There's a certain irony in running a business that makes educational resources for children and only recently getting around to doing the homework yourself.
Little Wigwam has been making educational placemats, posters, flashcards, height charts and jigsaws since 2009. Seventeen years of designing, printing, packing and posting products to families across the UK and beyond. Sixteen years of Amazon reviews, stockists, school orders and repeat customers. And until very recently, almost no social media presence worth mentioning.
It wasn't deliberate. It was the classic small business situation: you spend your time making the thing and sending the thing and there's never quite enough hours left to do everything else. Social media kept moving to the top of the to-do list and then getting pushed back down again.
But we're finally making the leap!
Where to find us
Pinterest is where we'll be pinning our products, blog posts, gift guides and educational content. If you're the kind of person who saves ideas for Christmas presents in October or keeps a board of things to do with primary school children on rainy weekends, Pinterest is probably already part of your life.
Instagram is where we'll be sharing a bit more of the brand behind the products. Lifestyle images, the occasional look behind the scenes at how things are made and packed, educational facts drawn from our product range, and the kind of content that's more "here's something interesting" than "here's something to buy." You can find us at instagram.com/littlewigwam.
X is where we'll be joining the conversation about education, parenting and the kind of topics our blog covers. Research on maths anxiety, debates about screen time, curriculum changes, geography in the news. If you're a teacher, a parent who thinks about this stuff, or just someone who finds education interesting, it's probably the most useful place to follow us. We're at x.com/little_wigwam.
What took so long
Honestly? The same thing that gets in the way of most things in a small family business: there simply aren't enough hours in the day.
When you're designing new products, managing stock, fulfilling orders, updating a website, responding to customers and trying to keep on top of everything else that running a business involves, social media is always the thing that gets pushed to tomorrow. And tomorrow has a habit of becoming next week, then next month, then next year.
We're not complaining. Being busy means the products are selling and the business is working. But it did mean that for a long time we were putting all our energy into making things and very little into sharing more about ourselves joining the conversations that interest us.
One more thing
If you've bought from us before, thank you. Seventeen years of a small family business running quietly in the background is only possible because of customers who come back and who tell other people. If you've ever recommended Little Wigwam to someone, we mean it when we say it makes a real difference.
We're looking forward to being a bit more visible.
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