Back in the saddle ...Go, go, go....

Evening All,

How are you ?

I'm sorry I haven't been around for a bit. I'm not really sure why I stopped blogging, but for some reason I just couldn't seem to find my voice &  there's no point in blogging without that voice. It's been a strange few months, so much has happened I should have been bursting to tell you, but instead I retreated into my shell & laid low.

Last time I blogged there was potentially something big on the horizon, a Delicious Food Co cafe, but it didn't happen & to be honest there was a part of me that breathed a sign of relief. It would have been fab, but it would also have been a distraction from what needs to be done....& what needs to happen is that I need loads more clients. Every year there has always been a few big clients to keep us busy to capacity. Any more work & Mr Delicious would kill himself with exhaustion, so we carry on busy, busy but not really growing...

But that's not the truth.

We are growing ..by over 20%  year on year, last year...and that was phenomenal...but oh no ..not good enough for me.."ah sure client X spent Y & if we didn't have that ...blah, blah, blah.."

So with the distraction of the cafe out of the way...I'm back in the game, doing what I do best.
I'm selling.
 We have taken on a new chef so we now have more of paid hours than we have work, so Mr Delicious can get back home in time to get dinner on the table.  I'm selling by walking the streets, knocking on doors, introducing myself showing customers what we do...and guess what...I'm having a blast....

Popping into big corporate buildings ...charming my way past security.
."Do you have an appointment, Miss..?."

"Do I need one  Sirrrr ?"

I'm still waking up during the night, to tot up the figures, but lately I've put my head back in  the pillow & told myself  "NO, no sums tonight "  and have managed to fall back into deep slumber.

For various reasons..I lost my momentum  last year (whilst increasing sales by 20%), but strangely I've never felt more motivated or back in the game than I do now. Just like Nicholas Roche, I may have lost a bit of time by falling off my bike, but I'm back in the saddle peddling hard....I won't be wearing the pink jersey this time...but the yellow is there for the taking...and that's where my sights are set....

Ride on !

Shirley
x

What;s a few more days to friends like us!

Evening All,

What a roller coaster the past few weeks have been.

I've sat down a few times to write a blog & let you all know what's going on...yet .somehow the words get as far as my fingertips, but something in my head won't let them hit the keys...all those cliches," if it sounds too good to be true, that's usually because it is". "be careful what you wish for ", keep my fingertips paralysed...."say nothing, not yet" my fingers subliminally obeying my head & not my heart.

It's not just the blog, I'm struggling with...it's Twitter & Facebook too. I think I've just wrapped myself in a big, big blanket of bubble wrap, those thousands of air bubbles protecting me from myself, from possible disappointment...Just a few more days I promise....then I will tell you all.

We've come so far together from my first blogs when I invited you to sit beside me in my little van as I made my way around Dublin, delivering my delicious salads & sandwiches to shops and told you my stories...You have been such good company, I really want to make you proud. I want you to feel part of my success, I want you cheer & yell from the sideline "we knew she could do it." I don't want to let you down.

So just few more days...

I promise.

Shirley x

Karma...please (you owe me!)

         

Untitled

There is a Forbidden Fruit

Of that you may be sure

It grows on many different trees

Something that you will want terribly bad

That always evades you. And you say

If I had that I would be fulfilled.

And you never know all the time

About the invisible Guardian Angel....

 Then some unlucky day all incidents

.....Co-ordinate into a perfect moment

You get what you want whatever it is

And are cast down into Eternal Torment.

I know what I am talking about.



                                         -Patrick Kavanagh

This is one of my favorite poems, by Patrick Kavanagh. The past two weeks have been mental beyond belief. The last blog I wrote was about our crowd funding initiative that we were about to launch with @LinkedFinance. I knew then that I was heading into a scary, scary time. Putting yourself out there ain't easy, even for an open book like me.But then so many other things started to happen as soon as I started the crowd funding, it felt like all the planets were aligning, opportunity, after opportunity, coming our way...could it really all be happening..

I'm writing this with less than three hours to go & we are just over 70% funded. My nerves are in shreds. I refer to the untitlled poem above, as I cannot help but feel what is going on in the poem, is happening to me in reverse . That if my funding comes it it will be the first step of a series of incidents that do indeed "co-ordinate into a perfect moment, that I will get what I want"...

There is such an exciting things happening in the next few weeks for us, I daren't utter it yet...but hey I promise to reveal all in due course...but first I need to hit that target & then maybe, just maybe I'll start to believe....in karma..

89% funded....two hours to go.

Wish me luck.

Shirley

Exposing All....An uncomfortable state of Being

Evening all,

Yesterday Jamie Dornan, the man set to play Christian Grey, announced to anyone who was interested that he objected to the intrusion into his private life by the Paparazzi. He is by his own account, just an actor doing a job...he never signed up for the media attention....poor, poor Jamie. Didn't anybody tell him that if one takes on the role of the most infamous bad boy lover of modern times, then the media attention is part of the package....hello mega bucks, staring role...bye, bye, privacy....

I may sound a touch unsympathetic, but I'm not really Jamie...I understand, I really do. I've been writing my blog as an account of my life as a small food producer for almost a year now, and I too like you have revealed all, albeit it in a somewhat different manner. I've written about the highs of big contracts won & lows of business lost, the agony of unsold produce & the ecstasy of walking into a store to be greeted with empty shelves. I've written about fear, hopes, worry & excitement all of which are part of being an entrepreneur.Yes, I have drawn attention to myself & our business, but I am a "heart on my sleeve" kinda girl, so I suspect that I have revealed no more than I would have done, if we met for a coffee & a chat.

Today we launch our crowd funding loan with Linked Finance.The aim is to get investment from private/public to enable us grow our business. It's a very exciting & scary time cos just like Dragons Den it's an all or nothing situation, if we don't reach the target, we get nada. The spirit of crowd funding appeals to me on every level. The basic premise is that whilst the banks will give a saver 2% (max) on ones deposits, the investor lends the money to fund a small business any amount from 50 euros & have it repaid at a rate suggested by the lender which can be up to 9%. Check out the video if you get a chance, it's brilliant

 http://www.linkedfinance.com

 Of course it would be great to do this on the  QT, no publicity, no fan fare, but that ain't the gig. If I want the funding I've got to shout The Delicious Food Co achievements out loud, I've got to draw attention to our business, show what an attractive proposition we are for investment, let people know how good we are, make them want to be part of our story.

So you see Jamie, you & I are just the same, at this time our appeal is our currency & we both need to work that
I for one am going to dig deep & court the attention, try to enjoy this scary ride & I think you need to think about doing that too.

Here's to you & me Jamie..

Shirley

Desperately seeking ....Attention...

Evening all,

Oh my, what a  funny old  March it's has been.....thus far

Having shared so much of my  demons, my angst, my sleepless nights with you in the past year I have vowed to be a tad more upbeat this year, but I kid thee not it's not easy to be funny all the time. Yesterday was a hell of a day,which started with me, doing a quasi sit in, at Pearse St Garda station, sobbing in my  white delivery coat, pleading for some attention ....(interested...? yeah... bet you are now.....)

Last week Mr Delicious had as accident on the quays which apparently involved a girl playing dodge ball  with the rush hour traffic.She was hurt, but thankfully is okay, and that is what counts, kinda..cos our Mr Delicious was hurt too. I can honestly say that I have never seen him so badly traumatised. He couldn't

speak that evening & to our astonishment, mumbled in a childlike voice..."do ye think you could manage without me tomorrow"

Now that's a first..

The thing about the accident was that because it involved a person, the Gardai take the van  off to be examined, (PSV'ed) which is fair enough. That evening I spoke to the Garda, who showed immense kindness & great concern for Mr Delicious who he said was very shook at the scene. I explained about the van, very small business, need it for work...etc. "I'll see to it straight away, get it on the system, totally understand....blah, blah blah....."

After a week of unanswered calls to Garda A & B, to find out the status of the incarcerated  van, I headed into the station  myself..Apparently the only people who could help were the two amigoes who were off now for 4 days...come back on Friday...

NO I WON'T !.

To cut a long story short the two amigoes hadn't  processed the van. it wasn't even in the system.....

They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...well try a foodie with a long client list but without her refrigerated van for a full week,just  cos the boys in blue  didn't do a simple job....

Let's just say that two hours later  that van had been PSV'ed & back in the hands of Mr Delicious..

Hell hath indeed.......

X

Them's the Breaks ..She gets the Manor, I get the gate lodge

Evening all,

One of the things about breaking up is tying up the loose ends and today I had a meeting with Mr Big's new food interest, the lady charged with complete control of his new in store kitchen ....& his margins....in short the lady who has replaced me.  Despite her now being  his number one gal, we got on rather well. In fact, she's willing to concede slightly & give me a little bit of my shelf space back It's okay, I always knew me & Mr Big were  never going to be permanent, so it's not a bad deal  If this was a marriage split I'd  say, she gets to move into the manor , whilst I can  live in the gate lodge.

I might also be able help her out in other ways, there's work she doesn't want to do, 60kg of salads per week for the new deli bar, I might get that too  if I play my cards right..samples going in on Thursday...that's how helpful I'm willing to be...

Me & Mr Big may be technically over, he may have a new muse, but  it just might take a little longer to wash this little foodie right out of his hair. 

I'll keep ya posted 

Shirley
x

Thems's the Breaks....We're Over !

Evening All,

One of the things about blogging is keeping the momentum going. I've tried to write a blog every week since I started & have been reasonably successful. When I started I had lofty notions about becoming the next   EL James....hoping that the appetite for erotic fiction of 2012 might be replaced with an appetite for a different kind of fiction...that of my life as a small food producer, my beating heart, legging it around Dublin City filling shelves with my Delicious Food Co produce...

I urged my readers to forget Anastasia....that this was my time....I was the heroine

Somewhere along the way I think I got lost...

Feb has been an interesting month, with some endings of previous blogs playing out. Mr Big of the "Them's the Breaks" blogs from last April has finally, almost one year later got his kitchen up & running and is going to start making all his own salads & sandwiches. We've got on very well me & Mr Big.....he's a nice guy...but  we're over....we'll stay pals & if I'm ever in a bind, I'll call him & true to form he'll either help out or tell me to get lost.....he's very direct my Mr Big, an all or nothing kinda Kerry guy.

This creates a hole in the work load which I'm working to fill.I told you before I can't cook, that's Mr Delicious forte, but I can sell, and every business needs a sales person. So with a new found energy I'm applying the key principles of the sales function....hit the numbers & the business will follow.....believe & it will come...

"Hi my name is Shirley & I'm calling you from The Delicious Food Co...I'm just wondering if.........."

 sell, sell, sell.....

Shirley