If you can believe this...
Well, if you can even believe this, PJP will be SIX on Friday. SIX. And I’ve been waiting for this one for a while, mainly because 50% of all small businesses fail in their first five years and I’m anxious to check all that off my list of things to worry about. (And of those 50% who do survive, about 35% will actually make it to their 10th year in business, so I’ll really just replace the former thing to worry about with the latter thing to worry about because that’s how I operate.)
We did stay exceptionally busy over the Easter holiday weekend and for that, we couldn’t be more thankful. It’s been a hot minute since we’ve started baking at 4 am and continued throughout the day, so we were a tired crew of people by the time Sunday rolled around. And also, none of it was particularly smooth sailing, primarily because we are short staffed and have several new people still learning, plus I’m keen on perfection. So when we weren’t perfect in our tasks AND we closed down the ordering for Saturday because we were getting more than we could skillfully accommodate, I was super grouchy. So if you want the honest truth about Friday, I cried three times and questioned all of my life choices and would have sold PJP for a $1 if anyone offered. Yay for entrepreneurship! Ahem.
Saturday I did better, but only because we started earlier and had a little better communication within Team PJP to keep us on track. What I didn’t like was all the people we turned away all day because we simply couldn’t make enough to accommodate all the demand…which seems insane since we JUST moved to a bigger store to alleviate this problem. I never want anyone to leave empty handed, but also, we aren’t a factory. The tension between having too much product and too little is always the hardest for me because I hate when we don’t have a great selection available on busy days. (Which is all sort of ironic because six years ago this week, I was just hopeful that one person would come and buy pies on our opening day. Just one).
And today, after all that stress of being too busy, I stewed around all day because we were only marginally busy and we had sales goals to meet. Sounds right.
To celebrate our sixth birthday, I’m going to give myself a $6.99 press-on acrylic manicure and we are going to sell baby pies for $6 each. There’s a sentence I never thought I would type. Just plan to celebrate with us stop by for a $6 baby pie on Friday (curbside pickup available!). Sub-par manicures optional.