October Update

Maybe I should change the title of this blog to "Diary of a failing businessman".

Anyway.

I told the Admin girl that I was letting her go. I felt so bad, but what could I do? I also told one director and will be speaking with the other to make him redundant also. I am also considering replacing our sales person as I feel that he is just sitting on his ass and living off his basic salary until things get better. I am actively looking for approximately 2 new sales people. Cash flow is so tight that it's just week to week now and I'm really hoping that another deal comes across the line to relieve the pressure. The deal I was most hopeful for went south last week as I was let down at the last minute by the people that were funding me, hence another guy got the prize. C'est la vie.

When the alarm goes in the morning and I wake up, more and more I feel like I am in a prison, albeit of my own making. A guy who was a good friend is now sending me solicitors letters about a joint investment which I can no longer afford to fund.

Every time the slightest thing goes wrong, my wife just loses it and "throw's her toys out of the pram". Her behaviour is just adding to my stress levels. My eyes feel like I've been crying all of the time, even though I haven't. I'm sure that there are others in far worse situations than I but that is no consolation. Misery never looks for company, only for sympathy and solutions.

I am worried that as the days go by that I am becoming less and less capable/able to work my way through this, to come up with innovative, new ways of making revenue. I am concerned that I am becoming depressed.

I need something to go my way...............soon.

September Update

Well, lots has happened since my last post. The summer period June, July and August have been much worse than expected and now the whole company is on a 3 day week. I am looking at letting other Directors go now too. I'll also need to let one other Admin person go, probably the Receptionist. Everyone will just have to answer the phone themselves.

The first two weeks of September have been way better than expectations but were a bit of a false dawn as now we've missed target again. So what to do now eh? I've started talking to other people in the media business and am looking for an opportunity to merge with someone else and save further costs that way. Time to talk to the landlord too.

Bills and debts seem to be appearing out of nowhere and I need to clear some of them in order to take some of the pressure off. I'm hoping to get one particular deal over the line and that will generate more personal cash for me

I have lots of possibilities out there in terms of possible new revenue streams but we'll see what happens.

I need something to go my way, something to break for me. I'm still not drinking alcohol and miss it less and less. I walked to work most days over the summer and began to regain my fitness but slacked off lately as I've been having early morning meetings. I'm determined to get organised and get back into it next week. It's just a bit of a pain as I have no shower facilities at work.

I will persevere.

April Update

It's the end of April and I've been lucky enough to get away for two quick breaks over the Easter period which really helped me calm down. I'm still very focussed and still not drinking alcohol. Funnily enough the longer I'm off alcohol the less I miss it. I need to focus on my diet now and try to exert more control in that area in addition to increasing my exercise levels to increase my personal fitness and ability to sustain and increase my current work rate.
The company is not doing much better, we are hitting brick walls all of the time in trying to get more revenue in, but hopefully we are on the cusp of achieving this and breaking through to profitability.

My gut feeling is that perseverance and tenacity is what will get us through this very difficult time. I just hope that I don't have to cut any more staff. I am considering a 3 day week for directors as a short term measure.

Ch ch ch changes

So anyway, I cut the people who I had to cut and reduced salaries all across the company, with the Directors taking the biggest hit. Working harder and harder each week. Still not drinking alcohol and starting to walk to and from work as often as practicable. Trying to get this little business to profitability. I'm so close to break even that I can smell it. Just need a few more things to go my way.

As Calvin Coolidge said :

Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

New Year

I posted 17 times in 2007 and just TWICE in 2008. What a great blog. Hmmmm.

It's Jan 2009 and I'm off alcohol for January and possibly February. I'm increasingly focussed on this company I bought as it needs to be brought into profit ASAP. I'm being urged by my fellow directors to let some people go in order to reduce the pressure on cashflow and I'm reluctantly giving in to their pressure. If I don't the company could go under. The process starts on Monday.

On another topic, I did get a good idea for a story today so I'm going to start fleshing it out on my laptop.