Men in white coats..they're coming to take me away....

Evening all,

Yesterday as I filled the shelves in one of my shops the owner pulled me up for not wearing a white delivery coat....so 18 months after I first started  delivering to shops, this morning I rolled up in my white van decked out in an over sized mans white delivery jacket....box ticked... client happy...

......but I feel demoted..

I've been put in my box..the client sees me as a mere delivery guy, not the owner or the boss...(I did text to ask if he had any special requirements as to what I should wear underneath, but it would seem I can wear what I like under my white delivery coat)....no further special requests from this customer on this occasion....

I've learnt my lesson, I need a driver who isn't me to deliver my products whilst I get on with growing the business & looking like the boss.....I can't do both...there just aren't enough hours in the day...So, no more van deliveries for me, no more white coats...this little food producer is going to up her game, slip into some designer jackets & jeans, nip around the city, winning accounts, making sure customers are happy....doing what ever it takes.....

Anything that is, except wear a white delivery coat !

Bon soir.

Shirley x

Hitting a wall ..getting over it

Evening all,

If you read my blog last week, you may have picked up that this little blogger was running out of steam. Yesterday I thought about deleting the post, "Small business Edge of (in)Sanity"...had I revealed too much about myself ...had it become too me, me, me all about me... nobody wants to read that do they....

However, that's how I felt, over whelmed, temporarily scared for the future...and this blog is about being a small business owner and those emotions are very  real...for all of us....so the blog stays..and we now know that it ain't all fun & games..and that possibly the more successful our businesses become..the more we fear what we have to lose...

I spent the weekend in that state of anxiety...Yesterday "Yelp" invited me to a blind tasting dinner..six courses cooked by Michelin star chef in Pacino's in October. I haven't met the Yelp team yet, but I am touched & excited by the invite...we will be blindfolded for the tasting...that is so up my street in terms of experiences...I have been invited because I am a food blogger...ME ! invited to something so exciting on the back of my blog...

So I'm back in the game...last week was a blip, I hit a wall that I wasn't sure I could climb over.Tonight  I'm at the top of that wall & I'm about to clamber over it...I still have to complete the rest of the assault course, but I'm physically fit, I just have to stay mentally fit....that's the challenge... it's all about what's in my head.... thinking big....believing in myself...my business,  the fabulous....The Delicious Food Co.

Big birthday next week...be positive, be strong....Dancing Queen...

Shirley

x

Small business...the Edge of (in)Sanity

Evening All,

After a few really positive months, with one good thing after another happening, it only took a little thing to send my spirit plummeting downwards. I've told you about the problems with managing cash flow & we are finally getting on top of it. Most of my clients are paying within 60 days & the bigger ones pay earlier.I know the pattern, what big payments I'll receive in week 1,2,3 & 4 of the month, and I manage our outgoings accordingly.

Last weeks big payment due on Wed for week 1 hadn't been paid by Friday, when I called accounts, I was told "oh sorry I forgot...I'll do it now.." too late for Fridays standing orders and to pay myself & Mr Delicious for last week. On Tuesday I picked up big payment for week 2, when I opened the envelope there were two cheques, one was post dated.for week 3.. I kid thee not... I cried.....another week of stress...trying to get money in from other clients 

Suddenly everything was a problem, the amount of time I spend in the van, the lack of space in fridges in my shops,the time that staff  start at in the morning, the state of my house...I was in a big black hole.

By Thursday lunch time I had covered off the second post dated cheque, with two payments from other clients and the client who had post dated it changed the date so I can lodge it today, so technically we are ahead of where I thought I'd be at the end of this week.

 Problem solved!

But it's not....I'm shook by how easily the negativity & fear took over, I'm worrying about next weeks big payment and how that will effect everything...I'm worrying about the week after....and that's a big one for me because it's my birthday....a significant one..which I will be celebrating with a big DISCO themed party.

I've taken tomorrow off, I will clean my house, I'll make some sales calls, I'm going to the Dublin Fringe Fest, a big love of mine with some friends....I need to get my mojo back and I need it quickly.

I need it for my business, I need it for my family & most of all I need it for me..

cos I am after all..the Dancing Queen, youung & sweet only 17 Oh yeah !

Shirley x

First the good news...then the bad news

Evening all,

Today I got a call from my Google client...did you hear that...yes Google....Google is quickly moving up the leader board to become my biggest client. Soon Mr Big might not be so big...but Mr Big calls the shots & with corporate clients you are just never sure, decisions can be made way above my direct contact, that can mean that suddenly one can find themselves surplus to requirements....so like the alcoholic, we take the business one day at a time...

I told you business has been really good of late & with the audit out of the way, my focus is on getting more sales in. But already we are totally stretched, we need two more tables in the kitchen & one or two more people to get our product out. Today we had to prepare 10 individual salads for a meeting tomorrow for a client who will be taking 80 kilos of salads each week, as well as the individual salad bowls....

Today as I tottered around Tesco buying fruit for the rider,( which we are sponsoring) for BRIEFS , a camp cirque du soleil show which is running as part of Dublin Fringe Festival, my phone rings...Mr VIP client is on the line...

"hey Shirley...you know the salad pots I'm getting from you every day....how would you be fixed if we tripled our order....from Monday"..."that wouldn't be a problem" I say confidently...yet totting up the additional hours of labour in my head

....I call Mr Delicious, to break the news..."I've got some good news & I've got some bad news"...He groans..."gimme the bad first...." "Mr VIP wants an extra 60 salads per day starting Monday" oh dear he moans..".and the good news is ?" ....."Mr VIP wants an additional 60 salads per day from Monday....".

Them's  growing pains for you...

Shirley x

Dear God, just let me pass....

Evening all,

This was a big week for us at The Delicious Food Co. Each year one of our clients, Compass plc audit all their suppliers to ensure the quality & safety of their food operations...The email announcing that my audit is due is without a doubt the most terrifying email I receive each year.

The audit is NOT for the fainthearted. A scope for the audit 32 pages long is attached to the email...dates are required so that flights can be booked for the auditor....who comes over from UK.

My auditor last year was formerly head of QC for Marks & Spencer..do I need to say more.....

I try to ignore the email for as long as possible, adding it to the list of things that keep me awake at night...then with a burst of courage I email them  asking if they have a date for me, pretending that I have already responded ...once that's done there is no going back....flights are booked and I start frantically going over every record making sure everything is in place & up to date....product spec, packaging specs, calibration, water certificates, HACCP....

Each year I pray to God that I pass...failure means an automatic delisting, a loss of business & the stigma that goes with it...

On Wednesday afternoon in the final throws of the prep, I thought it would be a good time to give my house a deep clean....I'm not sure what part of my brain does that.... but some how I felt that going to bed in crisp clean sheets & waking up in a pristine bedroom...would help me pass....the 100's of data sheets needed to be filed....could wait.

Bed at 1.30am & up at 5.30... I gathered the files doing a final check that I had everything, tick, tick,tick...

Phone call comes announcing the arrival of the auditor, she's in the building....heart racing I go to meet her, like a lamb to the slaughter, my HACCP folders in my  trembling hands....but there was no need for the fear....she was lovely....my food operation is in good shape...each item on the scope was covered off by us...She said we were a credit to ourselves we should be very proud ..

Then the final analysis...

....not only did we pass....but The Delicious Food Co is an A grade Compass supplier.

Whoopie !

Shirley x.

Banking on success.....

Evening all,

Last time I wrote about the stresses of having a small business...the sleepless nights...the worry about cash flow. I told you then that the monthly invoice for one of my biggest clients, which is usually paid within days of receipt by the totally reliable D. was met with an "out of office until 26th August" reply was to be paid by the finance director......twice he told me last week it was being "paid today"...yet by Friday the money still hadn't reached our account...disaster....

I called Mr Big to see if he could make an early payment, but he wasn't in Dublin to sign a cheque but told me he'd sort it on Monday...and I have to say the man never ceases to surprise me...I know by tomorrow I'll have a cheque....that plus D being back from holidays, with another 10 days catering to be paid for, should mean that this week I may have a full nights sleep....( not to mention a fetching little number from the BT2 Autumn/Winter collection that I have my eye on...)

Last week a pitch I have been working on for a university campus paid off, and we are in there as the new salad supplier..this is our third big serious account win since May.....The Delicious Food Co is now in a different zone....

Buoyed on with this news I tentatively  rang the bank to see about extending our overdraft to facilitate the cash flow problems when they arise...somebody from the credit Dept would call m within a few days...they're very busy..blah, blah, blah...

Guess what..within an hour Trish called, she listened...she told me she could see the problems...there is a good flow of cash through the account...we've been in credit a few times during the year...(we were eh?)
she's popping the forms in the post...just fill 'em out & get them back to them....

Suddenly the questions about" how many dependents do you have?" on the application forms, no longer seems personal...this time I will fill out the forms with confidence.....I have a major quality audit this week..and although my horoscope in Sunday Times Style told me I am in for a a major shock this week...I am calm....it will take more than a dodgy horoscope to dampen my spirits at the moment...

So wish us luck ...and bring it on !

Shirley x



\

Sleep....in my dreams

Evening All,

If ever there was a week that reflects what it is like to be a small business owner, then this has been it.
July was our best months sales ever,  yet somehow the cash still ain't flowing
as it should be & the pressure is as hard as ever. When cash flow gets tight, I stop sleeping. I'll wake up at 2.30 & churn figures over in my head, til Mr Delicious gets up at 5.00. On paper it looks good, we are owed more than we owe, we are l busy, the KPI's are looking good & I know there's oodles more business out there for us, if we want it.

To take on more business we need more staff, when cash flow is tight, fear creeps in & holds me back,
fear of not being able to pay the staff, pay suppliers, fear of not paying ourselves....

Then suddenly, things change, the client who hasn't paid me for May (never mind June/July), coughs up after an emotional call from me, pleading for payment, telling them that my kids need new shoes for school....I pick up the post to discover a client who never pays on time has sent in two cheques without me having to harass Pat in accounts...the invoices I sent on Monday to the totally reliable D, which was met with an automatic "out of office reply"...away til 26th August...noooooo...will be paid today.

Yesterday, to celebrate we did a supermarket shop, in Superquinn, no less...the cupboards at home are now full of food bought for us & not whats left over from the kitchen, school books can be purchased, new shoes  for for the kids will be bought ...

I've started actively looking for a new chef to bring our business forward...I've booked a date for my annual Compass audit for two weeks time...I will get my website up & running...I have about 14 days to to achieve all this...before the cash starts drying up again...the fear & sleepless nights, take over....

Then it will be the month end...cash will start coming in again....

Ground Hog day...here I come...

Shirley x