The New Year always brings a great deal of reflection to our social media pages for businesses and individuals alike. We've always held the mantra 'don't put off until tomorrow what you can start today' and so we won't be making any 2026 resolutions as such. What we will do is take this time to reflect on the resolutions we made last year, and which we will continue into this one!
Conscious Downsizing
To be honest, this has probably been unconsciously in effect earlier than 2025, but this was certainly the year we fully embraced the concept! We are not looking to grow for growth's sake. We are not looking to make headlines with our investment records, or create a legacy so that our name will last beyond our time. We're looking to create a brand which works for us, our employees and our customers. That's how we define success.
We've cut our own hours so that we have more time to pursue personal projects. Life is for living, after all! We all need variety in our lives, and our company has to be sustainable both for the environment and for ourselves.
We've purposely not renewed distribution contracts this year, so that we can focus on our D2C sales. We're not yet at the point where they cover the income, but with every wholesale sale, it just means working more for less. If we sell more, we have to make more (by hand!), and so our decisions about distribution need to reflect what this means for every member of the team.
Having Fun With Our Products
We've certainly never been lacking in the flavour department. For years we've known we have a ridiculously large range of flavours and products for the size of our business. It doesn't make good business sense. We've considered reducing the product range, but never really managed to make the cut.
This year, we went a different direction. We just created for the joy of it. We launched Yule Logs, gift products, hampers and even more varieties of our existing products. We didn't have a strong strategy, we just did it because we were enjoying it, and our customers responded. Our Yule Logs are one of our most successful launches ever, even with our limited preparations.
That's not to say all future product launches won't be more carefully planned, with a little more forethought, but the primary takeaway is this: we need to enjoy the process. Our customers will feel it, and we've got a much better chance at making them a success.
Supporting Local Initiatives
We have always given things a try, and if we've had the budget, we've tried various promotional avenues. These have included trade and consumer shows, magazine advertising, paid social media and giveaways - all to varying results. We've also always given freely to local charities as best we can. This year, we followed our hearts a little more.
We sponsored the Wine Garden of England summer event programme, Tunbridge Wells FanZone and Folly Wildlife Rescue's Calendar. We also expanded our charity collection ranges, with more planned to come. All of these are local initiatives that we were interested in, or cared about personally. Did they provide us with returns? Honestly, no. But the only return we've ever experienced has been on paid ads anyway. At least this way, we felt good about our support, and those initiatives could feel the benefit.
This year, we finally hit our stride with paid social advertising, and so it's certainly going to continue. But we'd also like to continue our promotional spend within local initiatives that mean something to us.
Keeping It In The Family
This year, we had a major change up on our socials. Hanna, the youngest Simpson member joined our ranks and instantly brought her own personal flare to the company. Again, was this a long-term strategy with thought and consideration? No not really, but it instantly felt like the right call, and the response has spoken for itself.
Why? It was authentic. We stopped worrying about what we needed to do, and instead focused on what we wanted to say. The message isn't any different, but the delivery is less constrained.
Writing this, it seems clear that the overarching theme is letting loose, learning to enjoy our work again and not allowing ourselves to get too bogged down by strategy, goals and how we're being perceived. The result: higher customer engagement, satisfaction and dialogue. A happy byproduct is our best ever Christmas D2C sales period, a closer family unit and happier business environment. It goes to show, sometimes we're the only things holding us back! Why wait for tomorrow when you can start enjoying yourself today?
