‘The party don’t start till I walk in.’
Kesha
Welcome to the Monkey Business blog! This blog is part of a series of Behind the Scenes articles written by the team at Monkey Business Catering, a Toowoomba small business that has been through a rollercoaster of emotions in the last six months of 2020.
Despite lean cash flow and little catering going out the door, the team has been focusing on business development work, completing a three-year plan in just six months. Read on to see how we’ve managed to survive the latest lockdown as the result of an awesome new plan.
What’s been happening
The last six months have been a rollercoaster of emotions … I would summarise it like this:
March
Implement the emergency procedures … go, go, go!
April
Easter holidays, chocolate and napping …
May
How shall we conquer the catering world? Strategic planning for projects… Oh, look here is a pretty grant to apply for! And NEW MENU in coming!
June
They gave us grant MONEY! All projects go, go, GO!
July
Look at the pretty kitchen tablets with all digital recipes! At the online store! And the BLOGS you have written! OK MORE PROJECT PLANNING!
August
We are putting the grant money to use to finish off projects, and when we photograph our new menu, it looks AMAZING. Additionally, we are planning for Christmas.
So much has happened in such a short period of time. The people around me, particularly my team of monkeys, have blessed me richly by putting their hearts and determination into ensuring that our business is in amazing shape for when the economy rebounds.
It has been a period of lean cash flow with little catering going out the door… but… by God’s grace we have had enough to keep going, to pay all our bills, to work on projects and to cover staff costs. We will be here in the long run.
Time to focus on business development
In lieu of our normal catering work (cooking, delivering, serving & repeat!), we have focused on business development work. The amount of projects that we have undertaken is what I would typically plan for a three year period (and most of it has been completed in a very intense six month period!).
The April and May closure has been a blessing is a strange, strange way. After five years in business, from start-up to now, I was feeling incredibly WEARY! Wayne Cordeiro, in his book Leading on Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion, says it beautifully:
‘Solitude is a chosen separation for refining your soul. Isolation is what you crave when you neglect the first.’
And I had been neglecting the first! So April and May were a season where I planted a garden and laid the ground work for the rest of this year. I know that this wasn’t the experience of all, and those that have been hit hard (and continually hit) by this season are always on my heart and in my prayers.
A new blog series
One of the projects that is coming to fruition which I am so excited by are our upcoming blog series which will be released every week or two from now until February 2021.
These have been written by our incredibly talented staff!
This blog is the very first in a Behind the Scenes series which have been written by different ‘Monkeys’. After that keep an eye out for our Wedding series, with things to add to the delight that is your wedding day.
We will finish off the year with all things Christmas! And next year, the long anticipated 2021, we will have a DIY Catering series for you. You can check out our new menus here.
It is complete with our new online store which has food photos (more from Emma on that next week!). And as always, follow our adventures on Instagram & Facebook… we are always up to some kind of Monkey Business 😊
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