Hurray hurray, Seilich is 5 years old!
This month at Seilich, we're celebrating our 5th birthday. getting to this point has always been a bit of a milestone that I wasn't sure we'd ever get to; I remember reading (and a thousand people telling me) that around 50% of companies will fail within the first 5 years of starting up, so reaching the ripe age of five seemed to be like finally getting to safety, when the failure rate falls off. Added to this when we were just two years old, Covid struck, when around 30% of small businesses folded. To have been within the 'less than 5' danger zone at this time made our position feel even more precarious.
Added to the anxiety of running a young business, back in 2018 I became a first time mum, which, although a really joyful time, also came with its own depths of uncertainty and anxiety, making our situation as a family feel even more precarious.
The first few years of Seilich, as I frantically dug, planted and distilled, I always had a very small person attached to me in some way; in rucsacs, slings or often just hanging on. It seemed that both the business and this little life force we re clinging to me for dear life. Five years on though, and just as the business has become a little more secure, so too has our family life, as the little one has blossomed and become more independent.
In the same time, the Seilich meadow has been growing too, from a small 20m x 10m patch on a friends small holding, to an enormous 8 acre field, with another 6 in the making! Year on year we would welcome a new strip of land into the Seilich meadow, carefully preparing the ground and sowing the seeds by hand. It's this continual expansion of meadow habitat that drives us on, knowing that even when times are tough for the business, no matter what we have created this amazing space for nature that will endure!
Over the past five years our workshop has grown too, from the small two litre still I set up in my kitchen back in 2019, to the amazing workshop we have today (that houses a total of four stills, the largest of which is now 80 litres!). Alongside having a dedicated making space, the workshop also houses team Seilich; from Naomi our gardener and Nicole our herbalist to Amara who helps in the meadow over the summer months and Alice who does all things administration. Going from doing everything myself to being part of an incredible team has been one of the biggest leaps we've made as a business, and one of the most rewarding.
Just as the rest of the business has grown, so too has our product line up, from the very first products I made (a line up comprising a bath oil, room mist, a soap and body spray), to the cleanser's, moisturiser's, herbal tea's and treatment's we sell today, packaged in their beautiful boxes.
We're really excited to see what the next five years will bring, as both our family, business and meadows grow! I want to add a huge thank you to all those who have helped us along the way, from my own family and friends who've given their time; picking, filling and sticking as well as sitting at market stalls and listening to my worries, to those of you who've stuck with us as customers through it all! We couldn't have done it without you.
