Let’s Get Real

I went from bringing in $10k a month after tax, paid straight into my account, just me, to now scraping by on about $5k a month between the both of us. Cassandra’s working 50+ hours a week, supporting five staff.

I’m in the background, trying to tighten systems, find efficiencies, and see if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

Over the past few months, our mindset has shifted from “we’ve got this” to “can this business actually scale in its current form?”

Don’t get me wrong, the team is busy. Our suppliers say this is the busiest they’ve ever seen the business. Everything on the surface suggests we should be doing fine.

But it’s not one of those situations where working harder will fix things. There are only so many hours in a day.

If we’re already flat out and booked weeks in advance, yet still feeling the pinch, then it points to one thing: margins are too thin. But here’s the catch: our prices are already competitive with others in the area.

That makes me think a lot of operators are in the same boat, just treading water.

Cash flow is another part of the story. When we took over the business, we started with $0 in the bank. Since then, we’ve been trying to build that back up. But in this industry, cash doesn’t flow in a straight line. It comes in waves, and sometimes those waves are far apart.

So what’s the next move? We have to stay realistic. We’ll keep pushing, we’ll see how the year pans out, but in the meantime, it’s looking like I may need to return to other paid mahi to help cover the home costs.

This feels like the moment between grit and growth, when you’re not sure if it’ll all work out, but we’re still giving it everything we’ve got.

It’s not the story we want to tell, but it’s the real one.