Just having one of those days and so I was looking for some encouraging words from this great pizza community that I am part of. Weekend sales were not as great as I had hoped for, just got done writing checks for quarterly taxes and sales tax, need to pay the rent, thinking about other bills I need to pay…
What do you guys do, say, think of, etc. when you are having one of these kinds of days?
Thanks in advance for any responses!!
Sara
We spent a lot of days wondering what we got into and really questioning whether we should have. We got over that “hump” where the ends don’t meet.
What I always do is take a deep breath - even if you squeek by on the bills with $20 to spare you made it another week.
Now’s the time that I say gee, what can I do today to make more sales? Get a banner from your soda folks and put up a special, make a point to drop menus off at least at 10 businesses, make a deal with another business (like airport shuttle or taxis) to carry your menus.
Then go have a glass of wine and say yup I can do this. A good mantra doesn’t hurt - mine is "Know your stuff, operate with absolute integrity and believe in your heart that you can make it happen?
you will be fine
make yourself a nice specialty pie,and have a beer.
“Thank God I don’t have Snowman’s job”. I’ll be glad when I can say that 
xanax works for me 
jk, hang in there. i was so busy this weekend I’m glad it’s slow today
goes in cycles…
I read through my roladex of customers and have a quiet drink of something. I also spend time working on my pricing to satisfy my paranoia that we’re not charging enough. I also track my sales each day in a spreadsheet. I like to look back and see the latest “record sales” for each day of the week, week and month.
Then, I hug my wife and we are glad we are a business in our community and not just some more people owning houses and driving to Atlanta, 70 miles away, to work and play.
I am greatful only to have had maybe 5 of those days since we started this ride in January 2004. We get a little nervous some weeks, but I’ve been able to get past the day to day highs and lows to look at weekly totals. when I get stressed, I look at all the customers we know and friends we’ve made. . . . they won’t let us fail miserably.
Hello Sarah
You are gona be ok… I just drop my taxes, rent and royalty to company, and food dist check b4 i sat down. I am going through same thing… rent is gone up to $3800, I had left corporate job for this business so my wife is running household from her job… in california is expansive to live, we had took out all the money from home line of credit to support this business, and its running out with in month or two…
In this time I just close my eye for while and thing of my 4 year old daughter and my super supporting wife …and than go back to work to determind that I have to make this work for their sack…
keep your hopes high and talk to us to make you feel ok.
Take care
Jayp
Hey SaraH,
Hang in there. When thing are tough here and the bills outweigh the balance in our checking account I go home and hug my kids. As stressful and tiring as work can be some times when I get home I am truely at peace. They are my oasis among the chaos.
When dealing with it at work, all you can really do is go through your marketing checklist and make sure you are doing all the things that you should be doing to get sales. Then think of one or two new ideas(or steal some from here like I do) Review all expenses to see if there’s anyway you can reduce them. Other than that, make sure your places is clean, service is good and product is outstanding !
The biggest thing is to fully understand the difference between what you have control of and what you don’t have control of. Knowing the difference can save you a lot of stress.
Get out and throw some menus or doorhangers.
When the “storms of life”
Gather darkly ahead,
I think of these wonderful words
I once read.
And I say to myself
As “threatening clouds” hover,
Don’t “fold up your wings”
And “run for cover.”
But like the eagle,
“Spread wide your wings”
And “soar far above”
The troubles life brings.
For the eagle knows
That the higher he flies,
The more tranquil and brighter
Become the skies.
And there is nothing in life
God ever asks us to bear
That we can’t soar above
“On the wings of prayer.”
And in looking back over
The “storm you passed through,”
You’ll find you gained strength
And new courage, too.
For in facing “life’s storms”
With an eagle’s wings,
You can fly far above
Earth’s small, petty things.
~ Helen Steiner Rice ~
Well Sarah you are not alone today, keep trucking.
This was an odd end of the quarter for us…
Taxes, loan payment, payroll, work comp and regular bills all due on the same day. Also we had 3 pay periods this month instead of two. Soooo what did I do… Robbed peter to pay paul and called john to see if he could help 
When I was done I came to PMQ and found your post and thought… ahhh at least I am not alone. Today is a new day, hopefully good sales for us both.
Look at it this way if we didn’t have this kind of stuff to worry about we would probably find something else to worry about.
Take Care
Fantastic! Thanks for that post, pizzaguy! 
I somehow forgot my musical ‘pick me up’ that has kept me going these last couple months. I have two songs that drive my spirits wild:
Joe Dolce - Pizza Pizza http://difficultwomen.tripod.com/PizzaPizza.html
Chumbawamba - I Get Knocked Down http://www.metacafe.com/watch/191182/i_ … cked_down/
I need some lyrical injection pretty regularly these days, and these do the trick!!