And Why This Happens in July

July has a particular kind of energy for business owners. The new financial year has officially started, last year is done and dusted, and there is, for a brief and glorious moment, a genuine fresh start on the table.

Most business owners do not think too hard about whether their bookkeeper understands their industry. They think about whether the person is reliable, whether the work gets done on time, and whether the price is reasonable. Which is fair, as those things matter.

But in hospitality, industry knowledge changes the quality of everything.

There is a particular kind of tired that hospitality operators know all too well. It is not the tired that comes from a big week. It is the tired that comes from being across everything, all the time, with no clear boundary between where the business ends and where you begin.

The year I walked away from my marriage was the same year I lost the man who raised me. Two of the biggest losses of my life, arriving at the same time, while I was figuring out how to be a single mum and keep everything together for my daughter.