Labour of Love: In Labour: Hard Labour...birth of a website

Evening All,

I know, I know, I know...

Every business needs a website, it is the  window through which the world takes a peek to see what you do: to try before they buy. It is essential, it is imperative, it is a no brainer. I've always been a bit of a rebel (without a cause) so the more I'm told I MUST do or have something the less likely I am to want it or have it.And, as for as long as I can remember I've been told I MUST have a website.

And I promise I have tried. I've coughed up 50% deposits on 3/4 occasions to different doula each one promising to be the person who would hold my hand & walk my bare feet over those hot coals of fire to the birth of my website which would await me at the end.

I just needed to trust, to believe...

So, I'd tell them about me, my food business, The Delicious Food Company, my beautiful products, made which such care, my labour of love  & they would look me & my DM in the eye tell me they believed, to trust them, they understood the brand, the message, the visual glory I wanted to portray. 

In eager anticipation I'd await the arrival of the "concept" and then it would appear, a messy reconfiguration of my Facebook page & thus with  soles  of my feet truly  burnt I'd retreat vowing never again... until the next time. Again & again I did this
 (despite the fact that a website our business grew & grew) But then something changed and in an instance I knew to grow some more everybody was right...I did indeed need a website.

The change happened when  I went to Trinity College to do a post graduate certificate in 

"Creative Thinking, Innovations & Entrepreneurship"

 & in that environment I could see clearly that a website is indeed a necessary window to the soul of a business. And so, not trusting myself & my burnt soles, I asked my talented colleague Jane, to project manage it for me. & with our web designer Patrick Quinee, I am in the final stages of having a wonderful website for our business

We're so close but this time my two expert doulas are in control with  a less(ish) hysterical me to one .I just cannot wait to show ya'll ...

just a few more pushes & we're there !

Shirley x

Hello ..It's me...

"Hello...it's me

"I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet"

I love these lyrics by Adele, because  most of us have someone or some people in our past with whom these sentiments resonate, people we have loved & lost, through death, timing, stupid misunderstandings, geography or a million other reasons.

In 2013 I used to write a weekly blog about my life as a small food producer in Dublin. I wrote fearlessly & honestly, and I connected with a lot of people. At the height of our recession, I recounted what it was like to be a small business owner. The highs of new clients & growing sales. But I also told my story of how little I slept with worry, how cash flows issues affected me, how fearful I was, how vulnerable I was.

At a dinner party, a friends husband suggested that I revealed too much, (I didn't know he read the blog) another loose tongue suggested the same. I never revealed anything in those blogs that I wouldn't have told you if we met for coffee, but those comments along with other things, took the wind out of my sail.

Gradually I stopped blogging thinking who would want to know my story

These days it now seems that everything  has to have a filter...shiny stories, with shiny filtered photos, fab abs & gluten free/vegan/protein overloads/ no sadness or reality on social media well that could damage the shiny brand.

I  want to tell you about the world as I see it & hopefully like last time round you will hop into my van beside me as I wind my way around Dublin delivering The Delicious Food Co salads & sandwiches, and you too might see the world as I do.

So, having spent the past few months looking for a new angle on the blog....I'm going to go back to what I do best & that is tell my own foodie, business story.. warts & all

"Hello

It's me

I've been wondering...."

Shirley x

(Crona...this one is for you babes xxx)

  

Ciao Bella.....Italy here we come

Evening All,

Last year we didn't get a holiday. The kids got away to various far flung locations but Mr Delicious & myself didn't manage it. All that work  without the reward of a week in the sun can pull you down, especially as week after week you wave friends adieu as they depart on theirs, looking bronzed, relaxed & ready for another year when they return.

In April I had lunch with my brother and he told me he had booked his summer holiday, two weeks in a camping site in Italy, flights to Bologna train to campsite....happy days.

When I got home I checked out the cost of flights,they  reasonable enough I thought. That's my form Think : Action: Stop:...the follow through is the bit where I fall down. However the next day I checked the flights again & already they had gone up by a whopping 300euro for five of us, so without further adieu I whipped out the credit card & booked leaving 25th June

Campsite booked, holiday sorted !

Last week I got an email from the campsite welcoming us, looking forward to seeing us etc. The next day I got an email confirming cancellation of the booking...don't ask. We did manage to get another booking in another campsite as it seems we had reserved about 6 via booking.com/ direct/trivago etc...

On Wednesday I was checking out car hire from airport, but it closes at 12 midnight & our flights arrives at 11.30, trains stop at 10pm.  A taxi would cost 250 (& you really would have to tip the driver having spent so much time together), so we've booked a hotel in Bologna, train to Pescheira is booked for Sunday, after the match.

So with the lads in the kitchen briefed to within an inch of their lives....we are heading off in a few hours to the airport, for our first holiday in a few years.

Now I just need to book  my travel insurance

Ciao !

Shirley

Dancing in the Rain !

Evening Everybody,

Well now..wasn't that some week ! 

Glorious sunshine deliciously piercing our mood making our skin  tingle with a positive virus:  shaking the negativity of endless rain &  years of gloom. Dublin city was alive with sunshine & culture:Tall ships in the Liffey; acre after acre of gardens & food galore in Bloom ,a  music festival in  majestic Kilmainham, thronged by teens immune to the beauty of their surrounding, but mesmerized by the brilliance of Groove Armada in the Dublin night.

 We are alive, we are back and we have survived the forty days of rain, inflicted by our septic banks...&  by god  didn't we  all  we earn that sunshine.

Last week we reached our Linked Finance target ten days ahead of schedule and for that myself & Mr Delicious want to thank everybody at Linked Finance especially Conor Mc Aleese and every single person who backed us. We thank you, not just for the commitment to us but those of you  who subscribe to the ethos of principled people to people crowd funding.

We attended our first big trade show last week at the invitation of BWG, it was exciting & daunting  in equal measures...."I have three shops in Tralee you'd be perfect for us"..what's the margin,/central billing/national distribution/ sale or return...".it's all still in my head, in a nutri bullet, waiting me to push the "blend" button,  as I wonder how to process the enormous potential and ponder if this is the direction I want to go in.

The retail premises I told you about fell through, yet immediately a much brighter prospect appeared,  is that Karma, or me just being sunshine drunk, well I'll know tomorrow & I will keep you posted.

Last but not least is the news that our first fully branded fridge is now open for business in Spar Dame St, where you will find a full range of our delicious products In a world where healthy eating has become a religion, it's high priests/rock Gods suggesting their way of  goji berries & porridge is the only key to a happy  life , our message is simple;
keep food simple, avoid processed prepared meals, make a dining table from anything, a door, a plank of wood...treasure it, share your simple food with family & friends.
beacuse around that table however coarse it may, that's where memories are made.

And most important next time it rains  get out & dance in it !

Shirley x

Disclaimer
Much as myself & Mr Delicious would like you to think this is a picture of us...only in our dreams ...

Something old, somethng new, something borrowed. ( Part 2)

Evening all,

On Sunday I wrote about our adventures in the scary world that is crowd funding, an adventure we are currently embarking on with Linked Finance. Crowd funding for your business is a very personal thing. For most of us who own a small business, they can be  as much part of us as our family, it's fair to say that they often get more attention than our children as we negotiate the highs & lows of the associated relationship, suppliers, staff, cash flow.

Consider you have a troublesome child,  no matter how hard he/she pushes you, taunts you, causes you sleepless nights you will love that child regardless. You will make endless sacrifices for it, you will protect it no matter what, you will be loyal and unforgiving for criticisms you feel are unjust.

And just when you think you can take no more, they will smile at you or hug you, give you something back, that justifies the love, makes everything worthwhile.

Small businesses are just like that, so undeniably personal & connected, we feel their pain as much as  if they are a living part of us. That's why crowd funding ain't easy. On Sunday I compared it to going on Tinder, putting yourself out there, seeing who is attracted enough to make a move.

Yesterday morning we were funded to the tune of 20%, but by yesterday evening we had hit an astonishing 75%....that's a lot of affection coming  in  the direction of my troublesome child and I am proud as punch that so many can see the potential of this, my unorthodox fifth child.

Tonight we are 84% funded, just 16% more to go, So a massive thank you to all of you who believe in my child as much as I do and have lent to us and for those of you sitting on the fence 

 BELIEVE!

Shirley x

Disclaimer:

 For Mr Delicious, I never been on Tinder (I swear !)

For my four amazing children, 

you have never been troublesome and thank you for sharing me with the fifth child !

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed .....

Evening All,

Last week I wrote my first blog of the year, I didn't promote it on social media the way I used to, I had to get writing again, make sure I'm comfortable with what I'm saying. Ironically in the same week I had a number of people question why I stopped writing, they had been enjoying my story, so to quote the amazing Dolly....

"Here I go again"...

 I told you about the many things that were  happening for us at The Delicious Food Co, new packaging, new shop, new crowd funding with Linked Finance....it's a busy scary time,

We first put our toe in the water of Crowd Funding a few years ago  via the wonderful team at Linked Finance. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept: lenders commit to lend money to small businesses at a rate decided by them in an auction type process. It's a simple idea, the banks will give you 1% on your savings, but take a risk, back a small business (vetted by Linked Finance) and you might get up to 15% on your investment

.https://www.linkedfinance.com/loan/delicious

Everybody is different, but if I had money to invest in a small business I would certainly expect no greater rate of return than the banks. It's a moral/ ethical thing for me. So we have opted for a three year fixed rate of 8.8%, so reaching our target may be more difficult when we exclude those offering above this rate, but we will feel better about our new business partners.

Crowd funding is a difficult personal exercise, you need to write a profile of your business, your accounts are published & available to those registered with the site....you feel very exposed & vulnerable.

 I suspect it's a lot like being on Tinder...putting  yourself out there & seeing who's attracted enough to make a move.

So far we have over 26 wonderful people who have backed us to the tune of almost 20% in 3 days and we are not just grateful but touched.....For you & all of you coming down the track, I want you to know that we have been invited by BWG  to exhibit at their annual Suppliers Conference in Citywest on Wednesday, in the category of Emerging Suppliers. and I want you to know that when I am there promoting The Delicious Food Co, I will be doing it not just for  Mr Delicious,our team  in the kitchen & me, but I'll be doing it for you, our current  lenders and our future lenders, making you proud,

ensuring your return on your investment, hoping you spread the word...of this innovative world of  crowd funding..

Shirley x

If you have a minute  check out the blog I wrote when we last crowd funded with Linked Finance in 2014...I think you'll enjoy it.

http://deliciousfoodco.blogspot.ie/2014_03_01_archive.html

Good Friday...(glorious & exhausted !)

Good Evening Everybody,

It's Friday 6pm,

 I've opened a bottle of wine, which I am delightfully sipping, whilst Mr Delicious sleeps deeply on the sofa, a glass of white wine poised precariously in his hand. I daren't move it, as he might wake up & if ever a man needs some sleep  it's him. 

It's been early starts all week for us, so when I woke up this morning and he had already left I thought I must have overslept ....but it wasn't even 5.30am  when I stumbled into  my home office  blindly  searching for my last two contact lens.

The dog benefited from an extra long walk & I was at my stainless steel work table by 6.15am.

The last few months have been mental, so much going on in some directions, so little in others....my daydreambeliever  in missing in action  (but I'm sure I'll find him, I always do). Business continues to grow with all the excitement & pain that comes with it....bigger supplier / wage bills, big highs when the cheques come in & enormous lows whey fail to arrive within an expected time frame.

One minute I'm lovin' it, and the next minute  I'm sellin' it !

If you are an small business owner, I know you'll share the agonies &  ecstasies of this roller coaster ride and if you are in a safe pensionable job, well I loathe you & envy you in equal proportions.

Next week I am going to do something I have done  before & that is to expose myself to the general public and do some crowd funding...I can't manage this growth without help so I'm going back to a space I know & lets see what happens...

The new packaging will be ready next week, so that feels like the end of something & the beginning of something new.

We have first option on a site for our first retail space , which we also hope to agree on  next week..how exciting is that !

Tonight we got final confirmation that whilst the fridge in our van is super COOL..the engine of the van is DEAD...so  we also need to buy a new van, asap.

And all of that has to happen between the actual work of producing our delicious products.

Yesterday morning myself & Mr Delicious decided that the best way to get a better work life balance over the summer was to start training, so as he drove the hired fridge van around the city, on our deliveries, I signed us both up for a charity cycle to our favourite festival of the year....

Electric Picnic 2016, we're coming to get ya...and we'll be on our bikes

Shirley

x