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Celebrating International Women's Day 2020
In 2016 I wrote a blog for International Women's Day about why I started the business and some of the women out there who have provided inspiration. 4 years on it is time for an update and I ask myself a few questions about why I enjoy running my own business, appreciating that in years gone it was not normal for women to be in paid employment, let alone set up their own commercial enterprise. Under great pressure from my staff (more on this later!) today I am also launching our very own Vlog to share the journey in my own words.
ScotlandShop was founded in 2002 by myself, a native Scot who has travelled and returned home each time with a new appreciation for how lucky we are to live in bonnie Scotland, for our particular area with it's tradition and history in the textiles industry, packed with heritage and an international reputation for quality. The theme for International Women's Day this year is #EachforEqual and I love this - individually we are all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day. I can see my teenage daughter rolling her eyes already, she has already had enough of my "below the line and above the line" lectures. Listen in to future Vlogs if you like the sound of this.
I was surprised, and a little embarrassed, to learn that this International Women's Day has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Prior to this the Socialist Party of America, United Kingdom's Suffragists and Suffragettes, and further groups campaigned for women's equality. I wouldn't call myself a feminist but I certainly don't like to miss out on the opportunity to do anything simply because of my gender. I do not intentionally recruit women but retail and our business does seem to attract more female applicants than male, so we do have a bit of a female bias at ScotlandShop. According to the statistics this is not unusual and women owned businesses do tend to employ more females than males, and have a higher percentage of women in management roles. Check out our Team page if you would like to learn more about the many inspirational women (and our 3 inspirational men) within ScotlandShop and what drew them to our company. Personally I don't care who you are, you just have to be "on the bus", more on this ethos later but basically you need to jump right into our world of tartan and be fully committed to get the most out of working with us,
Only 1 in 3 UK entrepreneurs is female: a gender gap equivalent to 1.1 million missing businesses. (Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, HM Treasury 2019). In 2017, only 5.6% of UK women run their own businesses, compared to 15% of women in Canada, almost 11% of women in the US, and over 9% of women in Australia and the Netherlands.
I am often asked why I started the business. I needed a job, an interesting job that could evolve with me and use my marketing skills. I don't think I could have articulated that at the time but looking back at my terrible employment record of 6-12 months in every job before moving on to find something more exciting I can see it now. I have always loved working, not so keen on the academic, I just love something I can really get my teeth into, an all consuming new project with endless opportunities. Running your own business means you have at least a one new challenge every single day. Actually make that 20!
We live and work in a very rural area in the Scottish Borders and there aren't a huge number of businesses with large numbers of employees. I always hoped I could offer interesting jobs to other people in the area and am proud that this is something we have achieved. One of my long term dreams (along with a ski chalet in the Alps), is to create some kind of academy working closely with the local school, young people and other organisations to provide great basic training opportunities in a practical environment. Now I have written that down you can hold me to it and we will see if in 5 years time we have started that project! This is how I tend to do things, I mention it, then it grows arms and legs, and suddenly we are halfway down the road doing it and there is no turning back. That's how the business started, with only me to make things happen. The great thing now is that I have a team to help me, and that team is growing all the time in numbers but more importantly in confidence and ability. Follow the Vlog and we will share a few stories of these brilliant people.
Today I would like to celebrate the brilliant and hard working women, who make ScotlandShop who we are, both inside and outside of our business. From the longest standing member of the team Sarah who came here 11 years ago to Lillian who started last month. If we wait until the time is right to do something, we will never do it. Women, what are you waiting for?
