Business Love Stories – Moonflower Guitars

Located in the historic market town of Oakham on Mill Street you will find Moonflower Guitars, established in 2020 by Ming, Jon, and Alan, three musicians, band mates and friends, all sharing the same passion for music and adventure.

Together they honed their knowledge and love of music, guitars and accessories into a successful business built on the foundations of quality, commitment, and enthusiasm.

Come with me as I take a virtual walk through their doors and speak with Ming about her shared love for music, guitars, customers and being a creative independent business alongside Alan and Jon.

What made you set up on your own?

“Alan, Jon and I were already spending a lot of time together, including gigging together across the UK and Europe with our band, Project Blackbird. Alongside our love of music we all had very diverse and challenging jobs, and with each of us coming to a crossroads in our careers, were looking for something new, however, we had no idea at that point which way the crossroads would take us.”

Can you remember the moment you decided?

“One day, Jon was sitting in a café, enjoying a coffee, and noticed the building across the street and thought it would be great for a guitar shop – guitars because of our shared love for music and Alan’s self-taught talents and abilities in particular. None of us had experience of running a retail business but thought why not, and just like that, Moonflower Guitars was born.”

How would you describe your relationship with your business right now?

“ I think it is fair to say we all love what we’re doing and wouldn’t be able to do it without each other. We are very lucky that we are all close and get along so well, both inside and outside of the business. Its great fun, yes, we still take work home, but it doesn’t seem as much of a burden when working for yourself.”

When was it at its worst? What was happening for you then?

“The timing of Covid was not as bad as it could have been as we weren’t really ready to open our doors to the public until April 2021. Lockdown time was used to design and refurbish both the exterior and interior of the shop, decide on display layouts and select and order the stock, as well as learn what exactly would be involved in running the business and start to develop contacts. It gave us a real focus to concentrate and work towards something positive rather than dwelling on the negatives of that time. I even managed to teach myself book binding, which led to guitar scratch plate customisation. Since launching our main challenge has been competing with bigger companies with a large online presence, enabling them to bulk buy and offer discounts. Moonflower Guitars is never going to be able to offer the cheapest price but what we do offer is the value of being an independent business, offering quality, a welcoming environment and a personalised service and aftercare.”

What advice would you give to another owner who’s feeling disillusioned?

“Communicate with your business partners/colleagues if you have them and make sure you are taking care of each other as well as yourself, but also look outside of yourself for guidance.  For example, the accountant we currently work with supports us in so many ways, providing not only expert financial advice but a personal service with a focus on supporting small businesses.  An important aspect of running a small business is having that expert support and direction, helping me feel safe in the knowledge that we are running our business in a HMRC secure and compliant way and won’t encounter any big legal or financial surprises.”

What keeps you connected to why you started your business in the first place?

“The fact that Alan, Jon and I are all in the same boat sharing the same values, goals and love for music. Moonflower Guitars enables us to channel our energy and emotions into our other passion, our band Project Blackbird.”

Would you say you love your business? Tell us about something you’ve done to show your business love and nurture your relationship with it.

“Yes definitely.  The aesthetics and environment we have created are really important and reflect the pride we feel in what we are doing. We have taken time to think about how we decorate both inside and outside our business. Guitars are works of art in themselves and a conscious decision was made to display only a select number creatively, rather than fill the walls with so many you don’t know what you’re looking for. As an example of our attention to detail, Alan and I customised the exterior paint to our exact spec and mixed it ourselves to achieve the colour that we love and are very proud of. We are especially pleased as well that we positioned and installed over 50 guitar wall hangers ourselves and got all the spacing right!  Everything inside and outside the business is chosen with love.”

Who or what keeps you going in tough times?

“Friendship, reassurance, and support from each other. The fact we all play in the band keeps us in touch with our passions and why we started our business in the first place. We love the people we work with, the suppliers and technicians, the sales representatives and our new and returning customers. We have met and continue to meet warm and supportive individuals and would not survive without them. The local community and music supporters are amazing and some of the ways we say, “thank you” are our loyalty & VIP programs and student discounts; and the exceptional maintenance and repair service that Alan provides.”

What do you love about working for yourself?

“Individuality, independence, the constant learning of new skills and utilising our creativity mixed with a lot of joy and laughter.”

How seasonal is our business?

“It’s turning out less seasonal than we thought it would be. Our best month in 2022 was February with a steady flow up to Christmas, but part of the magic is not knowing what each month will bring – it’s like the trust exercise.”

We’re living in interesting times, what steps are you taking to ensure your future?

“Organic growth achieved by maintaining good relationships with our suppliers and expanding some of our markets, such as preloved guitars. We believe it’s important to keep our customers engaged and stimulated offering something a bit different, such as customisations of scratch plates and truly personalised communication and aftercare, all helping us compete against big retailers. We try to maintain our focus on what makes us different, if we try to be like everyone else, it won’t work, we wouldn’t survive and we wouldn’t be true to our values or shared vision.”