The best and worst parts of running a small business
When people visit our website or visit us in our South Devon showroom, one of the things we often hear is: “You must love doing this.” And the truth is, we genuinely do. Or "you two never stop" which is also true!
Like any business, it comes with both highs and lows.
This year marks nine years of running Relish, and over that time we’ve learned a huge amount about what it really takes to run a small independent business.
The Best Part? Finding Things Nobody Else Has
Without question, one of the things we both love most is the buying side of the business. Even after nearly a decade, there’s still something incredibly exciting about sourcing stock. Every now and again, you’ll come across something completely unexpected, rare or something too nice to sell & that feeling never really gets old.
Travelling to Source Stock
A huge part of the business revolves around travelling. Whether that’s driving across the UK to collect a single item, spending long days exploring antique centres, or travelling to France to source pieces directly ourselves - sourcing stock has always been incredibly hands-on for us. Some of our favourite memories from running Relish have come from the buying trips themselves. We get to see lots of places (although briefly) and meet all kinds of wonderful people. Of course its tiring and being based in Devon does have its challenges, especially when the roads are extra busy in the summer & the main A379 road home has washed away to the sea (Jan 2026) - but what a place to live and work, with the beach on our doorstop.
Meeting Customers and Seeing Where Pieces End Up
One of the nicest parts of running Relish is knowing that the things we source are going into people’s homes and becoming part of their spaces and lives. We’ve always enjoyed hearing where pieces end up, particularly when customers send us photographs after items have been styled into their homes, or being told they will be on TV or in a film.
Meeting customers face-to-face and seeing how excited people are about pieces they’ve bought isn’t always possible when sending via our reliable courier service or with online orders. But when we do deliver ourselves in person, its such a joy to meet you and see the pieces we have spent time restoring in your homes.
The More Challenging Side of the Business
Of course, running a business isn’t always exciting buying trips and interesting finds. I think i would say one of the biggest challenges over the years has probably been logistics and things that are outside of our control. Postal services - for example, can be incredibly frustrating at times. We spend a huge amount of time carefully packaging items, particularly fragile pieces, and it’s always genuinely disappointing when something arrives damaged despite all of that care and effort. Thankfully this is once in a blue moon, but still upsets us when things get damaged, especially when they are antiques and have survived so many years. Our policy is always a straight refund or exchange in these instances, as we know how disappointing it can be when you’ve been looking forward to unwrapping something special.
Finding Time for Everything
Another challenge is simply finding enough time. People often see the visible side of running a business, but there’s a huge amount happening behind the scenes all the time. As a husband and wife team without staff, all of those responsibilities fall to us. We have many hats at once from social media marketer, order fulfilment, buyers, shop keepers, restorer, photographer, interior designer and everything in between. Oh and if one of you is ill there is no time put aside for this scenario. We are getting better at planning days off & down time as Husband and Wife, but it's not easy when you are both self employed in the same business.
The Boring Side Nobody Talks About
And then there’s the paperwork - Tax. Insurance. Accounts. Policies. Forms. emails. All the things that are necessary but are so so boring!
Looking Back After Nine Years
When we look back over the last nine years, what stands out most is probably the variety of experiences the business has brought us. Running Relish has definitely had its stressful moments, but despite all of that, we still genuinely love what we do & feel like we are in a good rhythm, know what our customers like and know each others strengths & weaknesses!. We thrive on not knowing what we will be doing from day to day, where we will be next & we still get excited about the next find.
Thanks to you all for your support & love for what we do
