Transitioning with a reduced staff (+re-evaluating our work)

When businesses started re-opening this spring, we heard heartbreaking stories about staff refusing to return (for various reasons) and business owners left to navigate their operations with just themselves on reduced hours, a zero marketing budget and a fatigue settling in like no other.

So, we’re going to navigate through this conversation carefully.

At Cat’s Cove, we were fortunate not to have to produce layoffs during COVID, and we were so grateful for the team during these trying times.

But, recently, two of the full-time staff have left.

There are no hard feelings and we wish them nothing but the best. We’ll miss their presence and what they did for us as we continued to figure out what the hell we’re doing as business owners.

But…now we’re sitting here with two full-time (ish) business owners navigating childcare as well as one part-time staff.

The transition been a good opportunity to reflect: what do we really want with our work?

With a much smaller overhead, we had the chance to turn inwards and ask ourselves: what lights us up? What darkens our doors? Where do we want to spend money? Can we hire a house-cleaner (wait, that was just Cat’s request).

We are mindful that our situation was different from many other businesses, but maybe there’s a silver lining for you as you navigate through this sh*t-show we call 2020.

Look inward, and ask yourself the same questions:

-What do you LOVE about your business?

-What’s been draining you?

-What can you change right now?

-What can you pull back from (and thus not need so much staff)?

-What is your ideal business scenario?

-What would happen if ________(throw in a couple different scenarios here)?

This isn’t easy. Nothing is these days. Whether you’re swamped with little staff support or hearing crickets at your front door, we feel for you.

And while it sometimes feels like there’s little opportunity to take a breath, maybe the hustle can stop for a moment so you can determine how you can shift to make it work for you.