BLOG – 35 YEARS AGO BLOG 4

The first three years of Glass Creations was a very steep learning curve for me in experiencing people both as customers and as supporters. One supporter at the time was Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (now Highlands and Islands Enterprise)who “gave” us a grant and I am not sure the term “gave” was accurate. The money went to buy a sandblaster which meant I could create glassware with a frosty surface and these items were meant to be more attractive and thus sell well. Trouble was the cost of making so called frosty glassware when compared to the equivalent clear glass items did not warrant the effort and eventually, I worked out I was losing at least £2 per item on every sale. Still, I had the grant, so it didn’t really cost!

Another supporter in the early days was my bank manager who agreed to a planned overdraft to help our cash flow. Of course, the interest rate was ignored by us and so we missed the cost of this financial safety net. The manager did not agree to any overdraft facilities until he visited the studio and one evening in entered as I was making a glass dragon. He stayed for forty-five minutes intently observing every move. Finally, as I finished, he said, “Yep you can have your overdraft OK now”!

We were supported by the local press as I am now. They agreed to publish free stories on the progress of “Glass Creations.” Not really “free” of course as any publishing of news was dependent on the fact that we would take out and pay for adverts. Tourist guides were similarly driven in obtaining adverts by promisi9ng companies’ “free” publicity.

Being agreeable to the paymaster, any paymaster did feel like being in bribed but one has to do what it takes to keep things moving. Hence, I agreed to attending a course on how to act at craft fayres. These were not just any old craft fayres but huge national events and in addition there were international trade fayres where buyers bought”BIG”!.