No Rest For The Wicked
Friends and family often challenge why I spend so much time working. I've had many people ask why I have to work over Christmas, why can't I just take a day off, why can't I take holidays whenever I want to, surely if I'm the boss, I can decided when I work and when I don't.
Every day is the same in online retail - as long as orders are coming in, there is work that must be done. And if the orders aren't coming in, we are in serious trouble. If an Amazon customer messages on Christmas Day then that customer needs to be replied to on Christmas Day. And yes, this happens, every year.
Toby recently gave the analogy of our business being like a cafe. You wouldn't take an order then just not bother fulfilling it. Your customer is sitting waiting for their coffee, you can't just disappear off on an hour's break. We all know that all orders in a cafe have to be completed before you close for the day, you can't ask a pre-paid customer to come back tomorrow for their breakfast can you ......
It's the same with us for our Amazon Prime business. Would you be happy to order on Prime then not receive it as promised, the following day? No you wouldn't because one of the main reasons you purchased on Prime was precisely that - so you would get it the next day. You really wouldn't be happy if you knew the seller had just decided they needed the day off and that they weren't going to fulfil your order. We are one of millions of small businesses that provide you with your Prime product and that means we have to turn that order around quickly. If we fail to fulfil orders in line with our delivery promises, we fall down the rankings, our sales tumble, our business dies. It's as simple as that, and as harsh as that.
It's a tough world out there, more so than ever at the moment. Running your own business is not for the faint hearted. You have to put your heart and soul into it. You have to work whatever hours you need to pay yourself, to pay your staff, to stop the bailiffs from knocking at the door. If that means working every day, you work every day. Most business owners are just getting by and continue to risk everything on a daily basis just to keep the business alive.
Trust me, I would rather be at home today but needs must. I'm saving all my bank holidays for retirement.