14/09/2026
Out of the nine months we've had the doors open at Maggie's, this past month has been the hardest - and we weren't going to be this blunt, honest and vulnerable but actually why not, we're not sharing to be a victim, but sharing because we don't think many people actually see the reality and the inconvenient truth is often the most necessary truth...
We didn't naively come into this venture last December; we researched, we made conservative projections, we found a gap and thought we were doing well with slotting in. But we havent reached one single projection positively. We're still at a loss of four figures month on month. We've made no wage for the past year and reached the end of our reserve tank. We were not expecting huge profits in year one, we're not stupid but getting close to breaking even we envisaged possible.
When we try to put our finger on it, we come back to the same things all of the time.
Our location - but that is what it is.
Our prices - but based upon our fixed costs in the building, price of stock, average transactions per day the prices are what they have to be a bare minimum and we do not sacrifice convenience and low quality over sustainably sourced produce (isn't this one of the problems in the world?) We've also tried lowering prices and this made things worse🙃
Our look from outside - it looks tiny, we know. It's infuriating because it's massive in here. We've tried signs in the window, signs on the door, mentioning it everywhere. We're still not sure on the actual impact it's made.
Us - nearly 100 5-star reviews with the vast majority mentioning how helpful, friendly and genuine we are, plus we know who we are, we know our ethics and what attitude we choose to uphold everyday so without being too big-headed we think we're doing ok as two young adults trying to make a good change in the world. We hope we are anyway...
But now we've heard that comments have been made about us, Kate specifically. It's disheartening when you work really hard to try and create a place that is welcoming, friendly and full of love that isnt working for one reason or another to then have to hear that comments have been made, by other grown adults, which then may go on to impact how you are seen by others when this is quite literally the income that puts food on the table for our children. Is this really the world that we want them to grow up in? No, is a short answer.
The reason we spent so long living "off grid" was to avoid the humans in society who spent so much of their lives making excuses, pulling others down, gossiping and expecting everybody to bow down to their selfish ideology.
We know the battle ultimately does not belong to us but we do want to encourage anybody who does see this, if you have any queries about our life choices or behaviour, to ask us. Because there is nothing we won't share with honesty - whether you like that or not is down to you. But no person is entitled to draw a conclusion without asking the person in question for the facts. We're not embarrassed and both know we have never done anything that could cause a concern to any person just to clarify.
But on a more positive note, we've been so unbelievably blessed since coming here, from both a personal and professional perspective. All of the amazing reviews we've got so far, the ones who don't manage to leave us a review but are extremely complimentary, customers who have turned into some of our most treasured friends, others supporting us with food shopping, clothes shopping, work and prayers. We will never, ever stop being grateful for every single person we have encountered who has changed our life positively and we hope you know that we thank God every day for you.
And for those of you waiting for positive news, Maggie's will be reopening within the next few weeks (date TBC) and we will be going back to the beginning. We want to grow Maggie's as a community space with God and faith at the centre of it all. This whole last month has shown us there is too much darkness without faith, trust, love - and good coffee and chocolate help too.
We know that we are here for a reason and we will never give up. Trial and error. Winging it and hoping for the best has been our story for the past five years and we might've had a lot of tough moments, but we made it out the other side. And all of that glory goes straight to God.
We will see you in a few weeks 🙏
