I (25 F) would first like to preface by saying that I am a small business owner and I constantly look to this Reddit group for guidance on how I can run a successful business and what employees look for in an employer that truly values their work and time. I’ve been on the other side of things working for other people and I feel very lucky I was able to experience negative work environments/employees/managers so that I can take that and create a positive work place for my employees and customers (though I am not perfect and still learning). I’m hoping this a great place to vent and take any/all feedback on my words and to provide some sort of plea to be kind..
I own and operate a small seasonal ice cream treat shop- just a walk up two window brick and mortar, no indoor seating. The business has been in my family for over 15 years and I recently took over full ownership/management at the start of the season. However, I’ve worked on and off at the store for 13 years so have a lot of experience in the industry. Let me make things clear by saying we serve ice cream and only ice cream. I am not performing surgery, I am not investing your finances, I am not building your home, I am simply serving ice cream and really enjoy doing so. We have so many incredible customers that make this job so fulfilling and wonderful, which is why when I was in the right position to, I decided to take the business over. There’s nothing better than putting a smile on someone’s face with something as simple as an ice cream cone!
We were very fortunate that covid didn’t hurt our business as much as we had expected it to considering we don’t have indoor seating and little interaction with customers other than taking orders and handing them out the window. We followed all covid protocols and overall used covid as a way to change majority of our business practices in order to promote a safer, more consistent, and pleasant experience for our customers. It was extremely hard but very rewarding hearing the mostly positive feedback from the community.
Last night we had a terrible storm. I came into the store very early this morning to find out we lost power sometime last night and still hadn’t gotten it resolved. We have a backup generator but for whatever reason it couldn’t keep up. This is a perfect example of something similar to covid that was completely out of our control and required patience and a positive mindset despite wanting to cry and close forever. (Thank you to all of the our public service workers- we would be lost without you, literally).
However, we lost thousands and thousands of dollars worth of product. All of our ice cream cakes had melted, our candies melted into big mounds of rock, our ice cream treats melted and pooled in our freezers. We had to throw away all of our ice cream mix because it went bad in the heat. We had multiple cake orders going out today that we had to unfortunately refund. Things were and still are hectic but we’re working through it.
I had to open our store much later than usual and so we had many customers come at our usual open time. Even after explaining the situation to each customer, no one understood why they couldn’t get ice cream. Not only that, but people were awful and threatened to write bad reviews because we were closed during normal hours and weren’t able to offer anything in return for the time they took to come to the shop. People cussed me out, I got told I should’ve had a stronger back up generator, a customer even told me I should have gotten to the store sooner to assess the situation and maybe I could have salvaged some of my product. It’s so hard to keep a smile on your face when you’re treated like complete garbage.
Today is one of those days where I wish people had a little more empathy for business owners. I’m not gatekeeping ice cream. This is how I survive. If I had the product I would sell it to you. I am not saying all business owners deserve understanding and recognition and let’s be honest… most don’t. But I’m really trying. I know others who are really trying.
We don’t want to raise prices, we simply have to because our inventory prices did. We want to pay you $15 an hr but can’t afford to without taking massive losses in every other aspect (including product quality). We want to get you your food as fast as possible but have a hard time staffing. So many people are so mean. It’s exhausting. Of course difficult customers are inevitable and you can’t please everyone, but these days it seems more and more people lack any kind of patience, kindness, and simple manners.
As I rant, I also think we need to be held accountable as business owners. We need to understand that people need and want to be respected. People need to get paid for their time and deserve a living wage. If you simply can’t do that, then as a business owner you need to step up and pull your own weight and give all of your time and efforts to set an example. So many people don’t step foot into their stores, it’s mind boggling.
I understand that I’ve probably overused the term “business owner” and I hope people realize it’s not because I view myself as better or more deserved than someone who doesn’t own a business..but I’m just trying to make it known that I see you and I’m trying my best to make everyone happy and serve the best quality product while trying to make my own living. We all need to do better especially in the state of the world today.
I’m begging you.. Please be kind to the employee at the McDonald’s drive thru window that has to have you repeat the order more than once, they’ve probably been overworked. Please be patient with the waiter that’s taking on 30+ tables because they’re understaffed. And please be understanding with your words and actions when sitting behind a computer screen or cell phone, making a negative review that will never go away and deter customers because we couldn’t give you ice cream due to something out of our control.
And thank you to this sub for constantly pointing out what’s wrong with corporate America. We need help.
AND PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESS’S!!!