I recently got myself a pair of glasses. I’m going to be 42 this year and was finding it difficult to read things unless I had them far away from my face – not particularly the look I’m going for – so I decided to go and get my eyes checked.

Fast forward a few weeks and I am now in possession of a lovely pair of glasses from Be Loxley eyewear a small independent business in Nottingham, run by the very lovely Indy.

But here’s the deal, I’ve had quite a few ‘oh, you should have gone to specsavers’ comments since, and I wanted to use the influence I have in my blog and social media to talk about why I didn’t.

And as an aside, what amazing marketing from Specsavers, because people are literally quoting their strapline, but that’s a post for another day!

I’m a big believer in democracy, a quick scroll through my Twitter and you’ll get a sense of my politics rather quickly and if you listen to next weeks Women Who Create podcast you’ll actually hear a rant about it.

But despite my belief in democracy it has holes – quite a few of them. And while voting once in a while at the polling station gives me a thrill and make me send a thank you to those woke protestors over 100 years ago who fought for my right to vote, it’s not enough for me.

So, I like to think that every pound I spend is a little vote towards the world I want to live in.

A world full of compassion, love, empathy and equality.

So as much as I can I like to support small businesses, who are working hard and trying to make a positive difference to the lives of those around them.

I know from running my own business and from coaching business owners for almost 8 years now, that every sale makes a difference.

I know that by buying ethically, buy making good consumer choices, by trying to avoid big corporates who care less about us and more about the bottom line, I’m making a conscious vote for the kind of world I want to live in.

And of course, I’m not a saint. I have a yellow pair of Nike’s. I ordered a ring light from Amazon the other day. But I’m trying to be more conscious where I can and make choices that reflect my values.

And of course, sometimes buying from a small business may mean that we pay a little more, but honestly, most things we buy should be a lot more expensive than they are. The only reason things are so cheap is because we’re using cheap labour on the other side of the world.

And I am in a privileged position, I can afford to make different choices with the money that I spend, I’m not short of a bob or two. But I have been poor. I left home at 17 and spent a few years living on the dole in pretty dire conditions and when Robin was born we lived on income support for a good few years. But even then I tried to use my money wisely as a vote for the world I wanted Robin to live in.

So I didn’t go to Specsavers. Even though I would have saved money on my specs. I choose to support a local business and that makes me happy, makes Indy the owner happy and makes my eyes happy, and hopefully spreads a little bit of happiness in the world.

Here are some of my favourite places to support small ethical businesses:

Hiut Denim for good quality, made in the UK better for the environment jeans

Motties for lovely handmade recycled leather slippers

Allbirds for sustainable trainers

Etsy for lovely handmade goodies

Aesop for cruelty-free, well-sourced skincare, with no plastic

The Bead Shop, for all your crafty needs

Shop Zero for zero waste goods https://shopzero.co.uk/

And Be Loxley for eyewear

I’d love to know your favourite ethical shops!

Want to find out how to run a smarter business? Check out my work smarter series!