Marching into March...Intact & on Fire.

Evening All,

Phew !

If my last blog at the end of January started with "WOW", then the end of February comes with a definite" phew". For those of us SME owners who get paid after 30/ 60 days from the end of the month

February is a nightmare.This  is the month we get paid for December sales, and  December 2014 was a very short month. I have been dreading February since last November.

 There hasn't been a night that I haven't woken up every hour & done a tot of the balance sheet...what's coming in..what's going out.

 I am wrecked !

But February has also been a terrific month.

 Sales have been up on January by over 20%, the accolades about our food continue to roll in. Office catering has taken off with a bang with a significant increase in sales in that sector too, The great thing about office catering is that every time I see an email with a catering order I can quickly rejig the midnight balance sheet in a positive direction, in the knowledge that the order will be paid for within a week or two.

In February we also had an approach to poach myself & Mr Delicious from a CEO of another food business. He has been watching what we do & think it would be great for his business. With the financial resources & knowledge of his business he sees a great future for all of us, but under his brand..not ours, The Delicious Food Co.

We are tremendously flattered by the approach, we have huge respect for his business, his team & what they have achieved, but we are not ready to let go. To be honest, I don't think either of us could ever work for somebody again.

Today my son who is doing TY work experience with us, asked me if he won the lottery which would we prefer...for him to invest a lot of money in the business to take it to the next level or for him to just look after us financially. Without a moments hesitation I  said for him to look after us financially.

I may not want to be employed again...but the prospect of somebody else footing the bill for another lifestyle....well that's just something for which myself & Mr Delicious might just be ready

In the meantime .March 2015..here we come !

Shirley
x

50 Shades of Delicious (Part 2)

Evening All,

Wow what a January it's been !!

At the end of last year I flicked thru' all  my blogs & thought to myself  "you're like a bleedin' stuck record... "...ground hog day and all that... Recording one's life for all to read is fine...but seeing the lack of progress for myself was unsettling.

But of course that is partly because I am my own harshest critic.We achieved great things last year, but enough just never seems to be enough. The absence of any public profile for The Delicious Food Co makes me feel like I've personally failed it, as newbie, after newbie pop up in every magazine supplement, glowing reviews of products & owners...beaming at the camera with a plate of product accompanied with the  story of their rags to foodie richness journey.

I don't think I've ever told you that a big love of mine is theatre,  productions  in small venues. I have seen the most wonderful plays in tiny venues, plays that are so good their power  will never leave me, "Lippy""I heart Alice heart I" "Care""Out of Wedlock","The Author" "Creepy Jimmy" "The Oh Fuck Moment" "Smile of your Face" the list goes on; small productions in small venues, gone before they get the recognition they deserve.Maybe I love them because they are like me; no big promo budget, no clever PR machine,just great story tellers making magic theatre quietly yet so deserving of bigger audiences & wider public acclaim.

So,
it was with great delight that last week I accepted a challenge from the doyenne of Irish theatre The Abbey Theatre to run a pop up shop Delicious Food Company shop at the theatre for delegates at a two day  Theatre of War Symposium.There I rediscovered my inner  Delicious Food Company's greatness.The feedback I got about our food was superlative,

 one positive comment after another...

So with this renewed confidence, my head is in just the right place to make this The Delicious Food Co's tenth year in business, the overnight success it has always meant to be. To create that public profile our food deserves, for us to be beaming at you from the Sunday Times, our Orzo & Roasted Carrot salad in hand. In the week that 50 Shades of Grey hits the big screen
Forget Christian Grey & Anna Steele
for this is me & Mr Delicious time.

Shirley x

Bless Me Father.. I continue to sin...(I'm still a social media cripple) Part 2

Evening All,

More  than a year after writing one of my fav blogs on being a social media cripple...of swearing that all was about to change...that I would get my website up & running...that my twitter feed would become more foodie, my Facebook page the go to place for witty commentary on life, catering, recipes, advice & random stuff I pick up along the way ..I am still that same social media cripple. I have even come to consider it as some kind of website phobia ...a fear of something that has no basis in   logic.

I did try in Jan 2014 and top of the brief was...PLEASE MAKE ME DO IT...I paid more upfront than was required & off we went. I disappeared for a bit, but I went back, made myself sit with the designer, signed off on the template & begged him to keep on my case until it was finished. He clearly didn't get the message/was too busy with other clients/ life or maybe he just didn't like me...

not a whisper did I hear from him, again...

I have now met the man to get this over the line...an Australian called Brad who lives down under and has steadfastly made it his mission to  get my website up & running. Brad thinks nothing of calling me ten times per day...and has done for almost two months now, I cannot escape him and now I'm hooked. Brad with his endless patience & infinite politeness

has made me confront my fear.

I swear that when you next hear from me I will be sporting my latest fashion accessory...

the link to my new website 

Hail Brad !

Shirley

x


Part 1

http://deliciousfoodco.blogspot.ie/2013/10/bless-me-father-for-i-have-sinned-im.html

What's another year !

Evening All,

Tomorrow Monday the 5th of January is the date a lot of us return to work for the first time since before Christmas & I have to say the break has been just lovely.Skipping the rhythm of normal life, sleeping late, catching up with family & friends for mid afternoon drinks in town, going to parties 

( dressed in my first ever on line purchase...a  little sequin number I ordered pre Xmas from ASOS, that has already paid for itself in admiring glances & feel good vibes....)

Generally the New Year comes with new resolutions, but to be honest, I'm not one for new resolutions.I've broken enough of them in my time to know that my energy is better directed elsewhere. Like everyone else I know what I need to change & what I need to do & it's all in there in my head ready for action. Maybe those thoughts are resolutions in themselves.

However today I have  done something a little differently. For  first the first time in years I have bought a proper work diary, where I can write up my "to do"lists day by day, write in my orders, my appointments, my quotes. One big solid book of empty white pages waiting to be filled with how my work life will unfold in the next 12 months. Just looking at it this evening on the coffee table excites me, the possibilities that await it's blank pages, the successes, the drama. I cannot wait to start filling it...seeing how the story unfolds

This year we celebrate our 10th year of The Delicious Food Co. Ten years since we first rented a commercial kitchen in Smithfield with just one client & started a whole new adventure in the food business. Now ain't that something to celebrate.

To each & everyone of you I wish you a very happy, successful & healthy new year.

It's 2015 bring it on !

Shirley x

Working 9 to 5 ...what a way..Yeah !

Evening all,

I kinda promised myself I'd keep the blog up beat this year & I think I've  been fairly true to my word. When things have slipped I didn't post it in a blog but rather waited until things were better & off I went again.

I've been doing this foodie thing for  a long time now & sometimes I just wish I did something completely different, that I didn't have  responsibilities for so many things ... staff, suppliers, rent.

 Dolly was wrong when she sang

 "working nine to five what a way to make a living..., it's all taking & no givin" 

she really hadn't a clue, cos that's what it feels like to be self employed, except the hours are longer. Imagine just waking up & floating into work, doing what has to be done...Monday to Friday, nine to five, switching off my work head & the office lights simultaneously. 

Last week, as I juggled cold calling to prospective clients, with vat returns, chasing outstanding invoices with menu suggestions for a new client, ordering packaging materials etc all the while worrying about some family stuff,, I absently asked my 16 year old son
 "will I ever stop juggling"
 & quick as a flash he replied 

"mom, if ya wanna stop juggling, ya gotta quit the circus"

Now ain't that food for thought !

Shirley 

x

Anyone for (Commercial) Tennis ...?

Evening All,

Keeping all the balls in the air is not easy for anybody, especially us small business folk, at whom the balls often come at at the speed of  one of those automated tennis ball machines I've seen on the telly. 

Hit ! Lob ! Swing ! Miss! Repeat ! Hit ! Lob! Hit !, Hit ! Hit!

I think at last I'm beginning to feel comfortable in this rhythm of my life, it seems like it's all I've ever known.

It's been a funny few weeks. A valued staff member has left to become a taxi driver, we've lost an account that was busy but low margin & another few projects which we were working on have come to an end. With the extra time we've been working on our corporate business, which, whilst it doesn't have the consistency of the daily wholesale deliveries to shops, has double the margin, which means half the work.

Let's face it ...it's a no brainer as to which direction to take.

The other great thing about the corporate market is how the cheques/transfers  roll in. I now spend lots of time in the bank making lodgements, where I now consider the bank tellers my new best friends.With each lodgement that I make we exchange idle banter about our lives. We get to know each others stories & in that moment of exchange we care briefly about each other.

You see, the banks staff & myself have all been on the same journey for the past few years, we've all been fearful, stressed, worried about the future, but at last things feel better, lighter.

So as I end this weeks installment of my life let's raise a glass to the front line staff in banks who had no part in the decisions that were made by their directors that caused the recession, yet who probably got more than their fair share of contempt for a very long time.

Here's to moving up & moving on !

Cheers,

Shirley

I've got a sick note...What will I do with it !

Evening All,

I'm sick.

It doesn't happen very often but after eight days of barking like the sick hound that I am I booked myself in with the doctor for an appointment.She said I was quite bad, but antibiotics wouldn't do

any good.As I spluttered through my appointment, she suggested 15 minutes on a nebuliser might do the trick, so they hooked me up & I did what I was told...big deep breaths, whilst devouring Victoria & David Beckhams glorious life courtesy of Hello magazine. At the end of the session with no improvement the doc suggested steroids to try & move things along..

Steroids..I don't think so, not yet anyway.

She has prescribed an inhaler & a codeine cough bottle, and a few days rest. Oh yes, I am now in possession of my first ever sick note, but what can I do with it. give it to myself or Mr Delicious ?(who incidentally is quite peeved as he too is a bit sick, just not as much as me )

That's the thing about self employment, getting sick is just not an option.

So being the trooper that I am I've been dragging my aching body out of my warm bed, on these wintery mornings, night after night of broken sleep. I've dug deep inside myself, lifted each box of The Delicious Food Co salads & sandwiches, despite the pain it causes in my chest & replenished the shelves of my treasured clients, all the while muffling my asthmatic coughs.and I' have to say I've played a blinder, not a single client has noticed how sick I am ..the sacrifice I am making just being there.

That is until today. When I got to the wonderful Accents Tea & Coffee lounge Daniel  produced a tea with fennel, ginger & honey when I delivered his sandwiches saying "take this ..you've had that cough all week "

To quote the great Spike Milligan

"I told you I was sick "

Shirley x

Oh ..The Irony of Life !.

Evening All,

Today was a lovely day.

Today my eldest daughter turned 18. It seems like only yesterday that I was rolling (on my fat pregnant belly) down a steep sand dune from my friends Crona's summer house in Wexford to the beach, trying to induce a labour which was already 13 days overdue.

When I presented the next morning in Holles St. they suggested I stay & asked if I had brought an overnight bag with me. No, I hadn't, in fact I hadn't even packed one.I remember Mr Delicious double parking on South King St. whilst I nipped into Dunnes Stores to pick up a nightie, baby gros etc.

There is an element of that me that hasn't changed since that day.

I'm still a "seat of her pants" kind of entrepreneur. Despite the highs & lows of our business life, the absence of cash at key moments, things always seem to work out. So today  I had the amazing good fortune, to be able to take my daughter (window) shopping in Tiffany in Brown Thomas

As we purveyed the beautiful jewellery, the impeccable John, suggested a glass of champers for both of us to celebrate her 18th.

So, it was with much joy & amusement & irony that this hippie foodie,whilst wearing her own

treasured tiny Tiffany lock & key, celebrated her daughters first (legal) drink with a glass of champagne in Tiffany @ Brown Thomas, whilst purchasing a beautiful simple Tiffany bracelet.

Today life is good !

Shirley

Casting my net at a networking event

Evening all,

One of the nice things about my new role as catering queen (in waiting) of the corporate sector is that it will require a change of image. I will need a new wardrobe, or at the very least a few "key pieces" for the season,...no more Converses, jeans or comfy Tee's,

I may even have to brush my hair..

..

On Thursday evening as one of Dublin Chamber newest members, I'll be attending an afterworks networking event in Mason Hayes Curran in Barrow St & I will need to look sharp, competent, a girl ready to do business. Already I'm wondering what to wear.

There are so many options to consider,

I could opt for

...the killer networker look.. pencil skirt, crisp white shirt, seriously high shoes...

or

I could pull that back & go casual smart, "I'm a nice girl, you'd be in a safe pair of hands with me"

or

I could just dress like me but smarter?

That's it,sorted, I'll wear a smart pair of jeans/ black legging, a designer Tee, a tailored jacket & my secret weapon, my new 5 inch chunky platform boots & nobody will even realise, as I smile & sparkle that this nice sweet girl from The Delicious Food Co, is in fact a killer networker at work.

Your business card please!

Shirley

Corporate World ....here I come again !

Evening All,

So here I am on a Saturday evening pouring over the Google machine, (as Mr Delicious refers to it) researching images of sandwiches & sandwich platters, wondering not for the first time,

"how did I get here"

In a previous life I was featured in a glossy magazine as a fashion stylist to watch, with page after glorious shiny page of gorgeous images of Irish fashion designers

all chosen & styled by
 MOI

Those who knew me back then still giggle at the irony that the generous expense account lunches, the flash company cars & designer suits have been replaced with a white van & me packing shelves of shops with my wonderful salads & sandwiches. In truth,  the biggest irony of all is that underneath those designer suits lay a dormant hippie never truly destined for the constraints of corporate life.

Two weeks ago we made the decision to merge the two  assets of our business our great food & my sales/people skills. So that is where we will be focussing our attention in the next few months.I will no longer be found stacking shelves with our gorgeous Delicious Food Co produce, although we will still be on sale in shops, I'll be back in my designer gear, targeting the corporate market.

We had a great start to our corporate campaign this week with, two small catering gigs and  a posh do in The Royal Irish Academy, yesterday for over eighty people, where several people asked for my business card & the client was incredibly complimentary. It felt good to be dressed to impress, to put on a delicious spread & to get such immediate positive feedback.

And of course the icing on the cake was when the client pulled out his cheque book, clicked his pen ready to write & uttered those wonderful words,
"Now, how much do I owe so I can settle with you now"

delicious !


Shirley

x

Smoking Guns...Everywhere

Evening all,

Last week was one of those cash flow weeks that was really trying. The good cop/bad cop routine of one particular accounts dept was especially stressful. Good cop promised that I'd have my money on time this month. When it didn't come, day after promised day, he blamed bad cop....the one who makes the payments....

he, being the good guy would call them sort it out.

A week later still no money & I discover bad cop was on holidays all the while, and good cop hadn't authorized payment , so it was never on it's way to me as promised at the beginning of the month, but guess who ended up in trouble  feeling like they'd been shot.

 ME !

I was trying to explain the intricacies of cash flow  to my 13 year old daughter, when she was the one who pulled the trigger....

."Mom, I have no idea what you are talking about...

"I am NOT your  therapist "

Ouch !

Shirley 

Post 2013 Calm.....Breathe in ...breathe out......

Evening all,

I haven't been blogging much of late. I mentioned before I thought I had lost my voice, but it's not just that, to blog every week you need to keep at it, punching it out every week getting into a stride. So bear with me, I'm a bit rusty, a bit sensitive after an innocent comment that I reveal too much about myself & business, from my biggest fan & critic...so I need to get back in my groove.

The themes over the past year have been, cash flow, the van, the brand. I have to be honest a year ago when I told you my stories my head was in a completely different space. I tried to tell that story from the prospective of a small business owner & it worked because it was honest. If you were in that head space you would have understood immediately and many did & told me so.

I am currently on a mission to file every scrap of paper/ receipt/ recipe before the end of this week.I am always writing stuff down on envelopes, notebooks, pieces of paper. Each one a true snippet into my life...the most personal stuff with the most benign

"have a knot in the pit of my stomach..gotta get x sorted... 

.....Ploughman's x 10,Classic Club x 10...Med BLT x 5.....

Platter x 25 Med Council Thurs....noon
breathe in...., breathe out...stay calm..

Peter gym 086 056....Ballyturk ...great reviews... book....

My scribbles, reflect my head perfectly, my anxieties, my stresses,my highs, my control, my focus on the business whilst catching sight of something on a hoarding poster that grabs my attention as I deliver my gorgeous salads & sandwiches in my van around the city.

So my story will still be that of a small business owner, currently wondering if invoice discounting is manna from heaven or the breath of Satan on a business. But hopefully the story will be more upbeat, sales are rocketing, but so are costs, nights are still sleepless but not so anxiously so.I'm trying to get a retail outlet & have my eye in somewhere. But unlike last year, I'm  chilled...if we get it great & if not if just not meant to be

.....not this time anyway.....

Everybody join in

"ce sera, sera, what ever will be will be...

Shirley xx

Life...A Triumph ..(no greater achievement)

Evening All,

It's been an awful week.

 Two friends died this week, Richie who died  suddenly last Sunday & Fiona on Wednesday evening after a long & awful battle with cancer.Two deaths followed by two funerals; Richie's a beautiful eloquent humanist farewell in Glasnevin and Fiona's a wonderful traditional religious mass in Sandymount. The untimely death of friends taken from us way before their time, should make us challenge the way we live our lives. Carpe Diem and all that, or should it?

Today I listened to an RTE radio documentary  about the fabulous Plurabelle Paddlers,which Fiona set up in 2010. A dragon boating club for women who had been affected by breast cancer. The idea being to enhance the well being of women affected by cancer by offering a sporting activity that had proven links to improving the health of women sufferers. At the beginning of the documentary, Fiona spoke about when cancer first struck. She, like most people,  was under the impression that such a diagnosis would be, for some reason, a  defining moment, where one re evaluates their own life. She said quite simply with her signature giggle..".I didn't feel a need to evaluate my life.. I was happy with how my life was going"  

And so it is with mine. I have been   happy of late as how my life is going, but some things need to change. I hadn't seen Richie or his wife Sandra who was my flat mate at college for ages, busy with work, kids, life..I called Sandra immediately I heard the news of Richie's death. She told me how she had already called the house earlier, but my mailbox was full, I didn't even know I had a landline, never mind a mailbox to be filled.

I had been in touch with Fiona almost daily up until last Tuesday, she had been ill for so long, yet her death was shocking in it's finality. But most poignant of all was the eulogies at both funerals.  Richie's male friends spoke of their  friend with such love, Sandra spoke so beautifully of a man who we all know adored her. And then it was Eamonn, Fiona's husbands turn. He spoke so beautifully about how amazing Fiona was & how much she amazed him. He finished his eulogy with the wonderful truth, that whilst much, much too short, Fiona's  life had been a triumph.

So yes, the deaths of my friends may well have challenged my life in a subtle way. 

 We will aim to turn The Delicious Food Co logo pink  for October  and we will see what we can do with that for breast cancer awareness month....friends I have been meaning to get in touch with have been contacted.I ask you dear reader to do likewise, because the ultimate truth is that life is short & precious.

www.plurabellepaddlers.com

Shirley x

All is well that ends well.

Evening All,

Yes we're home. Back from the holiday of a life time in NYC. It was the best holiday of my life. We had such fun, so many laughs & not a cross word between us in the two weeks.I even fulfilled what I promised in my last blog & put work firmly in a box in Dublin & didn't let it near my mind for 12 blissful days. I haven't been even close to doing that before whilst on holidays.

On Monday I drove into work at 6am with only a mild sense of trepidation & when I walked into the kitchen & saw the beams on Mr Delicious & the lads faces I knew that our holiday had been a triumph in both New York & Dublin. They excelled themselves.Even the bad boy label printer played ball & didn't act up once.

The holiday might  not have had quite the happy homecoming, had a drama that unfolded in our absence ended differently.We have a dog, A dog that is loved in a way that moves us to tears in the same way our anecdotes about him bore others to tears.Putting him a kennel was unthinkable, I thought we might even have to share him among the offers that would come in from friends to take him.

 SILENCE!

Eventually I asked my sister if she would take him & bless her soul she said yes. As the holiday approached she said was even looking forward to having him. The countdown to the holidays became less how many days til NY, but how many days until we had to leave Lemmy, confused, distraught & feeling abandoned.

I dropped him off the evening prior to our departure, wiped a tear as I bid him farewell. Two days later he went missing in Marley Park. Can't you just imagine the panic. My poor sister, her husband & three kids spent days pounding the streets, sticking up posters, door to door investigations,praying to St Anthony, promising him ANYTHING if our dog could just be found. My five other siblings joined in the prayer vigils...Jesus, not the dog, not that dog....not Shirley's dog, please , please God return him safely, whilst each one smugly  thought "thank God it's Catherine who lost him & not me".

And then all their prayers were answered.

Lemmy, a two year old frisky collie, had discovered his inner sheepdog found his way to ENNISKERRY. I like to think he might have had fun with sheep he met along the mountainous Wicklow hills, that he had the adventure of a life time, running with wild abandon, chasing rabbits..until he arrived on the doorstep of a man two days later. A man who God bless him reunited him with a distraught Catherine via lostandfoundpets.ie

Today, Catherine recovered from her ordeal, said to me..."I know he must be have been micro chipped but there was just  no way I could call you in the States & ask you....."

Well, ahem, actually, well ....he is now.

Shirley (& Lemmy)

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