2 Holidays ruined and only myself to blame

[Paul David]

I went on a 4 day break to Spain in July, on the second day i received an email from my accountant saying my business profits were significantly down on last years numbers and that this would result in a tax bill due to not being to declare enough dividends. For the remainder of the holiday i tried to forget about it but it was always there niggling at the back of my mind.

I've just got back from a two week family holiday in Mexico, 5 days into the trip i received an email from one of my employees saying the UK Customs had opened some of our items and removed them for testing. They called us and said they would where sure they would fail UK safety laws. I already had plenty of the same product in our warehouse. Again i tried to get on with my holiday and enjoy as best i could but it was always there, constant in my thoughts.

I've been back 3 days and i've just received a letter from UK Royal Mail warning me about sending prohibited goods (lithium batteries) via their network. Again i've got a warehouse full of the same products.

In the past i would have come up with all the excuses in the world, i'd have blamed everybody else and cursed why always me? My only two holidays of the last 12 months basically ruined.

However, the 3 issues that have occurred have been down to one person only - me.

First issue: Profits are down because i failed to ensure a new system we integrated with was reporting shipping costs correctly to Royal Mail. 10 weeks of paying double shipping for products resulted in serious losses.

Second issue: I didn't look into the safety aspects of the products i was importing. I didn't conduct due diligence or chase up safety certificates.

Third issue: I knew sending lithium batteries was prohibited but i thought well everyone else seems to be getting away with it then i will. Wrong answer.

To resolve the issues i've now looked at product pricing to ensure we are making the relevant profit and also conduct weekly spot checks on our shipping manifest that is sent to Royal Mail ensuring its correct. I've also moved suppliers to a new manufacturer who are providing genuine relevant safety certificates with all their products and generally across the board it's only going to cost me $0.20 per pc more.

Things could get worse, trading standards still haven't contacted me with the results of their tests and they may even visit us and confiscate some items if we've got any left. However i'll deal with that head on if that arises.

Business is a harsh environment. A lot of my friends and family make comments about how easy my days are working from home, doing what i want etc. They don't realise that whilst they are on holiday swimming in the pool or chilling on the beach without a care in the world i'm constantly trying to hide the stresses of running a business 24 hours a day 7 days a week. When they're sleeping i'm awake.

Never shy away from the challenge, don't ignore things or cut corners because they will catch up with you in the end. In the event that they do, meet them head on. Stand up and be counted.

 

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