Hen Dog Designs

Hen Dog Designs Two happy working mummies, making & creating special personalised gifts. Proud 'Not On the High Stre So why are we called Hendog Designs?
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Hendog Designs is made up of twin sisters, Lulu and Sophie and we live on the beautiful Jurassic coast of Dorset. The company evolved when we started making personalised gifts for our friends and family, and the orders kept coming, so we continued to create our beautiful bespoke gifts and Hendog Designs was born. We love to work from our dining room table and we have expanded our product line to i

nclude ceramic items, which are all handmade and fired in our new kiln. Our Hendog Tiles are our latest product design and each picture is hand drawn specifically for each customer, we pride ourselves on personalising each design and attention to detail is key. We could not agree on a name, so we looked around us for inspiration and we watched Lulu’s son Henry playing with his best friend, Sophie’s border terrier ‘Diddy'. We decided to name our company Hendog Designs, what could be better than dedicating our new little venture to our two ‘children’? So Hendog Designs was born! As the business has grown, so has our families, with our scrummy daughters added to the mix, we love being busy, working mummies

Love Soph & Lulu x

Small biz life: it’s rewarding, chaotic, and at times… pretty brutal. Here’s what we’ve learned 👇Following on from our l...
19/10/2025

Small biz life: it’s rewarding, chaotic, and at times… pretty brutal. Here’s what we’ve learned 👇

Following on from our latest post, we wanted to share a bit more about what’s been going on behind the scenes at HenDog. 💛

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster lately — navigating VAT thresholds, tight margins, and the constant juggle that comes with running a small creative business. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that we’re not alone. So many of us are feeling the same pinch, and it’s strangely comforting (and heartbreaking) all at once.

Going forward into 2026, we’ve decided to restructure — working smarter, not harder, so we can keep doing what we love for the long haul. 💪
We still absolutely want and need your support and orders (please don’t hold back!). It just means we’ll be changing up how and where we sell — focusing on the channels that work best for us and allow HenDog to survive and thrive long-term. It’s all about sustainability — both for the business and our sanity!

It’s been re-energising, actually, and we’re feeling optimistic for what’s to come. 🌿

And on a final note… if you’ve got friends, family, or a local maker nearby, please check in on them — maybe share their work, send a message, or pop by their page. Because it’s bloody hard out there, and a bit of support really does go a long way. 💛

We’re just so lucky we’ve got each other — thank the Lord for that.

Love,
Soph & Lu xx

Here’s what £90k really looks like for a small handmade business — spoiler: it’s not profit.We’re a two-person, handmade...
15/10/2025

Here’s what £90k really looks like for a small handmade business — spoiler: it’s not profit.

We’re a two-person, handmade, artisan business. Everything we make is crafted here in the UK, and it’s really labour-intensive, and We LOVE what we do!

But honestly, the VAT threshold is breaking small makers like us. As soon as you hit £90,000 in sales — not profit — you have to start paying 20% VAT on everything you sell.

I know £90k might sound like a lot of money, but it’s really not when you break it down. That’s our gross sales — before any of our costs have been taken out.

To put it in perspective:
📦 About a third of that goes straight to Royal Mail/courier service for postage
🎨 Then there’s our material costs
💪 Our labour
🛍️ And platform commissions (which can be pretty hefty)

By the time all that’s covered, there’s not much left for us to actually take home — yet we’re still taxed 20% on the whole amount, including money that never even reaches our account.

It’s just not sustainable. At this rate we’re even having to consider shutting up the shop from time to time in 2026 (in off peak times), just to stay under the threshold, it’s just not worth us going over £90k - which feels so backwards when all we want to do is grow.

Why can’t VAT work on a sliding scale? That would make it fairer for small businesses….

If you’re another small UK maker/business in the same boat, how are you handling it? We would love to hear from you, especially if you are lurking around the threshold.

It’s a sad reality that It’s getting harder and harder for small British businesses to survive. 💔

Unintentional Twinning 😆🤣   👯happy sunny Wednesday 😍
09/07/2025

Unintentional Twinning 😆🤣 👯happy sunny Wednesday 😍

June snippets so far….we’ve been so busy, working 7 days a week, this weekend was our first weekend off in 3 weeks at it...
16/06/2025

June snippets so far….we’ve been so busy, working 7 days a week, this weekend was our first weekend off in 3 weeks at it felt bliss! And blessed with Sunshine 😍 not complaining, it’s been buzzy-brillo 😍🥰 photo moments confirm our love of a “journey selfie” 😆

Hope all is well out there? And the sun is shining on you

S & L xx

05/06/2025

Yay! Sooooo excited for you, we can’t wait to visit 🍕

LOVE YOU LOTS… and love all your lovely orders! ❤️ You hopeless romantics have been keeping us very busy this Valentine’...
08/02/2025

LOVE YOU LOTS… and love all your lovely orders! ❤️ You hopeless romantics have been keeping us very busy this Valentine’s, and we are HERE for it! 💌 Who said romance was dead? Not us—our packing table is proof! Every single order means the world,, so THANK YOU from the bottom of our (very full, slightly chaotic) hearts. Now, back to cutting, printing, and wrapping up all this love! 💕✨

Address

2 Weston Road
Portland
DT52

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