All My Ex’s Texas... Live In

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, 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 right Nazi speaker in our town centre which drove the public out and resulted in 40 riot police coming in. This killed our Saturday trade. Quite simply eight people with extreme views should not be allowed to affect so many livelihoods.

Many of the above was discussed in a two-page article in the Sunday Times Business pages on 18 June which included comments from various business owners in the Norfolk market town of Downham Market. The headline was ‘Trade is roughly half what it used to be’. To use the country analogy, it’s Groundhog Day but it is interesting that these same problems seem to be replicated throughout the UK.

Building a business is exciting, empire building my folks used to call it. I was so driven, had so much energy and every day was an opportunity but just like the country songs say, you can take the wrong road and find yourself somewhere down the wrong path. Even maintaining what you have built is difficult.

To cope, I have created a little set of things to help me juggle the pressure. These may seem simple and in essence they are, but they do make a difference.

First and most crucially with pressure is that you need to recognise what is going well. Allow yourself a little time to enjoy a success along the way. It doesn’t need to be a big thing. It could be a good sale, a new window display or getting a better margin - small wins.

Identify the triggers that really stress you. I know that sometimes I need a power nap or I feel I am constantly fighting sleep and this makes me stressed. Also shop rotas and holidays wind me up so I

Below have passed this on to others to deal with.

Building a structure within my immediate team I have a daily meeting with my office manager and follow up with each store manager. This allows me hopefully not to miss too much and gives them support at the same time trusting them to do the job.

Manage my time better Pals, drivers and colleagues have always questioned my time management as I always try to pack too much in and should learn it should be quality over quantity.

My one year old son, Hudson’s favourite word currently is “NONONONONONO”, said while shaking his head. I always thought the best thing to do was to say “yes” and figure it out later, but in reality using Hudson’s word should free up a chunk of time and perhaps people value you a little more when you don’t agree to do everything.

Sharing the workload and setting reasonable expectations of those that work with you should result in things getting done in a positive way.

Find tools to help and speed up processes. We have recently switched to a new accountancy package and while we had the pain and time of the initial set up, in the long run it should help us find better ways to do things.

When you unwind; properly unwind Now this is perhaps the biggest challenge for me on this list. I seem to have developed a condition where if I don’t sit in front of this laptop every night then I feel I am betraying my work. I find that the only way I truly relax is by booking something, whether that is cinema tickets or a personal training session

or going for dinner with a pal. If it is not a fixed thing, then I will tend to work and watch or work and listen. And in truth you never really switch off that way.

As I have discovered with Hudson and my dog Hiro, children and pets do force you to stop for a bit, but I do need to find ways to spend more quality time with them.

People speak about stress and pressure as being negatives when trying to build a healthy workplace for both yourself and staff. In my opinion you need enough pressure to help you achieve and feel that you get things done. You need a little stress to show you care and people can only rebound and thrive if they are challenged a bit in the first place.

Balancing this so you don’t put too much pressure on yourself and others is of course the trick.

Writing every PG column is thought about and discussed often throughout the month but it is only when the deadline looms that my ideas really start to take shape. This is of course a common thread in lots of creative people. We need that ticking clock to force the focus to achieve what we need to happen.

I also know that I need to sort my sleep, my diet, my downtime and a million other things. Knowing what you should do and actually doing it are two different things. Going back to my recent radio waves…

Work drives me ‘crazy’ and you feel that sometimes ‘you are so lonesome that you could cry’!

We ‘walk that line’ every day each night you feel like a bit of a ‘Gambler’ standing by your laptop hoping that there won’t be any cause for ‘D-I-V-O-R-C-E’ due to all the hours worked.

Hopefully the boots are not made for walking as I don’t need to find my ‘Jolene’ and I know that ‘the country road will take me home to the place I belong’.

I am no ‘coward of the county’, I am saddled up for this business and as each of us tell our own stories through our lives and businesses we hopefully will keep largely in tune to make it as harmonious as possible.

Yeeeeee Haaaaaaa!

To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com