The term, busman’s holiday stems back to the late 1800’s, where a man who drives a bus for a living goes on a long bus journey on their holiday.  So by definition, it is a holiday in which you spend most of your time doing the same or something very similar to your normal work.

So It should come as no surprise to many picture framers that we do enjoy and have been busted venturing into another frame shop while on holiday – It sort of comes natural within an industry where people honestly love what they do!

So as we head into the last week of June, Sarah and I are heading towards a family gathering in Center Harbor, New Hampshire, but along the way we plan on visiting some old friends and a number of folks in the framing industry, gallery owners and some specialized gift shops.  We’re taking a leisurely journey to New England that provides us an opportunity to connect to some great framers and business people.

Why?  Well… most of us recognize that we are bound to learn some new tidbit of value when visiting another business that we might be able to apply and use in our own shop… but these stops represent a little more on this journey.  As we now enter into the 7th year of a economic downturn, we’ve seen nothing but survivors remaining among these independent businesses that still have their lights on.  And thus I would like to ask them what do they see that contributes to their success and what lessons have they learned in these more difficult times?  Stay tuned… this is going to be a learning experience for us.

JER