People. Some stop to buy, others walk by. Hundreds the past two days. Thousands this summer. Hundreds of thousands over the years. Many, many people.
Surprises along the way. It’s been almost fifteen years of ups, downs, and in-betweens. Consistency in process, product, and people on my side keep the engine motoring forward.
Without people, though, it would have stopped years ago. Grateful for people. Customers. Year after year.
This is business. Serving customers the right way … and it is exhausting. Especially what I do. I have no pass-through. No delegation of responsibility. I am a one man show “most times” for prep, set-up, shopping, and clean-up. Heavy selling times I do have help, but those aren’t the exhausting times …. it’s everything else: travel, bills, mental energy, planning, coordinating, cart maintenance, SAM’S CLUB changing their hours!!😡, sleep, scheduling, product prep, lifting/pulling the cart, trying to get my new trailer done ….. on and on…
This is on top of a busy life otherwise.
Nowhere will you hear me publicly complain. I live and love what I do. Privately I have my moments. All in business do I’m sure. Few, if any, share. I will …. just this once.
This is the face of business at times – after all the work. Two hard events, back to back, that should have been good… but weren’t …. and a third event packed in to top if off. Prep, set-up, hours worked, tear-down, clean-up, travel…. with little result. All knowing a third, larger event was in the wings -only hours later – requiring an hour drive each way … not knowing how it was going to go. Stress compounded.
This was me exhausted after all of it. Thirty hours work, four hours sleep. Don’t mind sharing. Small business owners know our limits, yet we exhaustively break them hoping to make your lives better in some small way. I do, anyway.
Today, however, I’m done. Tired and completely worn out … thanking the universe for rain which prevented me from setting up at my usual Sunday spot. Money lost, but necessary rest gained. I’ll absolutely miss my regular customers … those special people who don’t just walk by. The “by chance” new customers will have to wait until next year as this would have been my last Sunday for the season.
So grateful for everything. How wonderful life is – unfolding opportunities for those of us willing to work and put forth the effort. Effort that doesn’t always pay off, though … and, like I say, that’s ok.
I’d rather be exhausted doing what I love for others than rested doing something I want for only myself.
Many, many people and one me. Tiring as it may be at times, I’d have it no other way.
DougHugs 