I was really excited to receive an invitation to an Eco Enterprise Workshop on Thursday, hosted by Marks and Spencer. M&S are hugely successful with their Plan A campaign and they are a company which I have always admired for the way they do business, so I jumped at the opportunity to ‘learn from the best’. M&S are, in my opinion, one of Britains best businesses – something which I’ve believed for a long time. I remember at school, my Business Studies teacher using Marks and Spencer for case studies and good examples of “what you should do” and “how to be successful” in business, because she also believed that M&S is a national treasure in ‘Good Business’.

The workshop was hosted by Richard Gillies, Director of Plan A, CSR and Sustainable Business and was attended by five of the Prince’s Trust small businesses at the M&S Head Office in London. For those of you unaware, M&S’ Plan A begun in 2007 and featured 100 commitments concerning how they ran the company and it’s imact on the environment. The commitments fit into the following five pillars: Climate Change, Waste, Natural Resources, Fair Partner and Health and Well Being. As of March 2010, M&S announced that they had extended the original 100 commitments to 180 and added the pillars ‘Involve Customers in Plan A’ and ‘Make Plan A How We Do Business’.

M&S have already proved very successful with Plan A by reaching and achieving many of the commitments they set out with in 2007. Their goal is to become the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015, carbon neutral and sending no waste to landfill by 2012. Impressive targets and I’m confident that given their previous success with Plan A they will succeed. If you want to learn more about Marks and Spencer’s Plan A and their commitments, they are doing all this very openly and in the public eye, so you can read all about it on the Plan A website: http://plana.marksandspencer.com.

The reason for my invitation was that as part of Plan A Fair Partner pillar, M&S works with many charities, organisations and community projects. They invited businesses from the Prince’s Trust Business Programme to learn about the good work that M&S are doing and how to apply green business practises to our own businesses. The five businesses that attended were all very varied with different products, sectors and business age. Ruby Wren Designs was the youngest compared to one (a business which provides recycling bins to offices and businesses) which began in 2001. Although we were all very different, we all agreed that we could make even small changes in our businesses to start making a difference.

Anyone familiar with Ruby Wren Designs knows what an eco-friendly business we are (all our products are made with 100% recycled and fair trade paper, packaged in biodegradable cellophane) so I’ve always felt that we were doing quite well for a very new small business. What inspired me most is something that Richard, the Director of Plan A, said about small changes – that if retailers start making it easy for customers to be more eco-friendly, it will escalate and others will follow. For example, he mentioned that all M&S clothing has been tested to wash at 30 degrees, so now customers are finding they can wash easily at 30degrees meaning washing powder and washing machine manufacturers are now having to follow suit to develop products that will also wash efficiently at 30. If we businesses are making small changes, such as demanding our office supplies are recycled, those other businesses are going to have to do their bit to provide us with that. Small changes will grow into big differences.

It was a very eye-opening and inspiring day. We hear a lot about how bad the current situation is and how bad it will get (the running out of oil and fossil fuels for example) but hearing the true reality of the planet’s future yesterday was incredibly scary. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so doomed about the state of the Earth. But, I believe, that if businesses starts thinking differently about the way they do business, and consumers think differently about their purchases and the companies which they are buying from, the small changes we make will soon add up and pave the way to making a difference. I think we all need to look at how we are living, what we are selling as a business and what we are buying as consumers, and start asking questions. How can we do things differently and what are the easy first things to change. We don’t all have the money to install solar panels, but we can all turn our appliances off standby…

Photo of M&S Waterside from www.e-architect.co.uk.

It feels like ages since I last blogged! For a long time in March, due to personal reasons, I was inactive on Twitter, Facebook, Blogging etc. I won’t go into reasons why, but to have a break was really good and I took time to refocus priorities and regroup ideas. Ruby Wren had a busy time with Mother’s Day and then Easter Cards, and I’m proud to think that lots of lovely people were given a special Ruby Wren card by one of my wonderful customers – it means a lot to think that someone chose a Ruby Card to give at Mother’s Day.

It’s been almost a year since Ruby Wren Designs made our very first card! What started out as a hobby in April of 2009 has grown beyond what I could ever imagine. What a year!! Our Etsy account was registered on 21st April 2009, but it wasn’t until September 2009 when we considered making a business from it, followed shortly after by joining the Prince’s Trust Business Programme and registering as a notonthehighstreet.com partner, all before Christmas 2009.

We’ve also made lots of friends in the last year – Wall Envy Art, Coulson Macleod, Edwina Simone, Polkadots and Blooms, Storeyshop, AnnaRK, Chain of Daisies, Who Ate My Crayons, ToggleUK, SheDraws…and MANY more! All of you Tweeters, fellow NOTHS Partners, Folksy-folk, Etsians – you’re all a wonderful provider of support and company as we all try to grow our small businesses! I remember being told that starting and running your own small business is a very lonely ‘career’, but I’ve found it not to be the case. The handmade community is a lovely one, full of friendly and helpful people. I wonder if other businesses find themselves to feel the same, or whether we just happen to be like-minded people that have come together. Either way, I’m very happy.

At the weekend, our neighbours gathered to celebrate an local ocassion of great importance to us – the start of a permit parking in our very congested area. We had a lovely night and I felt very proud when the subject of my business popped up in conversation. I don’t often get the chance to talk about Ruby Wren – so it surprised me quite a bit when I realised how proud I was when I said “I’m running my own business”. Over the weekend, I also got the opportunity to fill in the Small Business survey being run by those lovely notonthehighstreet.com staff. As I filled it in, it was another moment when I realised that yes, I am running my own business, and things that didn’t used to affect me now do.

As a small business, I do agree that there’s not enough help for us – the bigger the business, it seems, the more they can demand and the better their benefits. How are we, who are just starting out, mostly working in our own homes as “kitchen table businesses”, supposed to grow our businesses when bigger corporations take advantage of us? For example, over the past few years, I’ve had a PO Box from Royal Mail. I went for the most basic, cheapest option – having a PO Box and collecting the mail from it myself. This has slowly gone up a few pounds each year and last year I paid £62.85, which I felt wasn’t unreasonable. I’m not a fan of Royal Mail at all – our postmen are always brilliant, but the corporation itself has a terrible public image when it comes to reliability and I’ve often waited 3-4 weeks for first class mail posted from the UK, to me, in the UK. Imagine my surprise when I got my invoice for the 2010 PO Box payment. From £62.85 in 2009, to £95 in 2010. It makes me wonder what they have done to deserve an extra 50% increase? I imagine that any big business with a PO Box wouldn’t think twice about paying their Royal Mail invoice. But, me as a small business, thinks it’s an outrage that they demand so much. Maybe Royal Mail are just aware that the majority of people with a PO Box are those without a corporate headquarters – ie., us small businesses, working from our homes, and they are taking advantage of that fact. People in that situation have no choice but to pay the huge increase – or publish their home address online for the world to see. Sneaky tactics I’m sure, Royal Mail!

So, all in all, I think that things should be better for small businesses. The small business should pay lower rates, get better discounts, have better opportunities than we do already. The smaller the business, the more help I think should be available for us. If a small business is taken advantage of in regard to bully tactics and pricing, how will they become big businesses? This is all new to me and maybe things are available that I’ve not found out about, but that Royal Mail invoice has really made me mad and is just another example of how these big faceless corporations get away with whatever they want. It reminds me of the times I’ve read about our highstreet shops ripping off designs by independent artists – I won’t name names, but we all know who they are – those huge businesses that copy designs, patterns and drawings they’ve found from artists on Etsy and replicate them for themselves. How are we supposed to compete with that, without the fancy legal team and millions of pounds that they do?

The notonthehighstreet.com survey about small businesses really got me thinking. There are things that are out of our control – such as what help is available from the Government, bully tactics by the large corporations. But, at the end of the day, what we put into our business is up to us. With the right product and hard work, lots of small business have grown and overcome hurdles that face them. Afterall, it’s likely that a big business was once a small business!

I’m very lucky to share my hometown with two special Kettering-based artists, Wall Envy Art run by Louise and Coulson Macleod run by Hannah and her partner Mark. I’ve known Louise since last year when we found each other on Etsy and attended a few fairs together. We’ve since started a little joint project and it’s great to have a like-minded person to bounce ideas and plans off. Twitter introduced us to Hannah of Coulson Macleod who is also based in Kettering and has found success selling super cool artwork to the likes of billionaires and CEOs. Coulson Macleod are celebrating their first birthday today, 4th of March 2010, and have already acheived so much in just a year – Hannah definitely inspires me with her focus and passion!

Last night, the three of us met up for a good long chat, about everything from our products, online venues for selling and twitter, to pricing and press. It was a lovely evening and made me feel very glad I live so near to such talented people. I think people would be surprised to know that Kettering is home to the three of us – working away on our creative projects. I’ve defintely come away with a lot of motivation after meeting with like-minded people.

As well as our ‘Creative Kettering’ meeting yesterday, I also had my latest meeting with my Prince’s Trust business mentor, which also fueled my motivation. For anyone aged 18-30 and thinking of starting a business, or developing your handmade creations into a business, I’d definitely recommend signing up for the Prince’s Trust’s Business Programme. Ruby Wren joined Etsy in April 2009 but it wasn’t until August 31st when everything changed and Ruby Wren went from a hobby to an actual business, and in such a short time I’m overwhelmed with how far it’s come. It just goes to show how quickly things can change and, to quote someone who has always inspired me, “expect the unexpected”. I’m definitely very happy to be doing what I love and know such creative and inspirational people!