Where are we now?

 

Before Christmas we wrote about finally finding stability as a business. 2019 was our best year to date. We talked about the future, and how exciting it was, we were prepping ourselves for 2020. The year that promised to be our biggest yet, with new stores, new product lines and new people. We also wrote about new challenges that hide behind every corner. We could never have predicted the challenge that has now presented itself.  

 

So where exactly are we now? As a population, we’re isolated. As a business community we’re on our knees. As households, we are at home. As entrepreneurs… well… we’re down but we are far from out. We’ve spent the the past 6 years dealing with hurdles, and now we face the biggest hurdle the world has ever seen. We are being forced to adapt. We are being forced to operate out of our comfort zone, to try new things and achieve  much more with much much less. For the first time ever, the entire world is however fighting together, and in the unity of  our predicament, is opportunity. 

 

First and foremost this is an opportunity to slow down, together, which is something most of us could do with. We suddenly seem to have time, a commodity all businesses and individuals alike have wished for, but never had. From a business perspective, we’re focussing our efforts on improving our skill sets; taking online courses, reconfiguring our website, and seeking out new sales channels which are essential for our continued growth (pandemic or no pandemic!). We have decided to make sure the entire team remain on full pay, and we are urging each other to help our communities in other ways whilst not all being at work. Whether it’s volunteering for the NHS, delivering food, or FaceTiming the lonely, our team want to support you, as you have supported us over the past 6 years. As individuals, we are spending time on ourselves. Surfing, running, writing music, painting, doing yoga…. We are maximising the opportunity of time and we hope others are inspired to do the same. To that extent, we also think it’s important to  highlight some positives;

 

We all have clean water and an amazing food supply that’s not going anywhere. We have a health service and half a million volunteers (including some of our team) who are happily risking their lives to take care of us. We have tv’s, phones, computers, apps, enough entertainment to last a lifetime. We have the internet and most importantly, we have each other. Through technological advance we have actually been preparing for this day for a long time, and we are equipped with all the tools that amazon can sell us to keep moving. We may be retreating behind closed doors, but we most certainly do not have to stop. As a nation we are far luckier than many nations around the globe, and we should take some comfort in that. 

 

At Jam we will not stop and we hope that others will join us. We will continue to deliver you the clothes we have taken so much joy in making. We are gutted not to be chatting to you in our stores, but we are happy to be part of a world in which we can deliver the same customer care online. Please do not hesitate to email us, call us, DM us, FaceTime us (email for details), and we will be here to talk you through sizes, styles, colours and fabrics in the same way we always do. Over the next few weeks we are planning to dissect our collection through this blog, giving you a detailed insight into our design and manufacturing processes. We hope it will give you an excuse to take your minds off of the inevitable.

 

Throughout history great things have come out of desperate situations. Now it is our turn.