Botanica Health
This Small Business Saturday, we’re celebrating Botanica Health - a family-run business built from a lifelong passion for natural health, herbal medicine and generations of family knowledge. Fifteen years on, their dedication to helping people take charge of their health has created a thriving local business with customers and friends reaching far beyond the community.
Tell us about your journey from the business idea to launching the business.
I never actually had a business plan, we both just loved our subjects. My husband needed a practice for his physio clinic and we just thought perhaps we could have a natural health shop too, something I ran in Scotland. Medicine is literally in my blood. All down my father’s bloodline, all the way back to 1803 the men were all doctors. My father gained his degree in Medical Herbalism in his mid 40’s, and I worked with him from around the age of 17. He still works full time at 89. Fifteen years ago, after we moved from the North of Scotland, we opened Botanica. With ancestral knowledge behind me, and 30 years of experience we opened, and hoped for the best!
What's been your biggest achievement since starting your business?
That as a small, family run business we have stood the test of time. The day we opened an elderly lady from the village came in and told me she didn’t think it would last, but here we are. But even more than that, I feel so humbled that we have changed some peoples lives for the better. There is no greater wealth than health as the saying goes. There is nothing more powerful than being an advocate for your own health. I hope we have shared valuable life affirming health education that has changed lives for the better.
What inspired you to start the business?
Over the years in my father’s clinic I witnessed people getting well through herbal medicine and lifestyle changes. I wanted to share what I had learned because it is so exciting. The body has an amazing capacity to heal given the right environment. The study of epigenetics shows that our health is influenced more by our environment than by our genes. I am inspiredly by this simple fact every day and want to inspire others.
What does the future look like?
I don’t tend to look too far ahead. I just want to continue to share what I learn with others. In that way the future is brighter for everyone. People are more interested than ever before in looking after their own health. Our online presence is growing and we have customers from all over Europe, which is wonderful.
What message would you like to send to our community of small business owners?
You have to love what you do. It really is 7 days a week, but it can come with great rewards. It takes tenacity and faith and love and commitment but it is possible! So many customers have become friends and we so appreciate all the support we have been given through the years.
Follow them here: @botanica_health
