I would like to say that opening was a smooth, effortless process, but I am not a liar!
As you get to know us more you will realise that the Hubby and I are polar opposites. I am organised, with an agenda and targets and goals.
Johnny just floats along in what we like to call “Johnny land”. This magical land has no time, or agenda and things just happen when they happen.
I quite admire this in him, I am sure he lives a happier life and he stresses about nothing. But like I point out to him daily!! Some one has to be in the real fu**ing world or we would end up destitute and the kids in care 😂😂.
We work quite well together like this really, we have been married for thirteen years this year and have somehow managed to bumble along and make the chaos of our world work.
However being polar opposites really doesn’t work when you are trying to run a business together 😡❗
Opening week was stressful and it clearly identified the difference in us. It consisted of me shouting a lot (which achieved nothing) and Billy (god love him) frantically trying to do anything he could to help as he was fearful for his sons life 😂. But we got there and were welcomed by the most loveliest guests.
All this was made even more difficult by opening week coinciding with our Lollipops birthday and we did contemplate scaling back her elaborate plans for celebration. But then we remembered! If the campsite reduces the time we have with our kids, then we have lost site of what it was all about.
I don’t mind admitting I was sick with nerves. I generally don’t give a sh*t what people think about me, but I do care about what people think about our little site.
I think it’s because I have put my heart and soul into it all. Five years ago I came up with the idea. The men folk thought it was ridiculous “who would want to sleep in that bloody field”, they both commented. But I knew growing up in a town with limited space that the opportunity to just be in the moment, outside with the people you love was so precious.
So I started researching it all and costing it all! Then I had to prepare a business plan (I had no idea), then I had to apply for grant funding, then I had to make decisions about layout, then I had to learn about websites, then social media, then toilets, then pods, then health and safety, then employment law, marketing, policies, booking systems, the list goes on.
I laid awake at night paralysed by the fear of what I had to do next and I broke a lot from the sheer pressure of it all. But I knew deep down somewhere that this was the path for us. We had no other option, we had no money to employ someone to do it all for us. I just had to learn and learn quickly
We got approached a lot in those early days but companies that wanted to franchise us or buy us. Although the offer was tempting I stayed true to what I wanted and that was to build a community that liked us for being us.
So I guess that’s why I get nervous because it means something and that’s why ever little compliment, every little review or kind words really does go straight to my heart and helps keep those nerves at bay.
