Getting off The Hamsters Wheel.

Evening All,

Ask anybody who has a small business & you will find certain reoccurring themes like...ground hog day, spinning around on hamsters wheel...endlessness...

Yep...I have subscribed to them all...

When the ultimate boss of a client, who I already supply,  approached me recently & suggested I fill his fridges with my fabulous sandwiches & salads (sale or return),"take the pain & it will happen"  he said, genuinely & loaded with his experience.... I could feel my eyes filing with tears..".I've know the pain I said, I've been feeling it since I started"...& I knew in an instance from his eyes that he knew .. he too understood the pain.

That's the thing about being an entrepreneur....it's full of highs & lows. The biggest thing for us is that it's personal..my product, my work, my care, my love.....& that my dear reader is the thing we need to change...cos do you know what....to the customer ....it's only a bleeding sandwich or salad....

I'm working on that at the moment.I went out with my great friend Crona who is quite a lady, earlier this week.She started her own training company last year Hibernian Training (www.hiberberiantrainingcourses.ie). Crona worked for many years for James Farrell at PDL, they were not only colleagues, but  friends, James was the ultimate pro when it came to the sales function, there is so much to learn from James....

Crona told me  a story of how James having pitched through the public tender process for an existing contract, a contract he had held for many years & which he had put in a phenomenal amount of work for the tender. It went to a competitor...the training manager called James, "come in & I'll talk you through it ...go through your scores" ..."Nah..you're grand" James said....Crona was aghast....but hey...James' logic was spot on..."Listen it's a three year contract..it's gone...I know what we do, I know we're good, on wards & upwards...

N.E.X.T....

Us business owners need to develop a tougher skin..I'm doing that, kinda...We've gotta recognize the real opportunities and move quickly on when we know the potential sale is not going to become an order.

I'm excited about the future... Jan was a good month for sales & we were well up on last year, Business is good....really the only way is up !

Shirley x

What's to say....

Evening all,

Some say "life's a bitch"...and do you know what...sometimes it's true.

Today, life has truly  been a bitch.....today I picked up two new clients... there are some exciting things happening on the business front....but still it's been an awful day.

This time four weeks ago which was St Stephens Day I was sitting with Mr Delicious, our very close friends Cliff & Susan & her brother Declan & his super gorgeous wife Christine (who were over from London with their 2  kids)here in front of a big fire, sipping wine, eating humous talking about our plans for 2014.

I met Declan in Susan's at her child's First Communion  about a year ago. He was great fun, I liked him immediately, probably because he had a lot of Susan's traits..(.ya really gotta meet Susan to know what those traits are, what a special person she is... she's a fun, fun. fun gal...) but   he also had this cynical sense of humour that appealed to me....especially when the red wine ran out...

Last year Declan got one of those rare but manageable cancers & 4 weeks ago as we chatted in front of the big fire, Declan,  dressed like The Fonz in his Daz white T shirt & jeans, we talked about his cancer. For Declan it had been a tough year but he was on a trial drug & felt really good...he looked great albeit thinner than when I first met him.

Things have not been great for Declan since Christmas, with one health challenge after another. Yesterday Susan went to London to be with him & Christine. Today surrounded by his family he died. What's to say...a funny vibrant man with a beautiful wife, four great kids,three bereft sisters...simply not here anymore..gone...

Susan text me today before he died saying it was "unbearable" Does a word  exist that can top that after death.

This blog is an account of my life as a food producer....but way above being a food producer is being a friend, having friends....and I have been blessed with so many, close, close friends...Susan & Cliff are two of those I've been blessed to have in my life Today the dramas of my food producing life are nothing compared to my beautiful friends pain.

There really is nothing more to say.

RIP

Shirley

The Midas Touch (again)

Evening All,

Oh yes, it's been a great start to 2014 even if I say so myself. At the end of last year I decided to dive flawlessly & splendidly into 2014 & I am proud to confirm that I've done that.....not bad for a girl who wouldn't jump off the side of a boat without a life jacket.....I know it's early days, but "start as you mean to go on" & all those cliches spring to mind.

In 2007 before the crash I remember a period when everything I touched turned to gold. A new supplier who picked up one of our brochures from our kitchen passed it on to the next client on his route. This led to a chain of events that was astonishing. That clients' sandwich provider had just that day gone out of business, they called me, I went to see them, leaving with a hefty daily order in my pocket. I found out who the ex sandwich suppliers' other clients were & I called all of them. One of those clients was Ernst & Young who we then started supplying…. this

led to us becoming an approved supplier for a major food service provider, which led to accounts in PWC, RTE, Google,Citibank, Deloitte, ESB....& more..

A random knock of the back door of the kitchen of The Law Society as I was passing one day, led to us providing firstly sandwiches for the in house cafe & later all the catering for their regulations department.

The defunct sandwich provider had made sandwiches for Avoca  in Suffolk St so I called them had a meeting bringing along a selection of our gorgeous sandwiches & before I got back to my car, Avoca had placed their first order with us and so we made sandwiches for the Avoca brand for a few years…..

When the crash came, our top quality expensive sandwiches were a casualty in the sweeping cost cuts that affected everybody….

I remember getting a call from Davy Stockbrokers in 2008 cancelling all orders for the rest of the year. I was indignant ….a stockbroking company cutting out the pastries & sandwiches to save a few bob…it seemed ridiculous…..

The reality was that Davy knew the economic tsunami that was coming our way…they were buttoning down the hatches, doing whatever they needed to survive…

We too, like Davy survived the onslaught…sure…we lost accounts, but we won some new ones…we reinvented ourselves…. we fought back….we even had some great years...

But there is something about this year..The beginning of this year feels for the first time that things have really settled since that economic tsunami struck….I feel we are ready to conquer the world again the way we did in 2007. There is a confidence in the food industry...so we are going to attack this year with The Delicious Food Co brand…already I have secured a new client.. an existing client wants an additional 1,200 granola & yoghurt pots for next week….three occasional clients have booked in nice pieces of business for next week as well….& that’s only week one…all extra business on top of the other daily deliveries...

I went to a presentation last year & the message was simple….”believe & it will happen, ask & you will be given” The thing is you have to believe, really believe, believe it in a way that is part of you…I don’t know where that comes from but having dived off the diving board without my life jacket, into the clear waters of 2014 so splendidly & flawlessly…

I believe.

Shirley 

Navigating the course of 2014.

Happy New Year Everyone,

In case you missed it & as a reminder to myself...a blog I wrote in December finished with the following:

"My brother called me yesterday, he reads endless "motivational" books and has a deeply philosophical view on life, as well as an amazing house, a big job  a beautiful wife & four fab kids.... (ya see they do work....those books)

He suggested that "we"......meaning me of course, get into a different head space for next year, to celebrate the highs & focus on the positives, of which there have been so many for Mr Delicious & me.

So that's what I'm going to do...I'm going to stand on the diving board, side by side with Tom Daley, remove the demons from inside my head....and dive head first,  flawlessly, splendidly into 2014 ...

FREE.....

I'm repeating this as it's something I want to take into 2014 with me, it's how I want to start my year and it's how I want to be in 2014. On paper we achieved great things at The Delicious Food Co in 2013 yet those achievements just never translated into the same sense of success in my own head. Maybe my expectations were too high... That's the thing about success....it ain't always on the spreadsheets...it's  in your head....

So yesterday I got straight back to work.....we finished the year with a whopping 25% increase in sales from the previous year..yes & I do know that "turnover is vanity, profit is king" but the final accounts  aren't done yet....still.... we have a great base going into 2014....I'm no longer the delivery guy....the white (straight) jacket is gone....(see blog Men in White Coats) I'm the boss...I'm holding the reins of this frisky pony that is The Delicious Food Co & we are going to navigate the course of 2014 ...clearing each hurdle with real panache & style...winning

you just watch this space....

Shirley x

A walk in my shoes....

Evening all,

Some people say what they love about blog is my honesty....the beautiful Lisa from Monaco Cupcakes (@monacocupcakes) told me she loves it because she recognizes so much of herself in it as a small business owner...she told me that I express how a lot of SME business owners feel but wouldn't say aloud....on Twitter she promotes my blogs with the hashtag "#walkinmyshoes ".....that's quite a compliment in my shoes........

 Since I started writing in March the blog has reflected my own state of mind...I've noticed that some people who read at the beginning & identified with my anxiety & applauded my honesty seem to withdraw when the blogs become more positive....I've had some senior people, gainfully employed say that they too identified with much of it especially when the going got tough....I think my siblings now know me in a way they didn't before...

I hope the blog has made you smile, I hope if like Lisa  & you are a small business owner, it made you feel that you are not alone.I also hope that like me you had some real highs during the year.....well done to all of us who have kept the pulse of small business beating, with our energy, our tenacity, our creativity....

Next year is shaping up to being a good year, there is a good vibe out there on the ground.....I intend to achieve great things for The Delicious Food Co.....

Just don't expect to see any of us til the start of Jan 2014, we will all be recharging our batteries, lying low....

"Will you have a Baileys with your breakfast love....?"

Ooooooh yes please !

Merry Christmas

Shirley x

Chilli con Carne....Mr Delicious Style....

Evening All

This time two weeks it will be Christmas Eve, my house will be full of our close friend from college & their kids, who will pop in for a festive drink & a bowl of Mr Delicious' famous Chilli con Carne. The chilli thing started as a joke when we first started this festive gig many years ago, as chilli  was the food offering at every party we ever had from the student years....until....well until 4EVR.

 However just like our friends kids, who used to drink juice, but now drink wine & beer....the chilli has all grown up.....

Now its diced beef, marinated for days...with cinamon, chillis, brown sugar & very dark chocolate....each grain of rice is hand picked by Mr Delicious to see if it makes the grade for this special gathering.Without a doubt those few hours on Christmas Eve are my favourite time of the year, every year.

On one level I'm winding down for Christmas, my head is..thinking presents for the kids, getting the house ready....I have grand ideas about having it all painted by Christmas, I even sanded down the bathroom door on my way to bed last night ...as you do..
....prep, prep, prep....

On the other hand, my head is in overdrive planning for next year & The Delicious Food Co.When we re branded the company last year there was a three year plan....at the end of the three years there would be a big payoff....I'm not quite sure if we are in year one of two at the moment.....Did year one start when we first went on sale in shops which was March 2012 or did it start when we first took delivery for our fab & funky labels last December.....

One of the great things about being the boss is that I get to call the shots and so, whilst some might suggest it's kinda cooking the books, I've decided to officially declare that on 31 December 2013 The Delicious Food Co will celebrate it's first full years trading & as we pop those champagne corks on New Years Eve, it will be with some relief that I kiss goodbye to 2013....& rock on in to 2014.



Shirley
x

Free falling towards Christmas & 2014

Evening All,

The last week in November was a tough one in many, many ways....but once 1st December kicks in & Xmas FM  starts broadcasting, deliciously, from the radio, there is only one thing on my mind & that is the last day for deliveries before  to Christmas and the break until we are back on 1st January...

Over the past few years, there have been some great  years & some  incredibly tough ones....it's ironic that this year despite being our most successful so far.....it's been one of the toughest.We have all worked our butts off....& now we are spent  & tired...our batteries are empty..... We have produced, labelled & delivered over 65,000 Delicious Food Co salads & sandwiches & another 40,000 for clients under their own brand. We have catered for over 2,000 diners @ corporate lunches in different locations.... god knows how many sandwich platters we've made & delivered...all done by just four of us from a 500sq ft kitchen & a small Ford van.

I'm proud as punch.

My head has been all over the place this year as I've had to deal with stuff I never signed up for...
The move from my lovely office to home has not resulted in a more chilled me, the yoga thing never quite took off & as for munching on raw carrots & jogging down the canal between closing deals...maybe next year.

The next three weeks will be dominated by whether clients pay us or not...an overdue payment from a significant client may or may not come in ....they can't confirm...emails are not been answered...that leaves me in the same position with my suppliers...if the money owed to me is paid ...happy days...for us & our suppliers... if not...well let's not go there ..yet....I want everybody  paid before Christmas...& I'm going to to make it happen....

My brother called me yesterday, he reads endless "self help" books and has a deeply philosophical view on life, as well as an amazing house, a big job  a beautiful wife & four fab kids.... (ya see they do work....those books)
He suggested that "we"......meaning me of course, get into a different head space for next year, to celebrate the highs & focus on the positives, of which there have been so many for Mr Delicious & me.

So that's what I'm going to do...I'm going to stand on the diving board, side by side with Tom Daley, remove the demons from inside my head....and dive head first,  flawlessly, splendidly into 2014 ...

FREE.....


Shirley x