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Burn Out Cure??

Les Martin. MCPF

Les Martin. MCPF

Frequent Poster
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Messages
347
Loc
Hanover, PA 17331
Company
Martin's Gallery, LLC Est
I know we all go through periods of " I'm gonna sell, I'm goona retire, I'm gonna move to "Fargo" & live in sin" I'm goin nuts, etc...... Has anyone ever like closed for a month during the summer or any other time and just done what they wanted to for 30 days and if so what are your findings. PLEASE????
 
I used to close for two weeks mid summer, then Labor Day week.
And I closed Saturday's in July and August.

Never noticed a big hit from it.

I have help now, so I haven't done it for a few years.
 
I close for 3 weeks, 1 week in July and one in August, it dead then anyways all my customers are on vacation, why shouldn't I be as well? and one between Christmas and New Years. Now I a have a part timer so I will stay open provided there are enough orders coming into pay the person.

I say go for it, I can guarantee you won't regret it. Rent a cabin on a lake and do nothing....



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As long as long term closings are built into your business model, I see no harm in it. I know of some businesses that close annually for a month, and they are quite successful. I was more prone to do this before I had a full time employee, but I think the longest I was ever gone was 3 weeks, and I had someone "sit" the shop for me. In that instance I would have been better off simply closing as the help created more work related issues than they resolved.

On the lighter side, Murphy's Law has always been in affect for me when I went on vacation. Amazing the amount of work that comes in that has to be done before you can leave town.
 
Now that you mention it, I would like to drive up the west coast, tour wine country, and see some of the famous attractions here in the USA. I'd like to tour Great Britain and western Europe, too...some day.

Burn out? Nope. I'm approaching what most folks call "retirement age" but have no such intentions. The arthritis is slowing me down some and I really would like to write, teach, and consult full-time, so my little framing business has been for sale for a while. But it remains profitable and I like it, so I may keep it a while longer, or just take it home.

Traveling several times a year for meetings of framers provides Gail and I some changes of scenery, but that is more work than running the shop. Personally, the only things I enjoy more than framing are technical writing about framing, teaching about framing, and consulting about framing.
 
I've just returned from 2 weeks of rest. This is the second year I have managed 2 weeks away, and it seems to do me a lot of good. I usually would have remained open with part-time employees, but this year lost one the week before I planned to leave, and so was closed for the first of those weeks. There have been no complaints or problems related to that.

I checked email once a day while I was gone, but only to receive a daily reassuring email from my staff at the end of the day and to keep current on PPFA happenings. My cell phone didn't ring!

Before I had regular employees, I used to have someone "sit" with the shop so I could be away for 4-5 days, but like Wally, I found that this created more problems than it solved.

For several years when I was alone, I would simply close for a week, usually around Memorial Day or Labor Day. This is fairly common in my town, so if I missed any business, it wasn't much, and was more than made up by my increased energy and enthusiasm once I returned to work.

Since 2007, I have always had part-time employees, and so have remained open when I was away. In reviewing the income from the periods when I have been away, I see that it was a break-even proposition. (Yet another benefit of POS software). In fact, I rarely make much more than expenses between Memorial Day and Labor Day, no matter what I do.

Whether it is a function of the maturity of my business or my personal maturity I am not sure, but I am much more relaxed about taking time away from business. I think it does more good than harm.

Les, if you haven't taken time off in a while, I would encourage you to start planning something NOW right before Labor Day. That is plenty of time to include your planned closing in advertising & communication with customers. Put a note on the door like the banks do, and go off and think about something else for a while. Chances are the first few days will be uncomfortable while you worry about your business, but by the end of the week, you will have things in better perspective. If you can manage a second week, even better; by then you are spending most of your time thinking about something else.

I love picture framing as much as anybody and these 20 years have flown by, but there is more out there, and having a reminder of that at least once a year is a very good thing.
 
Kai Vanuffelen said:
It is better to take holidays now when you are still young and able instead of waiting until you're 70.
Ormond is on an extended break from pictureframing. I know he misses framing and I expect him to be back behind a v-nailer by the end of this year!
Click to expand...

Great point.

Once you reach 70, even if you are in great health, it takes longer to get up, your walks are noisier because of your creaking joints, and you can't eat as much, and, well a wine tasting may be only 1 glass. Our minds (hopefully) are still okay, but our bodies are falling apart.

My dad "retired" at 62, and they traveled. By 70 he was blind so they could not have traveled as well.
 
For the past 4 years I have closed the shop for the first week in August. The famous 127 Corridor Sale is that week and since I am one block from that highway people are either shopping the sale that whole week or they stay clear of the whole area. I transfer my shop phone to my cell just in case but last year I had one call the whole week.

I set up a booth and make several dollars that week and have a blast meeting people and just sitting in a lawn chair all week.

We also have a game now if an item gets looked at more than 4 times and not purchased we up the price and almost always the next serious looker buys it!!! Cracks us up!

I come back to work relaxed and ready to be in air conditioning.

Last year we had people from 37 states and 5 countries come through our field!
 
Les, last year I didn't want to sell my business, I want to burn it down and dance around it's embers in the moonlight cackling like a hyena. Burn out galore. Had to go in the backroom to roll my eyes or make faces at the customers through the one way glass. I fell out of love with what I was doing.

Time off is important. But remembering why you picked this business is important too. When is the last time you did a job that really blew your kilt up? Got excited about coming to work? Enjoyed a sales rep visit. Got that goodie goodie feeling when PFM came in the mail.

I hated all 3 of my markets, knitters irritated me, needle-workers made my skin crawl, and the framing was like 'lemme make a design for you that you can say is too expensive'. Then it hit me. I give to the business SO much. What has it given me lately. I missed Vegas last minute, but went to a TNNA needlework market in Nashville in Feb. Went to see a cousin in January. Planned a retreat, for revenue with customers in March, April I went to Louisville's PPFA event. May did a sale. I made bright spots. Things to look forward too. Things that enriched ME not just the business.

Take some time off, sure. But plan something to edify yourself. Take a painting class. Go to a wine tasting. Visit a museum or three. Criticize some frames. Eat in a fancy restaurant and rip their framing in your mind. Fall in or OUT of framing again. But take care of you, so you can take care of business.

Come to Central Florida in September, PPFA SE has a cool charge your batteries event planned. Learn to remake frames. Sit in the Florida sun. Have a mai tai, get your sales techniques brushed up on for the holiday season.

But mostly, whatever you do...take good care of you, so you can take care of your business. You can beat this. But only if you really want to.

Also, I used to phone framers a lot, for questions, pep talks, or to commiserate. Don't do that so much any more, but golly it is so nice to know other people have been so burned out from their business that they wanted to kick bunnies. :sorrow:

Hang in there bud.
 
Folks, Thank you very much for the super replies and I have to say, "love the "kick bunnies'" Right on the spot.
Just thinking about taking some time off has lifted the spirits. The remark about "70 years old" has not found a home in my heart, turn 69 in July. Framers' Corner has become a very valuable asset to our business. THANK YOU AGAIN, Les
 
Les, in the needlework business 69 is still quite young. I had a customer, mentor, friend, you know the type, the kind of person who helps form your core. Her name was Hope. Lost her recently at the age of 96. She was one of those people you only meet once in a great while. Well, she used to say when people complained about being in their 60s, "Are you kidding? I have sweaters older than that!"
 
Cathy is definitely on to something there. It's not vacation that helps me avoid burnout, it's the "events" I sprinkle in all year that give me something to look forward to. The convention in January; New England PPFA events in March, June, October; special events around the city where I talk or teach; at least one class a year that I have to prep for ...

It is the non-everyday stuff that is still related to the business that keeps me charged up.

Vacation relaxes me, but these events energize me and the business.
 
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