By Mo du Buy
Oh, I just love Dolly Parton’s song “9 to 5”, but have you ever taken the time to understand the lyrics
of the chorus?
“Working nine to five, what a way to make a livin’
Barely gettin’ by, it’s all takin’ and no givin’
They just use your mind and you never get the credit
It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it
Nine to five, yeah, they got you where they want you
There’s a better life and you think about it don’t you
It’s a rich man’s game no matter what they call it
And you spend your life puttin’ money in his wallet”
This was my life for almost 27 years. Make no mistake; most of those years, I loved it. Solid income every month, forced vacation leave, perks of sick leave and oh my, bonus month was the best ever!
But as the song goes, “there’s a better life” and yes, I thought a lot about it. At the age of 46, I made my ‘next’ decision and for the first time in my adult life, I resigned and was unemployed. Holy bananas!
My nerves were shot as this was total unfamiliar grounds for me. I wanted to be one of the brave ones and start my own small business. Then, as the months progressed, I realised that it works! My fan base was growing and every month, the turnover grew a little bit more than the month before.
However, Dolly’s song never stated that when you have your own small business, work doesn’t start at nine and ends at five. Oh no my dear, your weekends are made up of marketing strategies, business discussions and all that is nice!
We prefer to do this over a brandy and gin… Then at five in the afternoon on working days, you start unpacking stock, updating websites and POS systems and repacking shelves. All this to do it all over again tomorrow…
Oh, but that’s not all! Then you become even braver and sell up your comfort in the city and move to a rural village called Barrydale. Note to reader: This was the best ‘next’ decision we’ve ever made. Make sure to read my article “I am Barrydale”.
Husband and I setup a proper shop, on the golden mile on the R62. We had in mind a calmer life, in nature with more time to ourselves. You may stop laughing now…The past two years have been an absolute blast and it went by in a wink of an eye.
During our first year in Barrydale, the shop did better than we anticipated with tourists, nationally and internationally, buzzing and buying. Even the so called “suicide months” weren’t too bad for us.
However, something shifted in the travelling habits during the last year and the feet became less and less. Please note that this is not only applicable to our shop, but we’ve been hearing it from other businesses in the village as well.
Restaurants seeing more and more shared meals between families or just a quick drink with no food order added on. We’ve experienced more and more browsers and window shoppers while sales started to plummet. The December craze also reduced from three weeks the previous year, to one week last year.
So, as we do, we went back to a brandy and a gin to discuss our ‘next’. What is next for us when you’ve unpacked the stock; updated the systems and repacked the shelves but no one takes a small bit of you home?
When the doors are open and only browsers pop in. Don’t take me wrong, we do love our browsers as they enjoy the walk down memory lane and appreciate what we do.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t keep the lights on… As a business, your overheads remain the same while the doors must stay open.
What is ‘next’ for your staff when you cannot afford to keep them employed? Some days, I wish I had a crystal ball to see into the future to know if your ‘next’ decision is the correct one. You will never know until you do it! So be more like Nike…
We did! Our ‘next’ was setting up a website and an online presence. That is where we are today, with an online shop and hoping to find those buyers that appreciate what we do and want that bespoke item. Likeminded people, we know you are out there and hope you will find us soon!
Wink-wink: www.papajoescollectibles.co.za
However, I cannot help to wonder what our ‘next’ will be if the online shop doesn’t work…
I do know if I stand naked on the R62, with a big sign begging people to come shop, they will pay me to put my clothes back on… there’s that!
So here’s to ‘next’s’ in our lives, for better or for worse!
