Another Local Treasure

Following on from a delightful visit to Wyndcliffe Court Sculpture Gardens a couple of weekends ago, this last Sunday with the weather being bright and sunny I decided to venture to Dewstow Gardens and Grottoes in Caerwent. The aesthetics of the tea room is not to the standard of Wydncliffe, but the food was good with scrumptious cakes to tempt. 

The Gardens and Grottoes are a tranquil delight, just what is needed to calm the mind and soul after a hectic week of business. I found the gardens to be magical and relaxing, there is a bugs trail to occupy the younger visitors, whilst the adults enjoy the spellbinding setting. The history of these gardens is intriguing too, it captured my imagination, wondering what drives a grown man to create such a magical place in his private garden, which accordingly was kept private until it's rediscovery until relatively recently. 

I would highly recommend anyone with a free afternoon visiting this local curiosity, though do check the website as the Gardens close during the winter months. www.dewstowgardens.co.uk 

Great news! Becca Cobham (Creative Bee) and I are starting a new business partnership together and it's called "WyeDean Deli confidential". More about that later and it is not the blatant advertising opportunity you may have imagined - honestly. 

In fact actually this is more of a tribute to Paul James' CAP Business Clubs and the power of networking. Becca Cobham and I are both members of the Tuesday evening group where Paul is passionate about getting small business owners together to network, discuss issues and interact to the benefit of all. Paul knows this model well and is a great chairman and exponent of the art. 

It was actually at our first one to one meeting (Becca and I) that we realised immediately that we shared a passion for food and drink and in particular the quality artisan food and drink producers of the Forest of Dean & Wye Valley. I, as a photographer, had been working on a social documentary project on food and drink producers of the area for a year or so and Becca had a lingering and long held urge to write and research the whole issue of quality local produce. Our individual skill sets seemed to be ideal for collaboration on the project and so the idea, if not the final business name was born. A trendy blog and quarterly glossy magazine to celebrate and shout (very loudly) about the best in quality food and drink (at all prices ranges) the Forest of Dean & Wye Valley has to offer. 

And so first naturally we looked inward on our idea, examining all the issues and possibilities and whether we thought there was a viable business. We couldn't for the life of us come up with a negative! A perhaps predictable outcome when you are passionate about something. Lot's of problems for sure but then there are always 10 good reasons not to do something if you are not a positive thinker - the bottom line between the two of us - we liked the idea but we needed an additional view - an objective friend as it is sometimes called. 

Next we threw our energies into the planning and development of the project into a business model and business plan followed by the first, furtive, airing of the project with some of our respective confidants in the local food sector. No negatives there either - progress! Then, in business, you get those key moments when you stop seeking views and advice and actually have to pitch the project for real. In our case it was to Amanda and Rachel from the Food Showcase (no pressure then) with whom we are now gladly collaborating. And it's a funny feeling when you as partners having internalised your ideas then listen to someone else actually, out loud, say what a great idea you have had. 

All of this, and whatever success is to follow, can be traced back to CAP Business Club and the networking groups. Who know's if the two of us would have met anyway and discovered our shared passion and then gone on to develop the idea. It's not impossible but it's unlikely that it would have happened right now. And that is the power of networking.

It was fitting therefore that the official launch of the WyeDean Deli confidential should be at CAP and to our colleagues on the Tuesday evening group. But one of the real strengths of group networking is the ability to ask a question and then, most importantly, to listen. Paul convened a round table session for us as part of the concise and no nonsense launch. We had an opportunity to ask our colleagues for their views and to put three key (for us) questions to them. Our group, like all of the other individual groups, has a very diverse range of business skills and experience and we really valued the honest and supportive input we got from them - lots and lots of valuable input in fact. 

These sessions are so valuable not just for the new ideas and experience based suggestions but also crucially as a health check for our own ideas, the very same ideas we spend so long internalising. It's also very motivating to hear other small business owners say - out loud again - that your idea is a good one, adds something to the area we love and live in and fills a necessary gap in the market. Sometimes we forget that amongst the blizzard of readily available business coaches and mentors, that our colleagues right next to us, whatever their individual trade or profession, hold just as much business wisdom because they have the practical experience in success and sometimes stark personal exposure of failure. I think that it was Donald Trump who said originally said "Some days you win, and some days you learn" and those hard lessons add a very practical and valuable perspective. We'd strongly recommend these CAP round table sessions to anyone starting to develop a new business or new business idea - they invaluable and a great source of learning for everyone involved. 

And so WyeDean Del confidential is a complimentary addition to, and development of, our existing businesses we  know will be a major success but we appreciate the motivational start CAP Business Club members and Paul James have given us and we look forward to their continued support in further round table sessions at future key stages of the blog and magazines business development. 

And so in the next few days the first embryonic blog postings will be coming to life at https://wyedeandeliconfidentialblog.wordpress.com/ you can also follow us on Twitter at @YDeanconfident and here on Facebook 

We've already started work on the first magazine so follow us on social media for publication dates etc. If you are or know of anyone who you think no blog or magazine should miss out please let the editorial team time know by email at  [email protected] 

If you'd like to advertise with us or be featured by us please get in touch [email protected]

Bex Cobham and David Broadbent