This month we are celebrating Sprouts being 4 years old. Wow, I can't quite believe it.
It all hailed from a childhood dream of a garden centre-come-gift shop-come-workshop space-come-butterfly house-come-cafe, which I was reminded about in lockdown. Since I was a teenager, I've had many ideas about starting businesses: from selling vintage earrings on eBay to selling my own illustration work and everything in between. None of these really ever took off, or even if they might have, I got bored - let's blame the ADHD. Sprouts started as a lockdown idea that I finally got my husband Tom on board with, after a string of ideas through our entire relationship that he wasn't sure on. I’m not sure if it was the brilliant summer sun or the boxes and boxes of local cider delivered to our door (thanks Ganley & Naish) or a mixture of the two, but he was up for it. I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass by, so I had absolutely no choice but to naively run full steam ahead and set up a business in a matter of weeks.
Left photo - a box of Ganley & Naish cider in our garden. Right photo - our first ever plant delivery which was delivered to our house in the early hours, very exciting, very scarey, TMI but, I anxiously threw up when it arrived.
I’ve never been particularly good with money, nor do we come from wealthy families, so I think it felt like we had nothing to lose. Starting up a business would shape our future lives in a way we could have never imagined post-covid. The business was started with a £2k plant order on my credit card - refer back to what I said earlier about not being very good with money. From there, we opened an Instagram and Facebook account and started advertising the business and the plants that we could deliver to your door in lockdown across Bristol and Bath with free delivery. Many questionable choices in there, but I’d never say I was a business expert. I’m just a woman from Liverpool, who choose Bristol as her home with her husband, cat and dog, and who would like to be financially stable, one day - something that I don't think me or Tom have ever been in the 30 or so years we have been alive.
Left photo - me and Tom enjoying cocktails in the garden during lockdown. Right photo - me with my first ever bunch of sweet pea flowers, standing in the first and only garden I've had, I grew so many flowers, fruits and veggies in lockdown.
So as we are celebrating four years of Sprouts I thought I'll try and name four things I’m proud of and why. It might take me a while, as I find it really hard to give myself praise or even think of anything when put on the spot - oh look it’s that sneaky ADHD at play again…
Anyway, here goes:
Our Team
The Sprouts team. Wow, what can I say about our team. Rhianna, Ferne, Jazz and Molly are all so committed to Sprouts, and I really, really couldn't do this without this group of fantastic women standing by my side. We all have our passions, strengths, weaknesses and all have different views of what the worst weekly tasks are. I feel like we all pitch in, allowing everyone to play to their own passions and strengths, meaning most of the time we don't have to do the things we don’t enjoy as it’s usually another team member’s strength.
They all go above and beyond, shout about Sprouts and truly believe in our vision for the future with the same excitement, enthusiasm and dedication as myself. I pay the real living wage, and to be honest, I wish I could pay them more and give them all the benefits they could ever imagine - we will get there one day. I know we will, with this incredible team behind me. To the team - you are truly worth your weight in gold, thank you for always going above and beyond, you are appreciated. And I can't forget to shout out to the previous Sprouts members and the part you’ve played in our success. And in shaping me, your inexperienced manager, into who I am today. Thank you, and don’t be a stranger!
The team back in April, Jamie and Nia have since left Sprouts and we have welcomed Jazz to the team and Molly has returned back to Bristol, and therefore Sprouts after a year away.
Our Growth
Over the last four years, we have seen what I would say is incredible growth - not that I know much about business or have anything to compare it to! Since opening our physical shop, we have grown year on year at an average of around 30% a month which I personally think is amazing. We have even been able to push some of our traditionally quieter months up a whooping great 85% with straight up hard work and determination.I have been focusing purely on growth, creating a team I trust wholeheartedly and putting everything I can into making Sprouts a business that supports its employees, customers, and stockists. All this whilst trying to be a calming place to be, mitigate potential negative impacts on the planet, and have stand-out customer support. All of these are always going to be a work in progress, and are never going to be perfect, as we as humans can never be perfect. That’s exactly what humanity needs to understand: move over AI, we gots this.
A big goal of mine for the 4th year of Sprouts, and this may come as a surprise, is to finally pay myself a half decent salary. Since I quit my graphic design job and worked for Sprouts full time, I've been paying myself pennies, I've not paid NI in years and I have no pension. This was to be able to put everything, and I mean everything back into the business to push the growth. This hasn't been easy, far from it in fact, Tom's salary just about covers our modest bills, and we have had to say no to loads of social occasions or put ourselves last for a long time. Our house is in desperate need of renovation after a burst pipe earlier in the year and the plan is that 2025 will be the year to finally see me, this tired but fulfilled director who has worked pretty much everyday since going full-time in 2021, finally work towards her life long goal of becoming financially stable and being able to say yes to more fun life has to offer.
Left photo - our first ever market at Estate of The Arts back in 2020. Right photo - me with our RHS award at Malvern Spring Festival for our winning trade stand earlier this yer.
Our Customers
Wow, how do I even begin? Some of our customers have been with us since the very beginning, and are still customers now. There are many customers who we would now consider friends. There are those who rave about us to anyone that will listen. There are those who come in our shop every week, sometimes multiple times; often we chat, sometimes Sprouts is just a quiet place to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. There are dogs, so many dogs, that now pull their owners in for a tasty treat as they know we give them out, and offer up loads of strokes and fuss for free - do dogs have money anyway? There are the couples who have put all of their faith in me to deliver the planty wedding of their dreams, and trusted me completely even though they never know what to expect until the big day. There are the customers who we have never met, who regularly order from us, who we have got to know through their long loyalty to Sprouts and them tagging us in photos of their orders on socials. There are the local elderly folk, who we disappointed at first when they were hoping we were going to be a greengrocers, who still come in for a chat and a browse and ask how business is, because they think we add character to the area. They have welcomed us with open arms, even though we don’t sell potatoes. There are the other indie businesses we have met on our journey who have become customers, friends, employees and everything in between - you get the rollercoaster of running a business so much, it’s like we are in our own tired indie business owner club that no one else really understands, but we push each other up with every step we take. There are the customers we meet when we are travelling around the country at various events, who quickly become online customers, and when they are close by, even pop into our Bristol shop to see it in person. And there's the new customers, and those who haven’t discovered us yet; we only hope you’ll love us as much as everyone else.
Sprouts simply wouldn’t exist without you, your support and your unwavering passion for supporting indie businesses, lush plants and unique gifts from some of our country's talented creatives. Your loyalty is noticed and it makes us want to be even better, so thanks for giving us life!
Left photo - Sprouts birthday party 2023 with old friends, customers who have become friends and small business pals. Right photo - manically trying to get ready for our opening evening for the shop back in 2021.
Our Future
Well, as you can imagine, if you know me at all, the plans for the future are vast, big, full of choice and probably, possibly maybe full of ‘pie in the sky’ ideas. But I have a hazy dream-like vision of what the future of Sprouts holds, what we could be up to in one, five or even ten years. I would say this is the first time in my life I have ever been able to view the future without feeling anxious about having to make career choices, what-ifs, fulfilment or lack of it, boredom and everything else that comes along with adulting. There are still anxious thoughts (I am human, after all), but I have clarity - albeit fully rosy tinted - that, now I have it, I never want to lose. A vision of what the future holds, how this little business that's taken over my entire life, heart and soul, will influence other people’s lives for the better - and my role to play within that.
You could say I’ve found that little girl inside of me again, who was dreaming of that garden centre, cafe, gift shop, workshop space with butterfly house, (I'm pretty sure there was a bird aviary section and something about yarns and yarns of wool, but we’ll forget that bit). I’ve put her dreams into place for the future of Sprouts, in whatever direction we choose to take the business. Now, I’m not going to go into great detail about our plans, but I will tell you that I cannot imagine doing anything other than Sprouts for the rest of my life.
Even through the hard times, the disapproving chats with family about lack of salary, the discussions of giving up as the finances were too hard, or it didn't feel like I had a grasp of how to get out of many of the lows that you can feel as a business owner. I didn’t once ever think for a moment that giving up Sprouts was an option, and I don’t now. I am here for the long run, Sprouts is here for the long run, this ‘pie in the sky’ idea will become a reality, or we will at least give it a good long hard try. 2024 has been a steep learning curve, but I have learnt so much. I finally don’t feel as if I have no idea what I’m doing: I am a business owner, with a handle on the finances, and a plan for the future.
What a way to celebrate our fourth birthday, with some quiet reflection. Well, actually, I’m scrabbling to get this blog post written hours before it will be posted on our website, as I always have a million things on my to-do list, and writing isn't a strength of mine so I like to put it off until the very last possible minute - another thing I am trying to get better at. But if I only did things I found easy, then Sprouts wouldn't exist, life would be boring and what fun would any of that be?
A snippet of what we have been up to in September. Top Left photo - paint colours for our new mural in the shop. Top Right photo - planters we planted up with tropical plants for Bristol SU in Senate House. Bottom Left photo - a wedding we dressed near Brecon Beacons, Wales. Bottom Right photo - our new mural and gift area in the shop that we are filling with the best uk indie brands just in time for Christmas.
Anyway, if you are local to Bristol and fancy cheers-ing to all the above, we will be having some drinks and cake in the shop on Friday 4th October from 5pm until 8pm, plus there is 20% off everything instore all evening, we would love to see you there! If you aren’t local, look out in your email inbox on Friday evening for a little thank you from us to you.
The biggest thank you ever,
Jessy
