Diving head first into the crazy world of business
Everything seems to have picked up pace with the farm shop development, the building work will be complete in a matter of weeks not months and so it will be then down to ourselves to do all the fitting out, stocking up and staff training before the grand opening.
Barry my cousin is the project manager, a role which cannot be undervalued. He has to be onsite, continuously monitoring the work being carried out, correcting problems as and when they arise, and answering questions all at the same time as doing his own planned manual activities on site. I have to admit I find it difficult when I am mainly doing office based work and cannot participate in more manual jobs. I never realised how much paperwork was involved in setting up a business: Health & Safety, Alcohol license, business loans, tenancy agreements, grants forms, recruitment….the list continues. I know the office work needs to be done but it does not feel like you are achieving as much in a day as you would outside on the build.
I really enjoyed this week when the whole family came out to paint the window and door frames on an evening once the builders had gone for the day. The project in many ways is bringing us together, we may argue about little things along the way but we are all behind the project and have mucked in and helped when needed.
The real key to our success now will be finding the right staff. People are what makes a business and it is strange being on the other side of the fence; employer not employee. We have successfully found a butcher and someone to man the farmshop; we just need to find a cook. We have used all sorts of different methods of advertising these three roles. The butcher and cook jobs were advertised in the local parish magazine and posters put up on notice boards in the surrounding villages. We had no response from the parish magazine, however two butchers replied to the poster, one of whom we interviewed informally and have offered the job to based on how he interviewed and his references.
As we had no success finding a cook we placed an advert in the North Yorkshire Advertiser. The Northern Echo, which has a larger circulation, was too expensive at £980 + vat for a little black and white advert. We have had 4 responses to the advert and have begun formal interviews, asking them to bring samples of baking and designing questions around the job description we wrote in advance.
It is so difficult to really tell in an interview who will be the best person for the job. For that reason I was 100% confident that we have chosen the right person for the farmshop counter, as she is my best friend’s Mum who I have known since I was 4 years old. I think with regards to the other staff you just have to go with your gut feeling and have an agreed probationary period.
