19/05/2026
This feeling seems far too common these days amongst small businesses.
When you feel like the business you've worked so hard to build and grow is slowly being taken away from you, through no fault of your own 🥲
I'm not going to lie running a business in hospitality is bloody tough right now, not just for myself but so many others. I have a platform and it's time we all start to speak up and say enough is enough. Things need to change otherwise small independent businesses will be gone. Not from our own doing, but from a government who's made it near impossible for us to survive.
This isn't about support from customers, because myself and all the other businesses have this. My shop is busy every week and the sales are there, so tell me why every week do I feel stress, anxiety, worry and a sick feeling in my stomach when I see the money just dissappear.
Pushing 50-60 hour weeks because we can't physically afford to employ people anymore, burning ourselves to the ground to see absolutely nothing at the end of it, whilst they sit on millions of pounds and take pretty much all our hard earned money from under us. It's actually f****d and I can't take it anymore.
I'm exhausted, I'm burnt out. Most days I sit on my own and burst into tears because of the stress and worry, of what the future holds for my business. Our safety pot for tough weeks is empty, with no spare money to build it up. We are barely surviving right now.
Rising cost of ingredients, staff wages, energy bills and more, that we are just expected to pay and find the extra money for, without a single ounce of help or support.
Every customer served is greeted with a warm welcome, a smile and a chit chat. We turn up for you because you've always turned up for us. But behind our smiles is an unsettled head filled with so many emotions.
Change needs to be made, but if im being honest I really don't feel like it ever will. This country is too far gone and I just don't know what the future holds anymore 😢
If you're a small business reading this post, you're not alone! We are all riding this s**t storm together. My inbox is always open, if anyone ever needs a chat.
I'm not a quitter and I never give up, but right now I just dont have the fight to keep going. This isnt a sympathy post, just a small hard working business owner, who's physically and mentally exhausted who's had enough and slowly loosing the drive to keep fighting 💔
