The Sober Sloth is open for business

So here we are. My first-ever foray into business and the first big step towards opening my very own alcohol-free bar. Some day. After months of preparation, the website is now live, I've been out leafleting this week and I've even had my first customer (that wasn't my mum!) so I guess The Sober Sloth is officially open for business 🥳

First order in the bag!

Well, sort of. For the time being, I'm keeping things real local - like a 5-mile radius local 🤏 - because did you know it's really hard to find a courier that will deliver nationwide without charging extortionate fees? 🙄 Just one of the MANY things I'm learning along the way to becoming an alcohol-free drinks mogul.

Ultimately I think The Apprentice gave me a false sense of how easy it is to start a business. Evidently, there's a lot they cut out... all the market research, creating content, branding, marketing, ordering stock, managing inventory, photography, and running a website (to name a few), all with a very limited budget (and knowledge) - shout out to the Greater Manchester Growth Hub for getting me this far! 🙌 I think they did more for me than school ever did tbh. Tax return? not so much. Identifying an isosceles triangle, labelling a plant cell or talking about my daily routine in French? absolutely. Probably. 🤔 Running any sort of business seems tough at the best of times, but throw a cost of living crisis into the mix when you're just getting started and suddenly you realise that the diving board you're about to leap from is a lot higher up than you first thought. 😬

Am I mad? Perhaps. I mean, I'd need to use both of my three-clawed hands to count out the number of businesses in Ramsbottom alone that have closed down since I started planning my own venture just last year. They were all in the hospitality sector too, so the odds are feeling ever so slightly stacked against me right now.

Levanter was at the heart of Ramsbottom's foodie scene

The world, especially for small businesses feels precarious right now, but I take a lot of strength and inspiration from the fact that these businesses around here existed in the first place. 💪

Out of nothing, overcoming many barriers and enduring for a good many years, bringing endless joy and countless great memories to a small town and everyone that passed through it. Through perseverance, hard work, great ideas and I'm sure a fair bit of luck, they did it. And there are many that are still going I should say! Indeed this is the place that welcomes small and independent businesses and wants to see them succeed. ❤️

Which is why I'm happy to be starting small, just here, with my hand-delivered alcohol-free drinks collections, tailored to the individual tastes of the good folks of the North West- a crowd that is proudly traditional but also embraces innovation and positive change.

And that's exactly what the AF movement is all about, right? Taking something traditional, like a beer or a cocktail, and redefining it, refining it even, removing the booze but ensuring the taste still pops, so that we get full enjoyment without the dodgy side-effects, able to continue to be the best versions of ourselves and connect on a deeper level. 🍻 It's an attractive prospect, but a movement that's had a slow start. Sloth-paced you might say. It's gathering momentum though. And it's a movement I want to see through and be a part of. The odds might be high but I'm standing even higher on the shoulders of small business giants around here. Admittedly everyone is a giant compared to a 1ft tall sloth but that's not the point. I've got the passion and the drive of a sloth at least twice my size so I'm going to give this my best shot! Besides, I've already paid for the website.

If I fail, I learn. If I succeed, we'll have our own permanent, alcohol-free, safe space for creativity, inclusivity and connection to blossom while hangovers fade into oblivion. A space that's long overdue and a goal that will be well worth all of the challenges that lie ahead.

An artist's terrible impression of what The Sober Sloth might look like.

The journey already feels worthwhile, and I'm just getting started. There's an AF revolution coming. You in? ⚔️ The Sober Sloth x 🦥