You can’t stop a hailstorm

It’s peak season, the hours are big and we are making hay while the sun shines, and I’m also drinking more so take that for what it’s worth.

I’ve managed to give myself a day off today, the narrative being to rest. The problem is, not doing any of the 300 jobs needed around the house or starting prep or filling out paperwork for the business in an attempt to save time later on in the week. This is the stupid guilt of building a business, a brand, a following, whatever you plan on calling it. you know you need to rest but switching off gets exceptionally hard.

So the plan is a quick blog, something to engage with the lovely 7 people who read my ramblings on occasion. A chance to document where the mind is at present. So sit down and relax and I’ll tell you a story of a disastrous event from a few weeks back. (Like a Thai massage, it always has a happy ending).

We had been accepted to an event that on paper was fantastic, a lot of our demographic, close by, 1800 people over 11 hours, the vast majority of them definitely eating. This was going to be a money maker day, a day when I could definitely consider a pair of men’s heelys as a reward for such an impressive take.

So pre event I did my checks, amount of vendors, power requirements, got myself some staff. All was set to go. The maths of 1800 people, 5 vendors with majority eating, 300 portions average, possibly if popular over 400 meals, downside 200 on a bad day. Those Heelys were mine.

Mid week shopping and prep went well, I was ready, campsite was staffed, roll on Friday. 9am I arrive at the venue, park up, weather clears for opening time, power is mains supply, this is perfect. A beautiful and popular drink van pulls up next to me, this was getting better. After getting all set and everything just as I like and in place on the van it was time for a quick walk around.

Strange….my van isn’t near the other vans 🤔

Oh well, adrenaline is bouncing after a busy week planning and prepping, with that mix of excitement and nerves coursing through my body, I got set and waited for my first customer.

And waited

And waited

And waited, no one was coming up. At that point I spoke with a security guard who came up for a burger. There is a strong chance it was due to pity but to be honest I was pleased of the sale. After inhaling the burger he went on to tell me I was in the VIP section, this was a section away from the performers, and was ticket only. These tickets hadn’t sold very well so they were not expecting many.

For the next five hours I sold less than 5 burgers. This was a disaster. After 4pm the section was open to all but with most not wanting to leave the main area, it was a pitiful amount of customers.

Waiting for customers

With no way out I had to stand ready to serve until 11pm. At 11pm we could pack up once everyone dispersed. At about 11.30 I drove home completely deflated, exhausted with a take of about £280 for 14.5 hours work. The stock and supplies for the event totalled about £900. This was a shit day, and I still had to clean all the equipment ready for a morning market, set up at 7.30am.

Since the event I have also received a parking ticket, even though I was told I could park and had permission. This was not a good days trading.

BUT

It would never stop me taking the gig again, or working with the event organisers again. These people have a great energy and there is definitely some successful days somewhere in the future with them. This was just unfortunate, this was just happenstance, this was just life.

JIM ROHN, a man who’s work I have listened to for years, has a great way to explain this,

“Now, here’s the next key to the law of sowing and reaping: Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. The farmer plants the crop in the spring and takes care of it all summer. He’s an honorable man, loves his family and is a decent citizen. But the day before he sends the combines into the field, a hail storm comes along and beats his crop into the ground. And it’s gone. It’s lost.

So this time it didn’t work. Now what must the farmer do? He’s got to decide whether to do it again or not. “Shall we take another chance the next spring?” We would advise him to do so even though he lost everything in the last harvest, because, more often than not, you’ll have a harvest if you plant in the spring. There’s no guarantee, but it’s pretty good odds.”

If you don’t plant, you don’t even have a chance. That is why I’ll happily sign up to next year. Because if you don’t sow, you definitely can’t reap. Maybe I’ll take a little less stock but the approach will still have the same energy and excitement.

Maybe reading this you can think of a time you tried and gave your all and came up a bit short, unfortunately that’s just life. But if you keep going and keep persisting then one day you’ll get your reward.

Happy eating.

After 4 years owning a Food van what have I learnt

Sometime last week we hit the milestone of four years, whilst this is a nice moment, to be honest it doesn’t mean anything in the scheme of things. On reflection, I still feel new to the space, the world of business and still feel far from a success. Now don’t get this twisted, this isn’t a woe is me, or me fishing for compliments. Quite frankly the awareness of how little I know, gives me drive to want to learn and develop more. The lack of contentment in business is not something to be seen as a negative.

Saying that with the world of social media, an area that the company lacks in, there are ever increasing numbers of accounts on my algorithm of people starting small businesses. So with a sense of imposter syndrome, I’m going to share what I perceive to be important considerations. Each person and business is obviously different but fuck it, this is what I’ve learnt.

I’d even say with some points they hold parallels to just living a good life.

It’s a constant balance of grind, guilt and growth

You have to be a worker. If you’re not willing to work the big hours when required, you’re not going to make it. Maybe you can automate systems, maybe you can staff it, but this shit will be on your mind constantly. This is the truth of business, you will think about it constantly and you will have to consciously make an effort to switch off. Most likely you will have to plan that time off, you need to plan downtime because if you don’t you will be feeling you are wasting your opportunities and potential to push your business.

This is where guilt comes in, if you grind, and you will, it will come at a cost, that cost is guilt. You may have to turn down family events, friend’s birthdays, weddings, these are all realities for work. In the summer I see my children and the mrs less, but will constantly make sure to do my best to get the time in whenever is possible, no matter how tired. You can never get that time back. Know what’s important to you and don’t compromise on that. At times I have not been disciplined enough to observe that rule and that’ll make you feel like a bigger failure than any bad business decision. That’s a promise.

A growth mindset is imperative, if you are not looking to grow as a person, you cannot grow as a business. Growth mindset requires a consistent effort to want to attain everything and become everything you possibly can. Do I think I’ll be a millionaire and financially independent, your damn right I do. Am I there? Not even fucking close. But that desire to get there and the ability to solve this riddle will get me a lot closer than if this journey never started. “For things to change, you have to change!”

Luck has an awful lot to do with it:

You have to appreciate that sometimes life just gives you a break, whether it’s an opportunity or just the chance that the right person saw a social post at the right time. These moments can set you up and give stability to your business, the campsite residency being an example. You can’t take these chance happenings likely. This year a wonderful chef had a baby and went onto maternity, that opened more work for me, or the random call for lunchboxes for a photoshoot, that off season was very valuable, or even just the fact we were born in a safe country at the greatest time in history . Learn to stop and say thank you.

Learning what you can control and what you can’t.

You are going to have shit weeks, they happen. This week a storm warning cost me three events due to cancellations. This is called LIFE. You can focus on it and keep questioning “why me?” But why not you? . These troubles happen to everyone, everyone has hard weeks. The hardest part is to detach yourself from that thinking, once you do that, you can focus on what’s ahead instead of looking behind. When an unforeseen circumstance arises ask yourself “can I do anything to change this occurrence? If the answer is YES then do it. If the answer is NO, move on”. This took a while to get but after four years it gives you a lateral clarity and the ability to see a bigger picture.

If you never try, you can never succeed.

The first night at the rugby club, I wasn’t expecting much, then the community blew me away with coming out in support and now that gig is one that has brought a stability to the business and it’s giving back to a community I adore. When I applied for local markets and the first month it wasn’t very busy, the thought of “maybe people don’t want my food” crossed my mind. The option to not apply for the next month would have been justified but short sighted. The next month, at the markets I sold out. Now people message to see if we are going to certain markets.

That isn’t to say everything will work, pop up kitchens were very well received last year but the numbers through the door were poor. We just couldn’t get people to come out mid week, it did give plenty of time for content creation but, time is the true currency. At that point you say thank you and put a pin in it. I hope those businesses go on to great things and I’m just a phone call away but sometimes different directions are needed by all parties. Keep knocking on doors, because you never know which one will answer.

It means nothing without those you love,

The business becomes everything, it’ll be on your mind constantly, a lot of energy goes into running a small business. BUT, it will never be worth those you love. Your other half, your kids, those people around you who support you, those friends who listen when times are rough, those people who have your back whatever, that is the true measure of success. I don’t have millions but I know without those people in my life that money would be worthless. Get around people who make you feel invincible, stay away from the small minded.

Be yourself and learn to fail often and fast.

Learning to fail is an imperative skill, flipping the mind set from negative to the positive of learning a lesson will help you grow. Get out of your comfort zone on occasion. We have evolved to not venture far, not to seek new challenges as our caveman brain wants to keep us safe and secure in the cave. Being safe and secure will never enable you to grow, so get out of the comfort zone and try your best, if and when you fail, just ask to learn a lesson. It’s ok to be scared to do something, just do it scared!. Greatness lies on the other side of fear.

When all is said and done, you need to look back and say “I did it my way”. In Bronnie Wares book, regrets of the dying, it is full of lessons of people not being their true self, diluting themselves due to other peoples views and listening to people when it went against their own ideas. Learn from those before us and DO IT YOUR WAY, yes you may fuck up but at least it’s on you. Apple never looked at what products Microsoft launched, they stayed true to their vision and created concepts that changed modern times. This isn’t to say don’t take advice, but vet who you take advice from. The quickest way to kill a big dream is to tell it to a small minded person.

Your relationship with money has to change.

When I started on this journey I used to panic and stress about money, till it paralysed my decisions. I would think holding off and saving was what business people did. That I could get by without buying certain items or only buying the utter minimum. But once you start to read, understand good debt, cash flow and the cost of not investing, then your relationship will change. Now I have no problem spending if it gives a high probability of a decent return, money goes into investments, If equipment is needed then it’s brought, if work needs doing it’s done when possible. Being pro active with money brings positive results a high percentage of the time, and as said earlier, those other times it’s just a lesson to move forward. As Jim Rohn said “it’s all risky, just wait till you get the bill for not investing”. Invest in yourself

Read Everything you can.

People have experienced nearly every problem that you have, many have written down ideas to help manage it. The answers are all there, you just have to find the right book that works for you. Reading will change how you see yourself and the world.

It’s just a game.

All of this is just a game, don’t forget that. It’s an inner competition to be the best you can be. Like the handicap system in golf, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing against, the true competition is yourself. If you become all you can be, then you have maxed out and won the game.

To put it in context if someone you loved really needed the money for an operation, you would sell it all. That’s how little the actual “things” mean. But the person you have become is a far cry from where you began, and success would follow again shortly after.

To conclude:

I’m not saying my ideas are correct, each to their own, but after four years I can say that mistakes have been made, lessons learned, books read and a lot of hardworking and happiness has ensued.

“I may not be where I want to be, but I’m sure happy I’m not where I was.”

Happy eating and stay lucky

The elusive Work Life Balance

In writing this I don’t mean to upset anyone, judge how you choose to spend your time, question your ambition or frankly make you think I care how “you do you”. As long as you try to do the right thing on occasion without being a dick, then you are alright in my book.

Now that disclaimer is out the way, we can start to unravel this frustration that has clouded my mind. “Do I have the right work/ life balance”?.

The answer is NO, end of blog.

For those who want to follow in more detail why, I shall explain, having a loving family and a desire to not live on the streets means the thought of chasing the remedy of money as the solution. The pursuit of a business is partly a selfish act on my part, it’s one I pursue so when the day comes that I’m having reflections of life from my death bed, that I can say “at least I gave it a go”, “I lived on my terms”. This means you feel an obligation for it to not hinder or be disruptive to those you love the most.

Most people die at 25, but aren’t buried until 75.

Benjamin Franklin

I have also grown very partial to the mrs and the kids and believe it’s my job to keep a roof over their heads and feed them on occasion.

Throughout the uk there is a scarcity of chefs, this means I am extremely fortunate to be asked to work as a freelance chef on a fairly regular basis, the money is decent and it’s a chance to switch off from intensely thinking about the business, as I follow another chefs lead and ease paint by numbers . But the issue is, that I DO have a business, one I would love to grow and to get out to as many people as possible, helping to raise the city’s street food game. As we speak the business self sustains and we can live and pay bills but it needs to grow it’s customer base for it to reach the potential I envision in my mind.

This is meaning some long weeks in work, it’s still better than the days at the wedding venue where not seeing my children awake for 2 or 3 days straight was far too regular an occurrence . Now I’ll always get the mornings or school pick up but it’s been a routine of freelance work by day, pop up or venue by night, with a market or two on the weekend. And the added bonus of more restricted time to prepare the business prep/shopping as that time is spent working. Not to mention keeping up with the paperwork and pitching for business.

You may ask why I take the extra work? Fair question, it’s because I know the work and customers could dry up, January and February are quieter months, Christmas is next month, the rain can call off events, Id like to have a reserve and not dip into the savings this year, having learnt from last season the van can cause a quick withdrawal from the account if something is to happen. It’s better to “be prepared and not need it” is the new approach. That’s why I probably say yes far too easily, fear of circumstance. (Since writing this blog the van failed it’s MOT and is going to cost.)

“Did you watch X last night?”, “I binge watched Y last night”, have you been here?, “I wasted hours on TikTok”, I went for a 40 mile bike ride!. These are conversations lovely people say to me, they make the effort to have a social interaction with me and all I think is “Fucking WHEN do I have time?. If I’m not working, I’m spending as much time with the kids, taking the kids to clubs/parties, reading or listening to podcasts or trying to understand investments, thank fuck the mrs doesn’t have high expectations of me to be romantic (I occasionally annoy her by groping her at inappropriate times to show my affection). Since freelance cheffing on top of the general workload, the habit of the gym has disappeared, I am struggling to find the time or routine. So when I don’t know what celebrity has done something newsworthy or who ate a kangaroo cock on TV, then you’ll have to excuse my ignorance. It’s not you, it’s me.

The other aspect to understand is the guilt. whenever time does free up it’s a choice of how to spend that time, spend it with the kids who you owe time to, spend it unwinding trying to zen your mind and rest your body, try to get something done on the house, get to the gym, spend time with the mrs watching bake off, these are all the decisions that run through your mind. But whichever you choose you normally feel a sense of guilt about not spending time doing the others and normally with an underlying feeling of cheating on the business, thinking “what could I be doing to make the business more successful?”.

I found myself jealous of a guy I know of who is having an affair recently, it was nothing to do with the act, which frankly I find disgusting and disrespectful but I was jealous of his time management. This is someone who can make time for two women (both batshit crazy) and hold down two jobs and he also has kids. How do people find time for these things? Quite frankly I am far too lazy to deal with that headfuck, remembering stories and timetables. I struggle to remember last week!. I don’t know if it’s just me but I would take a week decorating my house and some downtime over a dirty week with a 20 something blonde any day. I know which one would bring me more peace.

The question I’m getting at as I incoherently rant through this blog is “is this just me, a small business owner or is this most people?”

Does everyone have struggles with time management?, do they feel they worry they will miss out on certain aspects of their life? Do they plan?, do they worry about money and development? I am struggling to figure what the secret is, maybe I’m missing something, maybe I just want it all. Maybe I just need to find more hours in the day.

When I don’t work much, I worry about the money and feel lazy, like I’m not reaching my potential

When I work too much I worry about the time with loved ones and missing life’s bigger questions.

So how does one attain the perfect balance? Feel free to let me know.

Happy eating.

The season of “going to work”

Maybe it’s time to write down a few thoughts, the nights are getting colder, the air is crisper, the summer sun seems a distant memory. As the leaves change colour and the seasons change so does the business cycle of this small business.

The summer season has been and gone and the time to regroup is among us, although thinking time seems to be at a premium as we speak. The diary seems full, the workload is high and I find myself constantly planning the needed hours of family time and downtime, days and weeks in advance. This isn’t a woe is me, look how busy I am, it’s a “fuck me, another week has gone by and I still haven’t done XYZ.”

N.B. This includes setting up a new Facebook page as my personal page got hacked and due to the business page being linked, I have frozen myself out of all Facebook and Messenger contacts.

Taking it back to the end of summer 2022, I was overly optimistic in a new venue and my ability to source work with the van. Well that optimism soon became a hard dose of reality when we just got through the quiet season with help from a small dip into the savings. Ending the summer season in 2023, I was determined to strive for more opportunities to be ready in place. That dear reader leads to why I am so busy. With two pop up nights, a weekly rugby club night, a market each weekend and plenty of freelance chef work as well as the occasional private dining, this little bald asshole is what Micky Flanagan would describe as “double busy”.

To build on last year, the business has managed to set up two midweek pop ups. One being at a seaside village in a very stylish bar, the other a pop up night in one of the city’s most notorious brothels! . A lot of that sentence was about shock value but Studio 95 WAS the most infamous brothel in the city but due to covid lockdowns the building was sold, (it turns out that was one virus too many for people). it has since been brought by a group who have turned it into a very cool city hostel with a bar/ cafe downstairs. This team have a fantastic vibrancy and optimism, a group of owners who have launched the venue as a space for events in conjunction with women’s charities and have a real focus on making the building one of comfort and safety for both men and women. No one hides from the infamy, it’s just about building a new legacy for that once infamous venue.

The seaside pop up in the village is a smart looking, established bar that has a small regular crowd and serves up a fantastic pint. Thursday nights had a pop up night previously so it’s just a case of slotting in as a new supplier.

The push for pop ups was to hedge against the weather, the weather has and will again cost me money with training nights at the rugby club called off. Of course these training nights have become a fantastic and consistent night but in December of 2022 the weather was responsible for 4 continuous weeks of downpours with training being called off, and around Christmas isn’t the time you want to lose a consistent income. This is why the search for pop ups has been so appealing.

So now the new pop up venues give me an area where I can cook food that really excites me and a place for customers to eat or wait in the dry. They can relax having a drink with their food or while they wait for a takeaway. I myself am more sheltered from the wind and rain which makes cooking a lot more pleasant. The downside of course is not everything hits the ground running. Now by no means have they been unsuccessful, the food is going down with brilliant feedback, the people and contacts I have met have been extremely supportive and will help me in future developments whether it’s design, property or social media connections. The downside of the pop ups are they can be inconsistent at the moment, now in all fairness they have varied from a couple of hundred pounds a week and dozens of customers to the the rough week last week of stormy weather and being a few days after a big rugby weekend to the low of twenty pounds!.

Now I probably don’t have to tell you that a score for about ten hours work is not a successful week (it’s probably less than a Chinese kid making trainers) BUT and this but is as large as Kim Kardashian’s, If I didn’t go, due to it looking quiet, rainy, colder, I would have made FUCK ALL, you see if you go and try you may fail, of course you can that’s life. But you never know what could happen, you never know who you could serve, what that could lead to, how that may intertwine with your future fates, that’s the power of even one customer. IF you don’t show up, then it’s fuck all, no chance, game over. This means I’m going to take that chance every time. Ill show up smiling, ready to cook to the best of my ability. Hey, maybe next week It will be back to the hundreds, this is the uncertainty of having a small business. The effort may not always be instantly rewarded but each time you are laying a brick to a bigger structure. And this time I have a safety.

Where I am very lucky and grateful is my ability to pick up freelance chef work in a rugby stadium for a couple/ few shifts a week. This for me is “going to work”. Now don’t get me wrong, I get to chef with some great people who I have known for years, we laugh throughout the day, lots of the general staff are extremely pleasant, some are wonderfully miserable fucks, that’s always funny in itself, and although as physical as the work is, it’s all easy enough. BUT it’s not my food, it’s not my business, it’s not my customers, it’s a bit soulless in comparison. That’s a detachment I never feel with my business.

Now, if you have a job and your happy at said job then that’s a brilliant personal success, if you have found inner happiness in your daily role then you’re smashing it more than most and you should reflect on that success but this for me is “going to work”. I’ll always do my best, I’ll smile, and again the kitchen guys and girls are great fun but it doesn’t complete me internally anymore. The fact is that it makes me good money for performing a service, that might make me sound like a bit of a whore, but it gives me a cushion to pay the bills, there is less pressure on the pop ups to be instant successes and it’s not weather dependent. When you zoom out and look at the bigger picture there is a lot to be grateful for with the freelance cheffing, and it’ll pay me a lot more than whoring this face. The fact is, it helps out with bills, it helps out with my business and it gives me a lot more runway as well as a chance to reflect how lucky I am that I get to try to run my own business.

Another success that was introduced this summer was local markets alongside nights at the campsite. These led to some busy days and military planning to get from markets to the campsite but worth every bit of stress. The markets have been an awesome way to meet more customers, and interact with a wider customer base. The markets have a consistency of customers that support the business and on top of that a fantastic buzz and energy from organisers, customers and other stall holders. Again more contacts, more conversations, more engagement, more opportunities. In fact a contact I met has just revamped the van with some amazing graffiti graphics. Hopefully we have started to become regulars at a few markets meaning going forward we have at least one a weekend.

The business is steadily going forward and developing with a few hedges for security, whether it’s freelance work or pop ups the business is slowly becoming more resilient and finding its identity more. Although we may not be exactly where we want to be we are a looong way from where we were. For that I’m reflective and grateful.

It may take many many pop up nights, it may take many pop up kitchen locations, it may take many markets but we will continue to turn up and play the numbers. If the odds are 100/1 then we will be that 1. Consistency is key, durability is paramount, and we will keep cooking, even if it ends up just for one customer. Worst case I’ll just “go back to work” to allow me to keep playing business.

Happy eating

Does money equal success?

In writing this blog, it should be noted that I am not some hot shot business man who has made my fortune. The context is from a business owner who is getting by, paying their bills but doesn’t hold much excess for the finer things in life. Our small business is still small, learning and growing. This isn’t to say one day the balance sheet will not reflect the hard work, grind and hustle but as of today that is not the case.

Maybe you know the feeling, you are trying to push your business just over the hill but for now it’s still uphill. Maybe you have kept a job that wasn’t desired in order to live a certain life style, maybe you have never caught your break in life so, for most of us, I believe we think that money will bring about success, and that success equals money. From an early age we are bombarded with ideology and peer pressure that we must live a certain life.

Now money in the game of business is a fantastic measure of success, no two ways about it. Amazon is an awe inspiring company, Apple creates innovation and Tesla is changing how we look at problems, two of these companies are worth multi Trillions of dollars, the other multi billions. If a business isn’t making lots of money it is for the owner to reflect. People pay for quality, convenience and innovation. If customers aren’t happy, the flow of money and the market corrects, good companies survive and bad companies disappear this is the essence of a free market. These consequences come home to roost when recessions hit, then new companies appear to challenge market share and the cycle begins again. The new companies push the older companies to innovate or get left behind.

But money isn’t the only measure of success for a business, depending on scalability or desire to scale, you can have very successful business that does just the amount to give the owner the life they enjoy. If a couple have a cafe that is consistently busy with happy customers, that couple may not want to expand and be happy with their life/ work balance. They are very successful on all fronts.

Recently I’ve been learning to take a moment to reset and not be emotionally distracted by money, but it’s not easy. Like anything the more you focus on a subject, the more sensitivities you notice. I have recently seen some friends, top tier guys, fantastic dads, people who have houses, wives, kids, everything you need in life but also an anxiety about money. I think it’s got to be a common worry among fathers.

Looking inwardly, the want for money is one of security for those I love and freedom, the society norm being as dads, it’s our role to protect . Money gives you options in life. I just don’t mean the option of a merc or a bmw, it gives you the option to say No, the option to do what you want to do, this freedom is a sense of living your best life.

As I approach 40 (those who know me will say I had an uphill paper round!!), it’s time you naturally reflect on how you’ve done. My biggest fear is that is to get to the end and say “I wish I did what I wanted” or “I wish I lived a better life”. To be freed from worry and anxiety about bills, plans and work would surely placate a more peaceful mind.

That’s the other utopia I strive for, inner peace. I shouldn’t speak for all men (all 4 billion) but I think as men get older they seek peace, to switch off and enjoy the simpler things in life. The peace to think, ponder and potter, maybe with a beer. That sounds pretty perfect to me. Especially if I was on land where I couldn’t hear the traffic and could see the stars. Sounds like my best life.

It is my belief that this is why guys like to go and chat shit with the lads, game, have a few pints, it’s about switching off. We don’t talk about world issues, relationships or finances, we just bust each others balls about trivial shit. Then go back to reality.

So the question becomes, if and when you get money what would change?

On reflection maybe I’d buy a new house, but I’d still want the same people in it with me, a house is not a home. I could buy a new car, but it’s still only getting me from A to B, I could quit working, but I love working on my food van. I could travel the world, that would be nice but the beaches of Gower make me feel something no other place can. So what would really change?.

The most important aspect in life is to feel that I’m used up, I didn’t live my life and only gave 10%!, so I’m always going to want to learn and grow, extra money will not stop the want to keep improving, this is why billionaires constantly push for more, it’s nothing to do with money, it’s about impact and legacy.

Elon Musk lives in a small practical house and pays himself very little, Warren Buffet has lived in the same house for 55 years. These multi multi billionaires don’t need riches, this is their true success.

You see money isn’t going to change much, you may get some more toys, but the core things that make you happy in life are free. By appreciating what you have, if you are getting by, you are doing great as long as you take the time to notice what you have. Take some time to stop and assess, because if you can be happy with little you already have fortunes. Those around you who bring you happiness, be present with them as they are prizes and moments no money can replace. “No amount of money, ever brought a second of time”. Certain millionaires and billionaires are miserable so money does not equal success. Just because you have less money does NOT mean you have less success.

So now I don’t worry about it as much, as long as I can pay my bills that’s fine for now. When I can pay off every liability in life even better, but if you look at what you have you may realise you’re already Scrooge McDucking in life.

Sometimes it’s just a hard week

Originally I typed this blog after a hard week, one where I was ready to just give up. The truth is it was just a way to get a few things of my chest and rant. Like the process of writing an angry letter and never posting it (make sure you don’t post them!). It was about getting out the negativity so to speak, taking active steps to change the vibration from negative to positive. The post wasn’t meant to be seen, I had no intention for publishing it. Pushing negativity into someone’s personal time has never seemed fair, like those people who just bring you down all the time, I would propose avoiding those people at all costs. Writing this post felt as if that’s who I would be to customers who have supported me, hardly seems fair now does it?. Well the mrs read this post and said I should think about posting it, as the blog shows the true journey, the reality of the situation and it might help other people see that we can all have bad weeks. The process of writing the post did help reset my mind, as you’ll see that negative week has given me more direction so positives can come out of a week when it feels you can do no right. But you normally have to just persevere through said week, rant, then breathe.

As I consciously fill my nostrils with cold air, controlling this breathe, I try to dissolve the stress of a challenging week. The truth of the matter is these aren’t real problems, dealing with illness, financial ruin, the lose of a loved one, or worrying about your children’s well being, those are real problems.

The amount of noise, is making the usually methodical mind clouded. There is no peace, even in my dreams the sub conscious weaves strange, poetic messages trying to deal with the tangled web of anxious thought. A few nights ago I woke up from a dream with my mind realising the need to defrost an item from the freezer. A peaceful mind wouldn’t have me routing around a freezer at 3am.

Between staffing issues, money issues and future prospects it’s become apparent how fragile the business is. Blind optimism and positivity aren’t enough to make a successful business. With a starter motor breaking on the van, plans for summer staffing having to change, the replacement of a fan and lose of trade it’s been an expensive week. The people who were meant to do the work are weeks late doing it and deadlines that shouldn’t have been stressful, are suddenly becoming stressful. One expensive week means we dip into the savings to subsidise the business. I really resent doing that.

“I work hard, do my best and really try”, that’s my inner dialogue. And it sounds pathetic, “why me?, maybe we are just getting the bad luck out the way!”. These are the thoughts present in my mind as the noise starts. It sometimes feels like a gut punch, hopefully you’ve never been punched in the stomach but it robs you of air, forces you to realise your not invincible and just for a moment stops you doing anything. That’s how it feels when the van doesn’t start and you have no idea why, or you can’t staff two venues, or the sums don’t add up.

Those days it feels no matter how hard you try it just won’t happen. But you can’t give up, even though the mind is foggy you just keep stepping forward. The natural reaction is to just keep swinging because if you give up and take the easy route it’ll eat you up inside. To fail and keep going forward is admirable, to fail and give up, that’s going to haunt you forever.

Then you breathe ….

Then the mrs who knows you better than anyone else in this world makes you breathe, and the fog clears, just a little. The issues turn into blocks in the brain and you can start to put them in order. It may not be perfect but it’s an improvement. You take responsibility first and foremost, yes bad luck happens but it’s not life or death, yes a few people may get let down and you’ll feel bad about it but it’s out of your hands. The important things are health and family, everything else is just noise.

Get through the day and learn lessons. That’s what we did. Having these lessons has been expensive. Well for a small business yes, to a big business it’s probably petty cash. The main lesson to learn, I NEED TO SIMPLIFY. A zen mindset is about stripping away the excess, to gain mental balance I need to simplify the business. Once I accepted that and reigned in the idea of multiple units I felt more peaceful.

Focus on the food, rely on myself, slowly build. I don’t know why the fuck I felt (to use hyperbole) I had to be a millionaire within 5 years with multiple businesses, running a workforce of many. But, if I have everything I want or need in life and, even if I had the money I wouldn’t be excessive in my purchases why did I feel the need for money?. Maybe it was impatience, maybe it was fear of letting down the people I love, fuck maybe it’s letting down anyone, that’s what leads to anxiety.

Taking stock, I know I like working for myself, I know the food we do is very well received, I know the idea was about making good food accessible to all and I know I always want to keep growing a business.

Really the last few years I’ve been lost, lost of direction, lost with concept after concept, just surviving, when really I just need to focus on what makes me happy. I love cooking on the van, love the patter with the customers. I’ve really loved being at the rugby club and holiday park and feeling part of my community, being able to give a raffle prize at the club and getting to know all those involved. Those venues feel good for the soul, so I want more of that. The brewery hasn’t worked out as hoped and thats ok, lesson learnt. Although I’ve met some fantastic people sometimes the rhythm of a venue doesn’t work and as they go their own direction, I wish them the very best. It was definitely worth a go.

So after the summer season it’s about launching something fresh that’s more consistent and less weather dependant ( as naively that’s an oversight that has also been costly). With an idea that can cover bills and life, then the food van is all gravy on top. That gives a chance to return savings, invest more and build. Weekends can be for fun van adventures and events throughout the summer, Tuesday nights can be the rugby club with extras on top and then we build again. And Sunday’s can be the kids rugby with a bacon roll and coffee (perfection).

After the summer it’s about clearing the yard and laying the first brick again.

Compounding your mum

Yes, I admit it is a silly and crude title, but it’s a hook point (a concept I once read about, it gets your Attention whilst mindlessly scrolling ). It’s been a long while since I’ve blogged, far too long in fact. It’s not apparent that it’s been missed by anyone though, in fact I can’t recall anybody who has come rushing up to say “what happened to your clumsy, crude and often misinformed blog” or “I’d love to read your views on vegans”. But, in all truth it’s a practise that I should have been more disciplined with, an opportunity to inform customers how this small business works and to open up emotionally to show this journey and how it’s been undertaken.

My last blog was telling the world that we were focusing on the food vans and ending Sunday dinners. Thank you to all those comments I still receive every few weeks from people asking if I’m still selling ready to warm Sunday dinners and how much they enjoyed them. Thank you for taking the time.

Those days of waking up bleary eyed at 3.30am on a Sunday morning seem like a lifetime ago, and I’ve noticed a few local companies still offering the service and good on them, it’s a fantastic comfort to provide people, I wish them all the success. But now personally, every Sunday morning the focus is my beautiful boys playing rugby, watching their age groups develop and being part of something that’s special. At the rugby club on a crisp, cold morning you’ll find me biting into a bacon roll that’s as basic as they come, sipping on an over strength cheap coffee and watching my boys give their all, and for me, it’s perfect. It’s my favourite bacon roll and the best coffee of the week. It’s nothing to do with the flavour or quality, its about what it represents, it’s packed with emotion. Emotions of community, supporting the team and spending that time that you know deep down you’ll never get back. That’s the pure freedom of a small business.

Paradise on a Sunday

Now to be clear it’s not all sunshine, rainbows and unicorn farts, far from it. When you’re waking up in the middle of the night and your mind is racing through the figures and directions you want to progress, thinking about your cash flow and what you can afford, whether you would have been better “just getting a job”, thinking about feedback, menu items, analysing your every move, that’s where I find myself some nights. Thoughts in the early hours are never concise, never methodical, logical and normally strewn with anxiety. Welcome to business!

Maybe it’s just the bad luck that’s hit you, maybe it’s an oversight on your own part causing frustration, maybe it’s a van fault, maybe the environmental health is due, maybe the business is just in a proverbial winter. Whatever the situation, it’s the path you have chosen and it can affect you and those in your proximity. That’s the truth of a small business. Your constantly asking questions of “am I progressing?”, “did I make the right choice?”, “am I doing right for those I love?”, “am I working hard enough?”. Then when you have time to yourself, you can feel guilty that you’re missing an opportunity, that a “successful entrepreneur” would be grinding. Since I gave up the dinners a lot of those questions have come to my mind.

The last year has been mentally hard, when bad luck befalls you, it can feel like a wave knocking you back. BUT, it’s at those moments you see who you have become, how you’ve grown, ( not physically unfortunately, I’m still a short arse). The subconscious puts forward quotes and sayings from the hundreds of hours of positive mindset audio you have listened to, lines from the countless books you have read on personal growth, you find a belief and faith that it’s all part of the journey comes over you, you realise how lucky you are in life and business is just a game, you may be down by 2 but if there is time on the clock that this is about to be your comeback story!. A ritual of morning gratitude of how MUCH you have that money could never buy and humility of how lucky you actually are, thats how you dissipate those questions and times of anguish.

So what have I learnt from this situation I’ve put myself in. Well dear readers (all seven of you). In order for it to change, YOU have to change. One of the best decisions I ever made in a growth mindset context was reading. I read every day, not Harry Potter but books about becoming better, finance, business, mindset, spirituality. Now in all honesty I have lost my way with a lot of disciplines but my focus of late is regaining form. But when it comes to reading I don’t faulter. And quick note, I was one of those who never read once I left school, when I started reading again I was dreadfully slow to finish and one book would take me months, but you do get faster, last year I read 19 books which by no means is a fast reader but it’s a skill you keep developing.

The common theme in all these books is compounding. They may not call it that but it’s a brilliant principle that Einstein called the “eighth wonder of the world”. Essentially it’s about consistency over time and being patient. Now compounding doesn’t care if it’s positive or negative but the principle will work just the same. With finance it’s easiest to explain, if you had £1000 and it returned 10% per year at the end of one year you’d have £1100 then year two is 10% of £1100 and so on until in 50 years that £1000 is worth £117.391. Because every year it builds on its self.

Now what if you improved an area of your life by 10% a year? What if you gave 10% more at the gym, work or in your relationships with spouses and family. Sure after a year slight gains, but after 10 years you would have gains of 2.5 times where you would have been originally . Sure some things are hard to quantify but personally you know if you’ve turned it up or not. Compounding is not about quick gains but consistency and belief. Warren Buffet (83) the worlds greatest self made investor with a net worth of 85 BILLION made most of his money after turning 65 years old. At 30 years old he was worth 1 million and at 65 worth 4 Billion. Buffet preaches patience and keeps to the same principles (consistency).

Compounding can effect you negatively also, if you eat junk food 10% more every year it’ll compound, if you drink 10% more alcohol year on year it’ll compound the effects, if you go on social media 10% more it’ll compound the negative consequences. Compounding doesn’t care if an action is going to give you a positive or negative reaction, that’s where your choices come into play. And it is YOUR CHOICE and RESPONSIBILITY.

I try to constantly improve the business, that concept is on my mind constantly, the figures don’t always reflect improvement to be completely transparent , some weeks it just doesn’t happen, other weeks I feel like a king. BUT we have customer consistency, we have amazing feedback, customer follows are growing, people love what we do. We are getting the reps in and making our minutes count with the customers. Learning lessons as we go is part of the process. Now it’s about expanding and patience. If we can compound customers, or if they spread the word then we grow and grow and as you’ve seen with compounding it’s a very special principle.

“Am I where I want to be…..no, but I’m pleased I’m not where I was”

That quote is one that’s stuck with me for a while, after a few years of reading, meditation and listening to positive audio it’s starting to compound in the subconscious and whenever bad luck falls my way, the subconscious protects me with a shield of positive recall. By being consistent with my beliefs and values of learning, I give myself the best chance of success as my knowledge builds on knowledge. One day it could all compound into an opportunity of a life time to take. But, That’s not to say I won’t be a poor old man still trying to find success on a burger van, , but even if I am, I’ll have compounded gratitude, my relationships and appreciation for life to a point It’ll be bliss. And anyway, colonel Saunders didn’t start selling chicken till he 66 years old, so even if I’m old and beat down I’ll still be turning on the positivity (and your mum)

PIVOT !!!

As the sun is high, flowers start blooming, the temperature rises and zombie Jesus leaves us chocolate eggs, the seasons are changing. As we transition from Sunday dinner season to Food Van season, the pace of the day changes, the faces change but the message remains. “Making good food accessible to all “. A quick glance back and the Sunday Dinner kits helped to maintain us throughout the quieter time and hopefully provided comfort to all those lovely customers who gave us a go each and every week.

This years Sunday Dinner season has been accented by some van work courtesy of Gower Dough presents. A pop up drive in cinema that gave us exposure to a whole new market in a new part of town. Although the days were long, the energy and pay off have been very positive and being around great and driven people definitely gives you a sense of purpose, as well as some hard knock lessons.

During an Encanto screening I received 60 online orders in a very very short amount of time. The ping of the machine haunted me for days after but with everybody’s food delivered by half way into the movie, there are definite positives to take. Somethings are beyond your control and you have to just keep your head down and give it all you have, you can always cry in the shower later. And on occasion you can have a sob when your handbrake fails on the van after a very long few days and a big part of your profit is spent replacing said handbrake.

Drive in cinemas with great movies, great films

Some weeks it just feels as if the business just spends, spends, spends but it is always towards an event, maintenance or a busy time. Being able to find the context helps as well as looking at the end game. Recently I heard a wonderful quote, “most people over estimate what they can do in a year but severely underestimate what they can do in a decade!.” I take this to mean patience and perspective are fundamental keys in succeeding.

As for the development of the second van it has been a constant source of frustration due to it being so close, yet so far from ready. As we look to install a fish and chip range, the van needs to lose some weight. So off with the metal signage, fridges out, tables out and anything that can be spared or scrapped. If it’s possible to sell on Marketplace on it goes, without a seconds hesitation. The familiar feeling of a project not progressing as one hopes is back at the forefront. Having an uncomfortable feeling is always a good motivation to make the phone call, arrange the meeting or spend the money. As stated before, to grow you have to get out of that comfort zone. Now it’s story time. Apologies to those who have read it before.

For those who haven’t followed the blog before (firstly welcome), I was a chef at a very successful wedding venue but I knew regrets would be in my future if I didn’t take action, so although it terrified me, I left and pursued my dream of a food van empire. I brought a van (that is my favourite blog, well worth a read) and although I didn’t have a scooby of how to transform it, we began. Due to some amazing people coming into my life, that van got renovated and would eventually was able to get a summer residency, where I got to meet even more personalities to learn from. Just before the pandemic hit we set up a ready to warm Sunday dinner company, with no idea of what we were doing, with setting up a business or remodelling our house to accommodate it. As uncomfortable as it was it was a necessity to survive so we learnt what was needed, made some mistakes and learnt again. So for the last two years for countless Sunday mornings, I was up at 3-4am cooking potatoes ready for delivery of the best Sunday dinner in Swansea. It was so well received and almost had a cult following amongst our regulars.

Sunday mornings were all about the potatoes

BUT, for what it gave other people, it took from us. With the weekends labour intensive, the boys in school Monday to Friday and all of the other work, shopping, order taking and admin, I could see what it was doing and something felt wrong. The struggles and logistics to get my boys to play rugby with their friends on a Sunday morning, the rigid structure of the week meant going to weddings and birthdays became military operations. The amount of birthday parties the boys have missed due to our work commitments is more than I care to remember, it wasn’t right and it wasn’t how I wanted their life to be. As much as we could rely on other parents for lifts and favours, that was nothing more than a band aid. To change this was about taking responsibility of the path you wish to walk. It was time for a pivot!…..

The pivot is a drastic but necessary one, from this point on BARRING A LOCKDOWN, and with a heavy heart, the Sunday dinner kits will be NO MORE. The decision on Christmas hasn’t been made yet, I could appreciate that demand may not be there, and I can completely respect that viewpoint. To everyone who has been with us, supported us and ordered, I will forever be humbled and appreciative. To all the drivers, thank you, to all those who entered our competitions, thank you. Everyone who has liked a post, thank you. When this first began we had no idea we would have sell outs, including 120 Christmas dinners in 13 minutes!, and that you would let us into your sunday. I hope we have been part of some great memories for you as you have been for us. If this is the end of our time together thank you, if you’re ever passing the van come say hi. I really hope you understand and want you to know this wasn’t a quick decision, but ultimately when I’m on the van it feels right, it’s where I’m meant to be and even if it fails, which it could, I will know I tried and for that time I was truly free to cook.

After a time of heavy reflection, an element of truth and clarity hit me. I had lost the original direction, it was always about street food and food vans, that was the dream. Although the Sunday dinners and Christmas dinners were a wonderful detour, it was never the intended path. It gave an element of the same result “making good food accessible to all “ . So with that path redrawn, I got to messaging companies about the van, pitching our food for after the summer season.

I received a reply. The message came through from a local brewery. This brewery has an awesome location, a striking identity that compliments Food Anarchy, a historic building full of character and even has a trendy bar on site. Food Anarchy is going to Boss Brewery.

A fantastic opportunity has arisen

After meeting a lovely, enthusiastic lady named Laura, it felt like a perfect fit. There is a lesson in that by putting yourself out there, great things can happen. We have agreed a pitch for every Friday and Saturday night and extended hours for match days at the football stadium. The food will be matched to compliment beer and an excitement is really brewing in me (awful pun). And there is plenty of parking for collections. (I will be looking into UberEats, Just Eats etc)

With the patience of saints, another location has waited for the fish and chip van. This will happen, no two ways about it. Although waiting on some people for work is out of my control, this is an WHEN not an IF. So with three nights of trading established after the summer, we have a shot. And that’s all it is… a shot. Am I back to being terrified? Yep. Does it feel uncomfortable again? yes, does it feel I’m at the bottom of the mountain again with a lot to learn? Yes. Is that how we grow? Damn straight. I know one thing is that I’ll give it everything.

“To live an extraordinary life, you must try extraordinary things”

Happy eating

The Genie is Nearly Out

It wasn’t too long ago that I didn’t know about, understand or care about inflation. Now as a businessman running a small business, inflation is going to affect the business, my life, your life and the short term whether we like it or not. With the growth mindset ever present, over the last two years I have started to educate and understand that which was once a vague “grown up” word.

Now although I may have years behind me physically, that doesn’t always convert into mental years, I for instance still enjoy “honking” the Mrs boobs. (even writing boobs, made me laugh, I am not a mature person). So, What is inflation? and Why does it affect the business? Lets be sensible for a moment shall we.

What is inflation? Well its essentially a hidden tax, as inflation goes up, your purchasing power goes down. Lets say you had £100 under your mattress, at zero percent inflation you could buy 100 cans of coke. BUT if inflation was 5 percent, you could only buy 95 cans for that money. Simply put your money doesn’t go as far. A couple of real life examples would be (again with 5% inflation) if you had a bank account with a 1% interest rate, well your savings are now losing 4%. If you have a pension that proudly says it pays 3% per year, your pension pot is now down 2%. These examples have been grossly simplified but you get the point. On the flip side of the equation though if your mortgage is 2.5% then inflation at 5% makes it -2.5%. Or if you had a loan at 5% you are essentially paying no interest in real terms. Inflation is good for debt in essence.

So what causes inflation?, well there are a few reasons for the current inflation hitting the world at the minute, as we speak in Britain inflation is 5.4% and rising. Due to the global bastard, that is the pandemic, A LOT of money has been printed (about a Trillion, that is a thousand billion!!). When the government creates more money (Quantitative Easing), money is abundant, easy to get hold of and due to it flooding the system it loses value. It is worth noting that if you or anyone else “creates” money it is called counterfeiting. If something we hold is in abundance, it does not hold a high value, imagine if there was a thousand Mona Lisa’s or if diamonds laced the pavements, society would not deem these items in such high regard. History shows printing money causes a major increase in the probability of inflation, from Weimar Germany to Venezuela to Zimbabwe, inflation generally rises as Quantitative Easing occurs. Now I am not saying we are destined for one of those calamities but we have increased the probability of inflationary times persisting, meaning our purchasing power is going to keep decreasing. This is what happens as the proverbial inflation genie is out of the bottle, once its out, it is very hard to control and get back in the bottle.

Another reason we see prices rise is supply chain issues, as transport, oil, cargo containers all shot up in price, with a lack of lorry drivers meaning less lorries supplying the shops, less veg pickers, more online orders, lots of issues caused our shelves to be stripped bare. We all have experiences of having to go to shop after shop in order to find certain items. Pasta, toilet roll, chopped tomatoes and many more that were all increasing in difficultly to buy and due to that fact we were all happy to pay more due to the shortage, those prices went up. The supermarkets paid more to confirm the items for their stores, so prices increased. The haulage companies paid HGV drivers a massive increase in wages and bonuses to get them back to work, that cost has to go somewhere!. Once prices go up they rarely come down. I would feel safe in saying your shopping bill has increased over the last year.

At this juncture, it would be remise if I didn’t inject a bit of positivity here. We have as a country done pretty damn well getting through it (just look at some of the world), we have a health system that, although under funded, managed to give us an option for vaccination. We were pivotal in the advancement of the vaccine and it is true when they say the NHS is the crown jewel of Britain. Imagine being in a country where insurance is needed for the most basic medical care, for risk of losing thousands of pounds in paying for care that we in Britain receive for free. Now, to make this perfectly clear, when I say as a country, I mean the people, the NHS, and the tenacity of the community. I hold no political affiliation for any of the FuckWits, cockwombles or bellends in the political system, that’s not to say I am Anti establishment, I am sure there are people fighting the good fight for a better country, they probably didn’t get a party invite. You guys and girls vote for who you want, but who is in charge makes no difference to me.

Anyway back to rising costs in this ever chirpy blog (sorry but important to know). As of the time of writing Russia is planning to invade Ukraine. Its all about military positions, NATO responses, broken treaties etc but what it means is a spike in energy and gas prices, as supply shrinks prices increase, now Russia is extremely vital to Europe, not quite as much to Britain, for oil and natural gas. This causes a pinch in the thin reserves throughout the continent and we are left with a surge in prices. Filling up your tank has already gone up and will continue to and in Britain, cockwomble A and cockwomble B have announced in parliament that energy prices are set to increase drastically, costing the average household hundreds of pounds extra a year just in energy.

As the owner of a small business, I have to take note. A wise person once said “once you have the information, its YOUR responsibility to act!”. And, although this businessman doesn’t always show a responsible side, as anyone who follows us on social media knows, I am a 38 year olds who still makes cock jokes as a form of marketing, it is something to meditate on. How will it effect the business?, what can I do?, what approach should I take? who can I learn from?

same bag, more money

Being a regular and unhappy shopper (see previous blog), this grumpy A-hole has noticed the prices going up. In some cases gradually but in others its been very steep. This is how we know inflation has integrated itself into our daily lives. The 5.4% calculated by the government is across a basket of items. So if you mainly buy certain products the percentage could be a lot higher for an individual. Take for instance our baked goods ingredients, sugar is up 45% per kg, butter is up 16%, eggs are up 9% and cocoa in up 17%. The governments calculations do not exactly fall in line with those amounts. This isn’t to say the government is rigging the figures, but other research has the average at 7-12%, it probably just comes down to what you like to purchase in life. I myself enjoy food, heat, and the freedom of driving but I may be the minority.

This means that for a business we are essentially an aspiring pornstar and getting it from both directions whilst trying to grow our name, costs of what we buy are going up and our profits have less purchasing power than before. The obvious solution is to raise prices, that is what many companies are doing without a second thought for the customer, but that could price some of my customers out. Some companies perform the magic trick of “shrinkflation” when they make a product smaller but charge the same. This means Mars bars really were bigger when you were a kid, its not just because you are now grown up. Some industries will play it riskier with “last minute inventory” ,this means they don’t have to worry about paying extra storage but this is the gamble that supply chains will not be late, if they are then the proverbial hits the fan.

Then there is me, what do I do?, well to be truthfully honest I don’t know. The drive of the business, even before it was a business, was to make “GOOD FOOD ACCESSIBLE TO ALL“. It wasn’t about money, it was about an infinite mindset, a goal that essentially can never be achieved. It has never been about watching other people, trends or following the crowd. If I have told this story before I apologise but it bares repeating. When I was a kid we didn’t go out to restaurants. Not many people did, it just wasn’t a big deal or a social norm where I grew up. The pubs would do scampi in a basket etc, it wasn’t a time of culinary excitement. When onion rings were seen as a fancy side dish, and Sara Lee was the purveyor of every dessert you get the idea. But we went out once a year, to celebrate my Mum and Aunts birthday, the whole family. We used to go to a pub, Paul Pry (like a Bernie Inn). I used to love it, the excitement, the different food, (pineapple on gammon, knickerbocker glory, fudge cake, hunters chicken), it all seemed exotic to a kid of meat and two veg, double egg and chips or stew and dumplings. Although it was once a year, that didn’t matter, we had a great time, the service, the food and everything made it special. THATS WHAT MY FOOD HAS TO DO. I don’t care if you order once a week, once a year or just simply once. It doesn’t matter if you are a millionaire or just scrapping by. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE TO ME, no pretention, no derision if you don’t understand what something is. That is what makes this different when tackling inflation compared to an owner or board who are detached from the customer and care purely about a finite mindset of facts and figures. I proudly deliver to every area of the city, I respect the fact that people have chosen us for that special occasion and that they maybe spending money they have saved especially for said occasion on us. On more than one instance I have been told I am too cheap, but they don’t see that I am ACCESSIBLE TO ALL, and that’s how it has to be. That is the soul of the business.

Sara Lee was the real Queen of desserts

One thing is for certain, that by educating yourself, you can be aware of pitfalls before they happen. There are plenty of websites, articles, blogs and books about what to do to protect yourself during times of inflation. That is your choice, as is political affiliation, as in opinion of the world. In regards to Sunday Dinner Season we only have a few weeks left so no prices will change. So maybe the answer will come to me soon enough…. I WISH

happy eating

Making the past more valuable, reflecting on 2021

As the world celebrates the passing of the old and the potential of the new, I am a prisoner of my own surroundings. After testing positive for Covid 19, and following government guidelines and have been in isolation from after just Christmas to the first few days of 2022. After announcing it to my customers via social media I was taken back by the love shown, heck, it even made an online newspaper that I was closed for a period of time. People were very quick to offer well wishes and should we need anything, we had an army we could call upon. For this I thank each and everybody. The symptoms throughout the house have been extremely mild, (cough and slightly run down) and we are lucky to have had two vaccines. Slightly unlucky to contract it the day before the booster was booked but oh well, I’m sure there was somebody who really needed it. The other element to be grateful for is the lateral flow tests that could quickly alert the situation. And although I have missed a visit from my father, a silver lining is it is keeping people safe and I have even been forced into switching off.

With the achievements of my to do list very limited, you find when you are confined to your house it’s difficult to be productive towards the business. If you have kids this is a glorious time to do all those things that you usually can’t fully commit to for the duration like playing computer games for a session, drawing for hours, playing board games. Those are the moments in which time flies, the days have gone in the blink of an eye but in the evenings there is time for reflection and chance to look back on the business. The reason reflection is so important is to make the past more valuable. Plus the weather has been awful so if you have to stay in, it could be a worse scenario. So without further a do, this blog shall reflect on the year.

A year past, As we cautiously entered 2021, we were getting by, week by week, the country was on a firebreak so with people stuck in their houses, the business of ready to warm Sunday roast kits didn’t slow, while hospitality businesses were being shafted we were selling out, even delivering in the deep snow one week, that was after I gritted my incline road at 4.30am one Sunday morning . With the bonuses of private dining for couples housebound for celebrations it became a bit of fun and with some very low prices it was about connections with customers and proving to myself I still had it. We were entering the year with a little momentum but nothing of any significant growth.

In February the universe threw this dog a bone. After an unwavering trust in the world a chance of a summer residency on the van came up. Was the van ready? Fuck no, did I get it ready in time, hell yeah and what a summer it would turn out to be, it was the pivotal moment of the business to date. A proactive campsite owner, taking a chance to hear someone passionate with ideas. Then taking a chance on that somebody with no experience. A lesson of action over perfection was scorched into my brain that day. Nothing is going to be perfect, looking for perfection is just a form of procrastination. The rest of the year the mindset changed from “what makes this not work” To “how can I?”. As Henry ford said “if you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right” . What happens is when you say you can’t, a part of your brain shuts off to not waste time and energy on the problem but if you ask “how can I?” Your brain keeps the creative and logical networks active. This means the answer and solution is still possible.

As the focus went to the van we put everything into it, all the time possible and nearly every penny. This was an opportunity that made perfect sense and one with a great upside, low downside risk. At one point whilst waiting for customers Sunday roast payments to come in, I knew I couldn’t afford to pay the butchers bill but this was a lesson in humility. By ringing the butcher and explaining the situation he was nothing but supportive and gracious. And although many businesses run credits with him, I had always paid straight up. He was more than happy to wait a few days and the connection between the businesses grew. After a couple of tight weeks we got through, and the balance has never been so stretched since. Speaking of connections, the debt of time and experience I owe to another business owner is huge. A pizza purveyor who is so handy and spent so many hours working for free getting the van up to standard. That generosity will never be forgot and goes to show how important giving back is.

As the warmer weather started to ease back in and the kids went back to school after Easter, the van was in full force development including some sweet designs and it was all coming together. We celebrated a year of dinner kits, which happen to be close to Easter Sunday, so it became a good chance to reflect on how much we had expanded that product. Then came a decision of difficulty, to re focus on the dream and stop the consistent income of the ready to warm roast dinner kits. Although the residency was only for a few months we would still need an income for the quieter months and with so much heart, soul, blood and sweat (metaphorically of course) already in the dinner kits we couldn’t step away from them completely. With what was originally a “get by” hustle, we have grown the concept to have a connection with a large group of customers. Customers seems the wrong descriptive word, as the link is more than that, they know me and I know them. I love the fact that we deliver to every area and no one is discriminated. We make good food accessible to all, that is what has always been at the core of this adventure. The dinner kits have come to personify that concept.

When May rolled around we had the van ready which was a brilliant turnaround, we even did a cook off on the street which was so much fun, getting around family, friends and neighbours to try some dishes before we headed to the campsite, it felt great to give something back to the very local community of our lives, so much so we did the same after the season ended. Then we went live with van season, from the first night in awful weather to the last in the dark it was amazing. For the first time since being self employed it felt right. The flow was there, the dishes were well received, the people were buzzing. The energy was electric and the confidence of doing what I was meant to do in life was bursting. After that season, we had made some money to re invest to expand to an extra van. A massive mindset positive was being around new people, with new ideas and outlooks, that was such a valuable experience and helped drive the mindset for seeing this path as a bigger adventure than was first conceived. When I look back now the small minded goals I was prepared to settle for, it makes me see the growth that is possible by introducing energetic people in your life. The juxtapose of that was a summer working with close friends. Working with lads you know, love and respect, that makes life easy. A team that was constantly laughing and being silly but all the time respecting the craft, food and customer. This didn’t feel like work, it felt like fun with the added bonus of a payday. The mental support to have people you trust and can talk ideas and concepts through was invaluable, knowing they wanted the best for you and the business makes that trust level into a real bond. An exercise in listening to those around you, seeing what works and doesn’t. As the summer ended, so did the dream, to be honest it hit hard having to finish the residency, but it was always just for the season. Once my mind went back to the romantic side of what the dinners mean to us personally and the customers, the routine was not far behind and it was time to get back into Sunday dinner Season. To a pleasant surprise a massive wave of customers were ever loyal in remembering us and the first couple of weeks sold out. That was such a beautiful moment of support to experience and one that I will always think of fondly.

With dinners back in full flow it was time to think about the Christmas menu, our Christmas dinner kit was popular the year previous and we had had a lot of early interest, the first message of enquiry came July 1st. With the usual countdown and all the pizazz of getting people excited for Christmas in early October we launched. It sold out in 13 minutes!!. That memory of my phone exploding with messages and notifications will live with me for a long long time. At moments like that all you can do is enjoy the surreal aspect of it, then afterwards pour yourself a drink of quality and enjoy the moment. Feeling punch drunk from the amount of orders in the small period of time, I collapsed with a single malt on the settee with a large smile on my face. After about 4 minutes of rest, my mind asked the question “what if we could do more?”. Turns out we could. After securing a professional kitchen at a stadium, I was set to increase the number. With a new larger number to work at, Christmas was set. I even managed to have a couple of days out in Bournemouth buying the newest van Lilibet (that’s documented in another blog).

New van for a new season

During November the dinners started to slow, as people started to think about Christmas, I think disposable money becomes tighter or spending becomes somewhat more conscious, we were still selling enough though and with friends asking for support in their kitchens the month flew by. It was nice to be able to do some shifts for those who have been so good to me over the years, and they got somebody they could rely on in return. We also missed out on the food van working a prime venue on a prime night but that was all explained in a previous blog.

Then came December, a month that is now scared in my psyche, one that taught some important lessons in doing too much and knowing when to spend money wisely. As the pizza purveyor offered me a spot in their drive in cinema,( this was on top of the Christmas dinner prep). To make it even more challenge Annika, the drive in was scheduled for the evenings running up to Christmas, (when else would a Christmas drive in be?!). The daytimes of which I would be prepping the Christmas dinner kits (remember the large number I had confidently booked in October). The minefield of shopping smart was essential, for more fun we took on a buffet of a regular customer. The logistics of moving the van, getting it ready, on top of a rather tight prep schedule was balls to the wall to say the least, but I have no regrets, the drive in was an amazing event. The days became very long days and 5 x 16/17 hour days past at breakneck speed, as the last kit was delivered I went home and slumped into a hot bath, I do not mind admitting I was done in. It had pushed me to the limit But I did it, everyone was happy, everyone was served but I fear it took a little bit of me with it. As the feet throbbed and the back stiffened, it knew I had done too much. For the sake of paying a chef to help me for one or two days my life it could have been a lot less stressful. A stress that was about saving a couple of hundred pound and being stubborn, lesson learnt. Feeling beaten up for the days over Christmas wasn’t ideal, but when you are in the company of friends and family the time is always magical.

Serving at the drive in was so much fun

There is definitely a level of pride for what we accomplished in 2021, but in many aspects it doesn’t feel we scratched the surface of potential. The mindset at the end of 2021 was infinitely stronger than how the year began so the potential for where it could be at the end of 2022 is highly exciting.

Be proud of all you’ve accomplished but realise its only the beginning of your potential.

happy eating