New York State of Mind

Evening All,

Wow, we're here!

All six of us after an epic trip from Dublin to Madrid to Boston to NYC are now on day two of our amazing holiday to NY. The Boston bit was due to JFK closing due to thunder storms. My eldest with much wit announcing that had we come on a famine ship, we'd have got to NYC quicker ! We have swapped house with my cousin; his , a beautiful colonial style four storey house for our tiny mid terraced pad in Dublin 8.

We are in heaven.

I mentioned in my last blog about the fear of leaving our business, of handing it over to our great staff for 10 days. We did as much as we could to prepare everybody, clients & staff and to be honest we can do no more.

If you have been following the blog you know that the business dominates my life, the highs, the lows the agonies & the ecstasies, but not now, not now that I am here .

Myself & Mr Delicious give The Delicious Food Co so much of ourselves 24/7, so this is the time that we discover what The Delicious Food Co gives us. The suppliers we are loyal to, the staff consider family, the clients for whom we go willingly to the ends of the earth.

Last night as I stood on Brooklyn Bridge & watched the 4th July fireworks explode in the NY sky with my daughter Magali who's biggest ambition in life is to come & live in New York, I was moved by the enormity of what was unfolding. Here I was in the most exciting place in the world with the 5 people I love most in the world. An opportunity afforded us by our hard work & a helping hand from my beloved mother. A chance of a lifetime.

I will not check a single work email until my return. I will live in the moment each step of this American dream. This morning we went to an outlet, whilst the kids shopped I had a massage, the elderly Chinese man who massaged me went deliciously way over the allotted time....."why so much stress in your body" he asked.

"Work" I replied, it's tensions still in my mind & my body. But as the day progressed I refused to let my work life near me. It is in a box in Dublin & that is where it is staying for now. And let's face it, if I can't do that in NYC here, for 10 days with the true loves of my life..

what do I really have.

Love

Shirley x

The American Dream....Here we come !

Evening All,

On gloriously sunny days like we've had this week, it's great to be self employed. 

Today I knocked off early & popped into town where at 3 o'clock I was sitting outside The Bailey, with my friend Susan enjoying a nice crisp glass of white wine. I had worked solidly from 6.30 until then, but it still felt like a bold & decadent thing to do. Thankfully Susan had to drive later so we just had a glass & not a bottle.

You see one of the downsides to self employment can be the lack of time off, but in two weeks myself Mr Delicious & our four kids are doing a house swap with my cousin in NYC for 10 days. This will be our first holiday in three years and boy are we excited. Our tiny  house is currently undergoing a declutter of epic proportions. It's one thing to do a house swap with a stranger who you will never meet, but my cousin....well,  I'll be seeing him intermittently for the rest of my life, so he  doesn't need to see my domestic chaos.

Then there is work.

Myself & Mr Delicious  work about 100 hours per week & that has to be replaced. We have a wonderful team and am confident that our business will be in good hands, but  that won't stop me worrying. We are now busier than ever, we have just taken on a big six week contract...and I have yet to break the news to the client that it won't be me at the end of the phone 24/7. I feel guilty & angst ridden, but why work 100 hour week if we can't take ten days with our kids for the opportunity of a life time.

I think we've ticked all the boxes, crossed all the t's & dotted all the i's...but there is still the fear of those unaccounted days when we will be on the other side of the world, trying to forget about The Delicious Food Co. whilst scouring New York for new ideas for ..... The Delicious Food Co.

Does it ever end !

Shirley x

This Little Foodie's on Fire !

Evening All,

Oh yes it's been a funny old year so far.

In January I wrote a blog called "The Midas Touch (again)" about the possibilities that lay ahead of us for 2014. I referenced a time pre recession when everything I touched turned to gold, sale after sale rolling in. We got badly  hit by recession as our gorgeous sandwiches made on wonderful breads got replaced by mass produced wedges, that had travelled miles to get here & lasted forever, our corporate catering decimated by cut backs, our sandwich platter business ...forget it!

I felt in my bones that  those heady days of the Midas touch were about to return (again), I felt ready to conquer the world, spread our deliciousness everywhere. 

Boy was I wrong. 

No sooner had I hit the "publish" button on the blog , then a call came from  Mr Big  to say that his new kitchen was up & running." Hello new kitchen & muse"," bye, bye" Shirley.(although I did manage to save a bit of the business) The following week I got a call to say that one of my food service accounts had lost a large corporate client I supplied to, so that went too.

A change of personnel at a company for whom I did a phenomenal amount of work , meant that a business that had been a joy to service for two years, became angst ridden, messy &  lacking in  professional courtesy to us. So, I took the (brave/mad?) decision to terminate our services to them, and washed that angst right outta my hair.

I am now delighted to tell you that I am again back on a roll. I got eight new clients in May, who are all spending. I have secured a substantial piece of business from a college for a six week period starting in the next two weeks. The client said I'm a pain in the ass, but I know she was pleased as punch for me when she called with the great news.A client I pitched to to do all their catering for the next year has just booked us for today & tomorrow.....(does that mean I've got it....)

You all know that I sometimes find that this food gig, just wears me down, but something very strange happened to me on Sunday night. As I crept into bed where Mr Delicious was already sound asleep, I found myself for the first time in a very long time, deliciously excited about the week ahead and I am delighted to report  that thus far it hasn't disappointed.

Rock on !

Shirley

I'd Do Anything........

Evening all,

Things are very exciting here in the food industry amongst all us little guys aiming to be the next big thing.

 Lidl  & RTE are teaming up to produce a new TV programme "The Taste of Success". They are looking for  wannabe food entrepreneurs, existing local food producers, or anybody with a decent food idea & dream of turning Granny's blue cheese apple strudel into a national taste phenomenon, to apply.

 Now this ain't any old reality TV show...this is The Apprentice with sprinkles. Experts to guide & refine the product...marketing advice...good old fashioned expert mentoring which is the one thing we all want so badly.

Just think what the exposure would do for my business & that's not all.

The prize is a whopping 100k in cash, royalties,  a national listing with Lidl  & marketing campaign

If there is a foodie in Dublin who says they aren't interested I suspect they are lying.

I've never been one to want to draw attention to myself, although I have considered applying for Dragon's Den. I've even perfected my elevated pitch to the Dragons in my head as I've winded my way around town

delivering my salads & sandwiches in my little Ford van  

" Hi my name is Shirley & I'm looking for 100k for 5% of my business "The Delicious Food Co"

& as Gavin, Ramona, & Eamonn challenge my valuation I'd win them over, with confident assured answers...and they would argue that it's a tough market...but they believed in ME, were going to invest in ME..and the bidding war would begin, three Dragons at my mercy..

.Oooh yes!

This competition is a whole new level of exposure...as part of the application form they ask "what is the worst thing that ever happened to you? "( like I'm gonna tell a reality TV show that), but I'll think of something that works for both of us,I need an impressive application form, they suggest a video might be good, but definitely a photo with  the product.

So, I need to loose a few pounds so I look good on camera, I need a decent sob story that won't make my mother cry with the humiliation of it all. I already have the winning product. I've decided not to watch myself back in any of the episodes.

Yes this little foodie is aiming high, considering exposing all ..(again)  for our  wonderful
The Delicious Food Co...I'd do anything..

anything !

Shirley x

Back in the saddle ...Go, go, go....

Evening All,

How are you ?

I'm sorry I haven't been around for a bit. I'm not really sure why I stopped blogging, but for some reason I just couldn't seem to find my voice &  there's no point in blogging without that voice. It's been a strange few months, so much has happened I should have been bursting to tell you, but instead I retreated into my shell & laid low.

Last time I blogged there was potentially something big on the horizon, a Delicious Food Co cafe, but it didn't happen & to be honest there was a part of me that breathed a sign of relief. It would have been fab, but it would also have been a distraction from what needs to be done....& what needs to happen is that I need loads more clients. Every year there has always been a few big clients to keep us busy to capacity. Any more work & Mr Delicious would kill himself with exhaustion, so we carry on busy, busy but not really growing...

But that's not the truth.

We are growing ..by over 20%  year on year, last year...and that was phenomenal...but oh no ..not good enough for me.."ah sure client X spent Y & if we didn't have that ...blah, blah, blah.."

So with the distraction of the cafe out of the way...I'm back in the game, doing what I do best.
I'm selling.
 We have taken on a new chef so we now have more of paid hours than we have work, so Mr Delicious can get back home in time to get dinner on the table.  I'm selling by walking the streets, knocking on doors, introducing myself showing customers what we do...and guess what...I'm having a blast....

Popping into big corporate buildings ...charming my way past security.
."Do you have an appointment, Miss..?."

"Do I need one  Sirrrr ?"

I'm still waking up during the night, to tot up the figures, but lately I've put my head back in  the pillow & told myself  "NO, no sums tonight "  and have managed to fall back into deep slumber.

For various reasons..I lost my momentum  last year (whilst increasing sales by 20%), but strangely I've never felt more motivated or back in the game than I do now. Just like Nicholas Roche, I may have lost a bit of time by falling off my bike, but I'm back in the saddle peddling hard....I won't be wearing the pink jersey this time...but the yellow is there for the taking...and that's where my sights are set....

Ride on !

Shirley
x

What;s a few more days to friends like us!

Evening All,

What a roller coaster the past few weeks have been.

I've sat down a few times to write a blog & let you all know what's going on...yet .somehow the words get as far as my fingertips, but something in my head won't let them hit the keys...all those cliches," if it sounds too good to be true, that's usually because it is". "be careful what you wish for ", keep my fingertips paralysed...."say nothing, not yet" my fingers subliminally obeying my head & not my heart.

It's not just the blog, I'm struggling with...it's Twitter & Facebook too. I think I've just wrapped myself in a big, big blanket of bubble wrap, those thousands of air bubbles protecting me from myself, from possible disappointment...Just a few more days I promise....then I will tell you all.

We've come so far together from my first blogs when I invited you to sit beside me in my little van as I made my way around Dublin, delivering my delicious salads & sandwiches to shops and told you my stories...You have been such good company, I really want to make you proud. I want you to feel part of my success, I want you cheer & yell from the sideline "we knew she could do it." I don't want to let you down.

So just few more days...

I promise.

Shirley x

Karma...please (you owe me!)

         

Untitled

There is a Forbidden Fruit

Of that you may be sure

It grows on many different trees

Something that you will want terribly bad

That always evades you. And you say

If I had that I would be fulfilled.

And you never know all the time

About the invisible Guardian Angel....

 Then some unlucky day all incidents

.....Co-ordinate into a perfect moment

You get what you want whatever it is

And are cast down into Eternal Torment.

I know what I am talking about.



                                         -Patrick Kavanagh

This is one of my favorite poems, by Patrick Kavanagh. The past two weeks have been mental beyond belief. The last blog I wrote was about our crowd funding initiative that we were about to launch with @LinkedFinance. I knew then that I was heading into a scary, scary time. Putting yourself out there ain't easy, even for an open book like me.But then so many other things started to happen as soon as I started the crowd funding, it felt like all the planets were aligning, opportunity, after opportunity, coming our way...could it really all be happening..

I'm writing this with less than three hours to go & we are just over 70% funded. My nerves are in shreds. I refer to the untitlled poem above, as I cannot help but feel what is going on in the poem, is happening to me in reverse . That if my funding comes it it will be the first step of a series of incidents that do indeed "co-ordinate into a perfect moment, that I will get what I want"...

There is such an exciting things happening in the next few weeks for us, I daren't utter it yet...but hey I promise to reveal all in due course...but first I need to hit that target & then maybe, just maybe I'll start to believe....in karma..

89% funded....two hours to go.

Wish me luck.

Shirley