Saturday, December 13, 2008

On my own, again.

I sort of let the cat out of the bag a few weeks ago when I mentioned I'd be working all the hours at the store myself next year.

I checked with Pat whether it was all right to talk about it, and he agreed. He's staying with me through Christmas, I hope, but I wouldn't begrudge him a good job.

For one thing, I wanted anyone out there who was looking for a good employee to know in advance that one was available.

I'd originally planned to cut employee hours at the end of last year; and since Pat wanted full employment, that meant letting him go, and replacing him with someone who wanted to work just one or two days a week.

But then, the summer before last, I got the bee in my bonnet and decided I wanted to open a second store. Rather than lose Pat at such a crucial time, I offered him another raise, and more or less promised him I would have a job for him through the following summer.

I didn't follow through with the second store, but felt obligated to Pat, and the store was able to service his wages.

What it meant was a lot of time off for me, since Pat is the only employee I've ever had who resisted the enticement of "going home early."

Anyway, it became clear this summer that I couldn't continue to keep Pat and not start eating into my 'break-even' margins more than was comfortable. Letting him go saves me 4000.00 a month in sales, which is more than I actually need to compensate for, but it wouldn't hurt to pocket the difference.

So I told him a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving that I wouldn't have any work after the first of the year.

I was risking 'short-termitis', but felt that Pat identified enough with the store that he would continue to care; and I didn't want to tell him a week before Christmas that he wouldn't have a job.

I'd be keeping him still if I could.

He's been one of my favorite employees; and seemed to get my sense of humor. Honest and reliable. I highly recommend him to anyone out there who is looking for a good hire.

Pegasus is comfortably a one man operation, and I kind of look forward to being in total charge again. Like I said, I only took so much time off because it didn't make sense often to have two of us there, and Pat didn't want his hours cut. Ergo, I took off, knowing that I'd better enjoy it while I can.

After a few months, I'll probably start training someone to watch the store on Sundays, and maybe Mondays, or something.

Because I'm not sure I want to work everyday for 7 years like I did pre-2000.

So you'll know where to find me.

1 comment:

Jason said...

Well, I'm still available. The hotel's been going through some changes lately, and I'm most likely going to be jumping ship before they make another attempt to rid themselves of anyone with more than 6 months' experience. It's a long story, but I'll fill you in on everything the next time I stop by.