22-23_GF.qxp_Grid 03/07/2023 16:04 Page 2
OVER THE
COUNTER
BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.
All My Ex’s
Live In Texas... These last few weeks I have been without a car so have been using our company van after the drivers have delivered the newspapers. One of my drivers is a massive country music fan and I have found myself leaving the radio tuned into Absolute Country, his go to station. Beetling around in the van I feel like I am a moving billboard for the stores, so achieving two jobs at once! Country music has always been known for its storytelling… the wife has left, the dog has died, you have gambled all your money and all of this drama is wrapped neatly up in a four-minute song. Country music has this way of amplifying everything! These last few weeks has felt like my life is a country song. While thankfully none of the aforementioned has happened to me, it does feels like every turn is a challenge and every problem has a story. 22 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Every businessperson I speak to at the moment, mentions ‘the pressure’ they are feeling - few able to keep it to within Dolly Parton’s big hit of working ‘9 to 5’! We recently marked the 35th anniversary of our original store on June 19. The pressure my folks felt back at the start, living on £100 a week for years, should all be gone, yet somehow challenges are still ringing in my ears. We operate from our own buildings, but my continual drive to improve both the physical buildings and the way we do things has led to a lot of investment over the last six years and on top of Covid this has put a huge pressure on us in the same way it did to many others. I keep hearing phrases like “you guys are doing alright”. This may be true in some ways but in others the constant struggle to pay bills, meet payroll demands and develop the business does not get any easier. Pressure was always described to me as a sink filling with water. It rises quickly and you may hit the overflow, but if the water keeps coming at a speed the overflow won’t cope with eventually things will swamp you and be too much. I see lots of common threads in pressure for business… l Pressure of Staff - You can’t do everything yourself so finding them,
Above left: Willie Nelson sang: “Mamma don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys” but a card retailer’s life is also beset with challenges. Above: David Robertson with his wife Nicola and their son Hudson on his recent first birthday celebrations. Below: Coping with pressure means ensuring you don’t overwhelm your personal ‘overflow’.
keeping them and making sure that it is cost effective to have them working is a constant challenge. l Pressure of banks - The general lack of help. Most now don’t have a relationship manager and if they do it is all on their terms. l Pressure of interest rates - Whether that be on business finances or indeed personal monies. l Pressure on footfall - Many town centres are still finding it hard with nonreturners. People are also simply shopping less due to a lack of funds and making last minute decisions. l Pressure of core bills - So many were forced to tie into energy contracts that were not fair while we are also seeing costs of everything from phone, broadband, insurance all spiralling due to inflation. l Pressure on things beyond your control - This last weekend we had a far