21/07/2026
What they don’t tell you about owning a small business is that sometimes you’re the one keeping everyone else together while you’re quietly falling apart.
The last four months have nearly broken me.
I’ve questioned everything. I’ve cried. I’ve driven between jobs wondering how I’m going to make it through another day. Running on no sleep, dealing with ADHD burnout, staff shortages, cancellations, phones constantly ringing, wages, clients, rosters… and somehow still expected to have all the answers.
People see a business owner.
They don’t see the person carrying the weight of every single decision because other people’s livelihoods depend on it.
Today was one of those days.
Staff were everywhere. Another team member went down unexpectedly. I couldn’t leave the job I was on, clients still needed us, and I had to make a decision within minutes.
My 2IC is slowly returning to work after having her baby. We needed her help, so today her little one came with us.
Some people will judge that.
That’s okay.
Our clients knew. They understood. They supported us.
Because this isn’t the 1980s anymore. Not every family has grandparents around the corner. Not everyone can get childcare at a moment’s notice. Sometimes there isn’t a perfect solution. Sometimes you simply do what you have to do to survive.
I will always back my staff if I can.
If there’s a way to help someone earn a wage, support their family and keep this business alive, I’ll do everything I can.
This isn’t a post asking for sympathy.
It’s just the truth.
Small business is hard.
It’s lonely.
It’s exhausting.
It’s making impossible decisions and hoping you’re making the right one.
Behind every small business is a person who’s carrying far more than you’ll ever see.
So before you judge someone else’s choices, ask yourself…
What would you have done if your business, your staff, your clients, and people’s incomes were all relying on the next decision you made?
Sometimes survival doesn’t look perfect.
Sometimes survival just looks like refusing to give up.
