When the business is you

What a sole trader can and can't get back after a setback.

They say these things come in threes. This spring, that's how it turned out for me.

Six weeks ago, I tripped, stopped myself falling and badly sprained my hand. Seeding and bed preparation came to a halt. Bouquet making was out of the question, so a market was cancelled and I found other ways to arrange flowers to keep the food shop stocked.

Three weeks ago, a sore throat turned into full-on cold and flu. For days I got as far as moving from the bed to the sofa. Heavy field work was out of the question. Pulling tulips from crates, wrapping them and getting them into the chiller was tough enough.

Last week, our dog was poorly. Several sleepless nights, the worry and stress, and several visits to the vet before they worked out what was wrong.

Through all of this, I’ve cancelled two markets, one for the injury and one for lack of sleep. I did manage to keep our retailer and business contacts supplied. Not going to lie, it’s not a great way to run a business.

A business of one

If you run your flower business on your own, you'll recognise this. More often than not, there's no one to call in.

Flower farmers are far from the only ones. Hnry, the Wellington accountancy service for sole traders, puts independent earners at around 18 per cent of New Zealand's working population.

Research in Europe found that 52 per cent of self-employed people had worked while ill, compared with 44 per cent of employees. When Swedish researchers asked sole traders why, the three most common answers were that nobody else could do their job, they couldn't afford to take time off, and they enjoyed their work.

I recognise all three.

Even with contingencies, friends and colleagues, sole traders are vulnerable. You have to be aware of the risks to your livelihood, to your reputation, and to the commitments you've made to customers.

Now I’m through the worst of it, I’ve been thinking about which of those setbacks has cost me most.

The time you don't get back

Missing the markets is easy enough to write off, and I can make up the sales later. Getting behind with field work is different - that's time you'll never get back.

This is where a flower business parts company with most sole-trader businesses. A consultant who loses a week can usually catch up on the work. But your sowing window doesn't wait until you feel better. The seeds I didn't sow six weeks ago won't flower when they would have.

As I started to assess the setback, I realised I needed to write that off too, otherwise I'd go insane with worry.

Pushing past what comes naturally

Since getting back on my feet, I've been sowing as fast as I can. It's warmer and lighter now, and seedlings grow faster than they would have six weeks ago. Some of the gap will close by itself.

There will probably still be gaps in my own flowers early in summer, and it’s taken me a little while to accept that.

As growers, we're always pushing the boundaries of what comes naturally. Earlier sowings, longer seasons, more beds, one more market. That push is part of what makes a small flower business work. It's also what turns a setback into a verdict: I should be further ahead by now.

When I looked honestly at what was weighing on me, much of it wasn't the illness or the missed markets. It was pressure I'd put on myself. Part of getting over what’s happened has been letting go of the self-imposed pressures and being a little more flexible.

Reshaping what's possible

Taking care of yourself, getting treatment, and accepting that sometimes there is more to life than flowers doesn't automatically spell the end of your business.

Getting back physically is one thing. Getting your growing business mojo back takes a lot more effort.

It's about reshaping what's possible, one step and one day at a time. Don't look back at what you've missed. Keep your eyes ahead and focus on what you can do.

For me, that means replanning the season I've got, with the gaps in it, instead of berating myself for not being where I'd hoped to be by now.

If you're running your flower business on your own, have a think about these:

• When did a setback last cost you time you couldn't get back, and how did you respond?

• Which of the pressures on you this season come from your customers, and which come from you?

• If you planned for the gaps instead of dreading them, what would you change about the next few months?

I refuse to let the rest of this season be about catching up. I’m embracing the new rhythms and looking for small ways I can regain the margins I lost this spring.

I'd love to hear how you handle the weeks when the business of one is out of action.

Drop your thoughts in the comments below.

Written by: Julie Treanor - Owner of The Pickery, a seasonal flower farm in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and co-creator of The Floral Business Activator. Sowing as fast as she can, and letting the warmer weather do some of the work.

Follow Julie on Instagram @thepickery