The Best of 2024: Moments That Defined the Year
Hannah CameronShare
As I reflect on 2024 to help guide me in setting some goals for the new year, I can’t help but realise how much I’ve achieved - though, honestly, it felt like it flew by in a blur! Since I’ve been gathering this info for my own personal reflection, I thought it’d be a great chance to share it here too, especially for those of you who started shopping with or following Looksee in 2024 (or later!) and might have missed some of the highlights as they happened.
A Social Start
Early in 2024, I teamed up with Leona from Joyful Selling for some coaching, focusing on getting back into posting on social media after a long break. Life had become a bit overwhelming, and I had too many other plates to spin, so social media had been the plate that I put down for a while.
It’s been such a fun journey so far - I've started sharing posts and stories again more consistently and, honestly, it’s been a lot less stressful and less anxiety-inducing than it had previously been! It’s been nice to get more comfortable online and enjoy the process again.
Follow me on Instagram here, and follow me on Facebook here.
Now that I’ve become more active on social media again, I jumped into the March Meet The Maker Instagram challenge, which was such a fun way to connect and share more behind-the-scenes!
Read my blog post about March Meet the Maker 2024 here.
I also kicked off my blog this year, focusing on helping you find the perfect words for greetings cards. Plus, I’ve shared some fun posts about reading and books, which have been a joy to write and hopefully a joy to read too!
Read What to Write: The Complete Guide to Writing Greetings Cards here.
Read My Year in Reading 2024 here.
A Purrfect Spring
On a personal note, we welcomed our Maine Coon kitty, Teazle, into our family this Spring. After saying goodbye to our old boy Dylan in 2023, it was exactly what we needed.
Looksee started under Dylan’s supervision, so being without a cat in the studio felt pretty lonely, as well as at the end of a busy workday with no cat to cuddle up with. With Teazle the Weasel, our Queen of Mischief, there’s no such thing as a quiet moment in the studio anymore!
We definitely needed her energy, both in the studio and in our family, and I’m so grateful to Lori of Loricoons in North Devon for trusting us with one of her beautiful kittens. Having a Maine Coon around again has made such a difference to my mental health - I’ve felt so much more inspired, creative, and more ready to embrace new challenges.
A Whole Lot of Sunshine
I designed my first wholesale catalogue this year, and after a very enthusiastic first pitch (with an equally enthusiastic reply!), I started supplying the wonderful Sunshine No.1 in Mount Florida in late Spring.
Meeting Suzi was fantastic on so many levels, and just a short while after I started supplying her shop, she asked if I’d be interested in working there too. I’ve worked in shop assistant roles before, and though I hadn’t planned on working in a shop this year, this opportunity felt like the perfect fit at the perfect time!
I’m really grateful to Suzi for asking me, and for creating such a beautiful shop and welcoming community. Having an extra income stream has been really helpful, but beyond that, I’ve also learned so much from working in her shop.
I love helping customers, and as someone who is passionate about small indie businesses, I am genuinely enthusiastic to help customers find the perfect card or gift for their needs. And when customers are buying my cards - it’s such a treat to chat with them about being the designer of the card, their favourite animals, and design requests for the future!
I love the shop chats I have with customers - sometimes they’re chatting about a tattoo they’re getting, or about how trees communicate through the mushroom network, or they recommend music or books to me - it’s a really lovely community to be involved in.
Small Business Saturday came to Sunshine No.1 this year, and Suzi was one of the fantastic small businesses featured! I took part in a little interview as one of her suppliers.
Leaning more into the wholesale side of my business also led to the decision to create my wholesale website, so stockists can easily shop for their greetings cards while they’re on the go. It’s definitely been an extra expense and time commitment this year, but I’m so proud of it, and the feedback has been really positive. I hope it will make things even easier for lovely shop owners as they order cards in 2025!
Was it necessary to create this year? Maybe not - but I also think it would’ve been harder to find the time later as my business grows, so I’m glad I created it when I did. If you’re a stockist and want to check it out, feel free to apply for an account on my wholesale website here for full access.
Cash Flow and Cost Cutting
September marked my largest card launch to date, with the addition of 30 new designs. Cash flow has often been a bit of a challenge in the early years of my business, so the extra hours working at Sunshine No.1 and starting to grow the wholesale side of Looksee have really helped this year. They've eased the cash flow pressure and given me the breathing room to start introducing new designs again.
It’s been a sticking point for a while - if the cash flow isn’t there, I can’t sensibly invest in new designs. But I know how excited both retail and wholesale customers are to see fresh designs, so I’m really looking forward to releasing new ones more regularly in the future.
Later in the year, I also decided to focus on cutting costs where I could to help improve cash flow further.
I used the money from my shop work to pay for the annual website fees for both of my websites upfront - a hefty cost I usually can’t afford all at once. But overall, it saves me money across the year, even if it feels like a big expense for a small business! I also made the decision to switch from Flodesk to Shopify for my newsletter, saving around £30 a month. There are pros and cons to the change, but overall I’m hapy with it.
Plus, a misunderstanding from a previous year led to me recalculating how much coverage I needed for insuring my stock, and after a phone call, I’m now £10 better off each month without losing any coverage.
Individually, these savings may seem small, but every little bit helps - and over the course of a year, they really add up.
Three Cheers For Looksee!
November marked Looksee’s 3rd birthday! It's been such a journey, and I’ve learned so much along the way - though there’s still plenty to learn!
I absolutely love having a career that’s so varied, and I’m lucky to enjoy both the creative and business sides equally. It’s definitely the most intense work I’ve ever done, and I feel like only the tip of the iceberg is visible to anyone who isn’t me, but it’s also the most rewarding work I’ve ever done because I’m so passionate about what I do.
Fully Booked
I launched a new product this year - bookmarks! It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to create something new other than new card designs, and bookmarks felt like the perfect opportunity.
They fit perfectly with my greetings card range, making it easy to send both a card and a gift in one go. Plus, since many of you love reading too, I’m really excited to create more content around this hobby of mine in the future - I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I do!
The Write Place at the Right Time
The idea of offering a service where I write and send your cards directly to your recipients had been on my mind for a while, but it just hadn't been a priority to implement - until now. When Maddy, a childhood schoolfriend now living in Canada, inquired about it, I decided to take action and set it up on my website the very same evening.
To ensure it would work smoothly across multiple countries outside the UK, I also asked my younger sister's friend Hannah, who lives in New Zealand, to test the service for me. Her feedback was invaluable in refining the details, allowing me to present the service more clearly and create a smoother experience for first-time buyers.
This service is useful for those looking to save time and money on postage, especially for customers living abroad who want to send a card to someone within the UK. Currently in its trial phase, I’m offering this as a free add-on, and I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback if you’ve taken advantage of it.
Market Scramble
I took part in my first markets this year! It wasn’t originally on my agenda - I didn’t think I could be sociable enough to manage a market stall, as I’m pretty introverted and had been avoiding in-person selling. But when an opportunity came up, I scrambled to figure out a table layout and all the essentials I’d need for the stall.
Shoutout to my wonderful small biz pal Iona from ionalundiedesign, who not only shared the opportunity with me in the first place, but also helped answer all my questions!
While there’s some changes I want to make to my stall layout before my next market, overall, I think the markets went really well and gave my sales a nice boost before the year wrapped up.
The shop work I’ve been doing at Sunshine No.1 really helped me get more comfortable chatting with potential customers, so a fantastic side effect was that I felt a bit more prepared when running my stall. I really enjoyed the conversations I had with folks at the market - everyone was so friendly, and it was amazing to see my products going out into the world!
Business with Meaning
I love supporting meaningful projects when I can, and this year has been great for that. Looksee started planting trees with Ecologi, and we have been supporting reforestation projects worldwide.
For World Otter Day, I ran a giveaway and we sponsored otters Asha and Manton through the UK Wild Otter Trust.
To wrap up the year, I donated a £100 gift card to the Give a Dog a Bone Christmas fundraiser, helping towards raising £2500 for their charity.
Keep on Swimming, and Gratitude
I’m really glad to have made progress in wholesale this year, experienced selling at my first markets, and worked in retail again at the loveliest art and gift shop. These things have helped expand Looksee’s revenue streams and are key to the business’s growth.
It's been a tough year, and I’ve definitely felt more burnt out at times than I wanted to admit, but I’m determined and strong-willed, so I’ll keep pushing forward. Hopefully, all my hard work will snowball soon!
It’s been wonderful to start publishing more greetings cards again as things stabilise with cash flow. This year, I introduced 45 new card designs and finally launched bookmarks - a project I’ve had on the back burner for the longest time!
I’m so grateful for every person who supports my small business - whether you're a customer, a shop owner, a follower, or an email subscriber. For those who are new customers, I know trusting an online small business for the first time can be a big ask, so I’m especially thankful that you’ve given me the chance this year. And for my returning customers, your ongoing support means the world to me, and I am so deeply appreciative. You help my small business stay open and continue to grow, bit by bit!
2025, I’m Thinking of You
Looking ahead to 2025, I’m excited to publish even more cards and carve out more time for design!
I’m looking forward to more in-person interactions through markets and shop work, and all the great conversations and inspiration that will bring. I also can’t wait to grow my audience through Looksee Party, my newsletter, and on socials.
I’m excited to chat with more wonderful shop owners and work with indie retailers around the UK, expanding where you can buy my cards - hopefully in a town near you soon!
I’m looking forward to settling into a good groove with Looksee, feeling more confident in my decisions, and watching the business continue to grow and flourish. Above all, I’m excited to help you send more beautiful cards and gifts to your loved ones - while you’re thinking of them, I’m thinking of you, and that’s what drives my business forward!
With warm wishes and a whole lot of sunshine,
Hannah