A FLORIST has made a heartfelt plea for residents to “shop local” as she described the stress, anxiety and depression that independent business owners can face. 

Gillian Fautley, 43, who owns Courts of Rayleigh, has offered an insight into the “unfortunate trust of owning and running a business”. 

Her Facebook post has been liked almost 1,000 times and been shared close to 150 times as other business owners back her plea. 

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Gillian said: “Running a business is really hard.

“What they don’t tell you is that it can cause severe stress and anxiety, and drains you mentally to the point of depression in even the most laid-back people.

“People will talk about you, compare you to others, use you, they will view you as a service and not a person anymore.

“Friends and family will expect discounts, and people will value you and your hard work less than a big chain store or company.

“You have to worry about if you forget to email/message someone back, are they going to think it was on purpose? Did you disappoint them? Will they hold that against you?

“In reality you just can’t get to everyone’s messages and emails.”

Gillian became owner of Courts of Rayleigh around five years ago, having worked at the business for more than 15 years.

She added: “Starting up or taking over and running a successful business puts incredible strain on personal lives and relationships, many of which fail because there is just often no work-life balance.

“You need to be the director, the worker, the admin, the marketing team, the accountant, the cleaner... All whilst being a parent, a husband or a wife, grandparent, family support, friend.

“There is a reason you don’t see many people succeed in small businesses after five-10 years. If they are successful, they are overwhelmed.

“It takes a toll. It is exhausting. Especially the past couple of years when so much has been out of our control.

“Here is a small reminder that we are just normal people with hectic lives.

“Please support small and local businesses’ because we do it because we actually love it despite the stress, it can also be very rewarding at times.”

In the past three years, Gillian said she had to battle through Covid, before then seeing flower prices doubling, and energy bills rising.

She said sadly she has had to reduce her staff due to the financial struggles the business had been hit with.

Gillian said: “I am doing more extreme hours. My husband is helping extra as well as his work, it is just constant. My staff are amazing, and I couldn’t do it without them.

“I love my job, and working hard, but the constant pressures can be too much for small business owners.

“It is getting tougher and tougher.

“People don’t realise, they think we have it east and have freedom. But actually, they couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I just urge people to shop local.”