lovely because people really seem to like the shop and us which is nice and frustrating because in amongst all the niceness a little rain doth fall - still have a pilfering problem - ah well onward and upward ...

We are still being advised by lovely people that we should be open in the mornings before school. I appreciate their thoughts and that they want us to do well. However, because of time constraints and the fact that we have had to drag our children past shops to get to school - which is not easy with a wailing whining child complaining about what they want - and the idea that a big sugar rush before school is not great for the teachers to deal with this is something both Becky and I agree will not happen ... at least for the mean time.

This week is all about the new things. We will be having a few changes around in the shop to accomodate the two ice cream freezers and to make room for the new slushie machine both of which should be in place prior to Easter - we are going with NEW FOREST forICE CREAM and TROPICAL ICE for SLUSHIES - making it a yummy time all round. The Drinks fridge will have to return to its old place behind the door as you enter and temporarily the table will be gone for a while till we are sorted. It is all very exciting especially since neither Becky nor I have a clue about serving either so bear with us while we learn the ropes. We are also hoping to be able to provide take away HOT DRINKS in the near future. These will only be available if there are two of us present in work since we cant be everywhere at once and we both have these things called a life outside of the Sweetie Mines. Thanks for all the nice comments and visitors and keep them coming we really appreciate the feedback. Enjoy Mad March tc till next time ....

17th April 2009

My goodness halfway through April already and the trees are beginning to blossom and flowers are coming out ... its a lovely time of year.

During Mad March I had an idea when I found some interesting stock in one of my wholesalers. The end result of that visit is that for a limited time we have some interesting Marsh Mallow Shapes for adults and since we are an equal opportunities place both Ladies and Gentlemen are catered for. Should this particular item turn out to be popular then in future we will be able to supply goody bags for Stag and Hen Nights it seems like a good and fun idea lets hope it works. They will however remain only for the over 18`s so we may need to check ID before we sell em lol. Still trying to work the kinks(pardon the pun) out of the Hot drinks service we would like to provide over the summer. I am looking for resin tables and chairs so that people can sit outside the shop in comfort while they drink their drinks or eat their ice creams. As usual there is only so much we can do but Becky and I have been joined in our efforts by the lovely Lou who keeps us all in order except on days when there is an R in the month - We are in the business of having fun I love to see the smiles on the childrens faces and on the adults too as they come through the doors and smell the sweet smell from their childhood. At this time I can honestly say I am glad I got into this business - just wait till October when I have to do my taxes though please remind me I said this lol ... till next time...

29th October 2009

Goodness me I cant believe 6 months has gone by since I updated this blog, just goes to show what being busy can do.

So perhaps I was being far-sighted when I wrote the last blog lol the taxman cometh and yes I have to sort myself out luckily we have the able services of Andy Gregory of T D Gregory accountants to thank for not being in a pickle this year.

It has been 6 months filled with ups and downs ... on the upside we have had a lovely response from our customers over several days when we did fundraising for Cancer Charities both Macmillan and Marie Curie gained by this and we thank you for your generosity. As those who are our regular patrons are aware we have had a table and chairs outside for some time and I know it comes as a relief for some to sit down while their children take their time choosing what they want.

The ice cream run is coming to an end at least as far as scoop is concerned but fear not throughout the winter months we are continuing with the ice lollies and New Forest Ice Cream also do a lovely line in puddings. Yummy so we are going to offer these as an alternative so if you fancy something yummy in your tummy over the winter ask to see the selection and we can order these in for you. Their delivery days are Wednesday and Friday so if you order on Tuesday wecan have them with you on Wednesday and on a Thursday by Friday and we can get them with you by the weekend in time for Sunday lunch.

Swiftly following on the heels of Halloween we have the next holiday Christmas upon us and if you come in and order your sweets and ask about what we can do to help make your Christmas a little easier. Advent Calendars and Chocolate Snowmen and the old fashioned Sugar Mice (I remember them) and they come with tails too. If you have something in mind for a Gift basket ask and we will do our best to make them up for you with Sweets you choose from in store. Here is hoping I remember to update a bit more :) Till next time ....

12th November 2009

Well its a year plus a day since this blog started ... some things have changed and somethings as the song says remain the same. Its winter so our customers are racing to beat the dark and get home at night, understandably and we hope to see those people back again when the daylight comes. We have had to have the slushy machine taken away for a while (please dont worry it will be back) it was making the most horrendous noise and needed to have its fan fixed. The upside is we still have hot drinks available including the lovely Aero Hot Chocolate or if you prefer we have the Galaxy mmmm ... We are gearing up towards the Christmas season and have brought in Old Fashioned Sugar Mice with string tails, Chocolate Toffee Logs and we have gift jars and baskets available to fill for your loved ones for presents at reasonable prices ... we know its hard out there in the real world and so all our gifts are priced accordingly. All orders for Advent Callendars and so forth please let them be in before the 2nd week in December so they are ready for collection before the end of term at school. Till next time ...

29th December 2009

The year is drawing to a close and as it does it seems right to thank all our lovely customers who have visited and helped to support us through the year its not been a year of typically good weather - some days its been downright horrid out there ... but we appreciate every one of you that has made this year a great start in our long-term plans to keep on providing the best service we can to all and thanks for bearing with us as we too learn a lot along the way. For us working in the shop it has been a year of learining how much we didnt know rather than what we did and its not all been a bed of Cadburys Roses shall we say ... but as 2009 draws to a close and 2010 the year of the Metal Tiger approaches we hope to make more small improvments as we go along ...

Happy New Year to all ...

18th March 2010

Wow I cant believe its March already, where has the time gone ... Winter as usual for us was very quiet and in business terms we barely scraped by ... but the good thing was we still had our customers who braved winds, rain, snow and hail to come to our doors and we salute you few because without you we wouldnt be here today and we know that.

A Lot of people who visit us these days find us through the amazing power of "Word of Mouth" ... and so far from what we can gather, they are saying nice things about our shop and about how nice it is to be there ... we already know this is one of the best places to work .... Thanks to Lou we are also now part of Radio, when asked what the best job in the world would be she mentioned us and said about how nice it is to be here. So we are just a little bit famous but with any luck if we persevere and keep on giving good value and service to you our customers, we may just get quite famous which would be really nice... Till next time ...