As the orders trickle in, and the evening begins to move into the quiet of night, I manage to get a few minutes between the demands of the Mrs and kids, and for a few minutes, in peace I get to reflect and think of the week. Well it would actually be two, apologies for missing last week but after fathers day and a touch of writers block I thought best to afford myself a week off the blog.
The last couple of weeks have given an insight and some business lessons to learn from. Taking a moment to pause, digest events and past decisions will always give you a clearer outlook going forward. And that is the thing, as long as you are going forward then that is always going to lead to progress. Its during these weeks that I get to a chance to practise balancing hope, fear and everything else in-between. The knowledge that you cant control everything is key to being more composed, balanced and stoic in life. Certain concepts are out of your realms of influence and understanding this leads to a lot less anxiety. During a couple of quiet weeks I began to over think, “what was I doing wrong?” etc etc. As stated in previous blogs it worried me but here is the thing. “I CANT MAKE PEOPLE ORDER”, if people want a Sunday roast then I guess I enter the discussion and I have been so blessed to have weekly regulars. These guys have a Sunday dinner from me every week!. The fact these people let a little piece of what we do into their lives and spend their hard earned money on it each week is humbling.
Of course that balance and composure of excepting the universes will is sometimes forgotten. Sometimes the panic of society can cause mental unrest, and the fact I believed the media reports of a marmite shortage has led to me stockpiling and spending money on a product that is STILL VERY WIDELY AVAILABLE in shops. All I can do is laugh and learn a lesson. It will get used of course, its one of the key ingredients in producing the unami (savoury and meaty) taste, that I like to get in to all my food and the use by date on it is massive. But having it a tower of 14 jars like a modern art instillation on the shelf in the dining room is what small business is about I am sure. Stick that up your Campbells Mr Warhol.
But I like to think I am learning, rather than constantly counting the orders as they come in and panicking until we hit the number we need, allowing every anxious thought to permeate my brain, I am starting to have faith. Faith in the product, the customers, the business, but not quite myself…yet. That’s not me fishing or being down on myself, its just that being very present, it helps keep me on my toes to keep pushing for perfection, knowing it can never be attained. The feedback has let me know what we are doing is good, and the numbers keep coming in. So we are on the right path for sure. That doesn’t mean you rest on your laurels though, you keep pushing, keep striving and most of all KEEP LEARNING. Learning new dishes, new concepts, new skills and new approaches, this is all part of this fun game. The top chefs, athletes and artists never stop, that is the point. The people who are your role models got to where they are though hard work and constantly trying to improve. Do something everyday, learn something everyday, fuck it just watching a productive Youtube video each day will take you in a better direction than saying I’ll do it tomorrow.
“COS, YOU GOT TO HAVE FAITH.”
George Michael
Following the quiet week we rebounded a bit, but what was reassuring was Fathers Day, now fathers day isn’t a highly anticipated event, it is dwarfed by mothers day in many aspects but we SOLD OUT, yeah we did, we sold out our new higher capacity. The Mrs sold more treat boxes and we had a busy week from it. What was lovely about this was that we saw the return of customers who had maybe had one delivery from us before. So, not only did they spend their money on us to start with, we were their go to in order to treat their dad on a day of celebration. THAT IS WHAT THIS IS ABOUT!, that connection with our food to people. Customers were chuffed to get in the book, and the feedback was off the charts because they had made their dad happy. Food has so much emotional weight to it, and we thank you for giving us that chance. That Sunday afternoon as I spent time with the boys, every time I would check in on the phone (deliberately in another room), the messages of love and thanks were many and the followers was snowballing.
After the high of fathers day we expected a drop off, but very happy to say we returned to the number of previous weeks and we can continue to give a weekly freebie to a local food business, that feels like we are giving back even if its just a little something to cheer food business owners up during these shit times. Again the feedback was nothing but complimentary and we some great interaction from new customers and even more followers. The surreal point of the day being a couple driving from far to the edge of the delivery area for a collection. We met at a motorway services where we swapped a brown paper bag for an envelope of cash. These are the facts. Watching the face of the kiosk man as I then got back in the car was a delight.
The biggest delight of the week was having a more relaxed week, due to fathers day week being a higher tempo and amount of covers the comparison of last week seemed a touch more chilled. I got more time with the boys, more time outside, we saw more people, I got to play golf like a bell end and it just seemed as though this all works. We covered the bills, people were happy, we were happy and life just worked. Of course the mind can begin to find a rabbit hole of anxiety to worry, is this just for lockdown?, do we need to diversify?, will I need to agency chef?. But with a deep breathe you realise this is nothing you can control. You do your best and keep swinging.
On a side note, I got pissed off spending money on Tallulah (my van), for some reason although I have known this for a while, last week it really fucked me off. So it was time to turn a liability into an asset. Once she is running then I can make money, so why have I delayed it for so long?. I’ll tell you why, I was scared, scared of making a mistake, scared of wasting money and scared of people laughing at my failure. BUT, once I got fucked off that changed my outlook, the words changed from IF I to WHEN I, the time changed from in the future, when I can, to NOW. I was an excusing making bitch and to Tallulah I apologise. So lets get the old girl looking good and book some mother fucking events (I means weddings etc not MILF fest).
happy eating
FOOD ANARCHY 