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| Thank You Forrest! (Click here) |
Being in business, just like dealing in life, means having to contend with those “Shit Happens” things that pop up out of the blue and can negatively impact your operations. An extreme example of this dynamic would be Pier 450’s recent shut down by the Alcohol Board folks because of problems with renewing their liquor license.
Ideally, you set your business up to run as smoothly as you can do so. For most businesses, labor and inventory matters will be the biggest of challenges so they get tackled first. (This was true even when things were semi-stable in a pre-Covid world. Covid just exacerbated these two business challenges/matters even more. I would make a case that it is even more of a challenge for folks in the hospitalty business but the bottom line is that these two issues impact all businesses.)
So you get your business up and running as best you can and you try to stay in control of the things under your control. But then out of the blue, shit just happens. The business gods will invariably slip you a challenge or two just to keep you on your toes. I always think of it as the way one gives a kitten a ball of yarn just to watch it go crazy trying to control it. Similarly, the business gods get together at their weekly stand up and say something like “You know, J. Scott has Buzzy’s running pretty good, why don’t we send some shit his way and see how he handles it,” Sounds funny right? But it goes with the terriority it seems.
Just this past week, my Buzzy credit card processor went out on me for no reason that I could determine. After several attempts to fix the processor, I had to order a new one from the credit card company that I deal with. Their reps were very nice in selling me a new processor for $600 and promised overnight shipment of it. That was last Wednesday and here I am on a Monday still without the new processor. It’s supposed to be delivered today though. We’ll see.
As Shit Happens’ things go, this was a 1 or a 2 on the overall shit scale. I had a couple of sales impacted and still have one pending that I need to work, but overall it was not a problem Still it was something to be dealt with that I normally don’t have to worry about.
Speaking of shit shows – literally! – has anyone else been checking out the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard lawsuit trial? Even though it seems like she will ultimately win this dispute, Amber, Depp’s ex, just fired her PR firm (click here) as if it was their fault that she is getting so much negative press in all of this. Most of the negative press has stemmed from Depp testiying that Amber left him a “present” in his bed (click here.)
Amber is scheduled to take the stand this week to tell her side of the story so expect some more shit to show. Can’t wait to hear from her as I set up my new credit card machine in Buzzy’s Country Store. (I just spoke to the sales rep who sold me the processor and he assured me “You will receive it today – no shit!” I couldn’t say anything back to him.)