To all my customers and social media followers:
As I'm sure many people will know, I operate my business by myself and as such, this means things can get quite overwhelming at times. This results in poor (and quite frankly unacceptable) response times to queries and issues, as well as other things such as repair wait times etc.
Because of this, with immediate effect I will be making changes to the operating times for the online store, customer service and support.
How this will affect customers:
While I do still aim to ship out orders and repair returns back to customers on a daily basis when possible (my average ship time is < 12 hours) I will stop taking phone calls after 4pm daily, as well as taking no phone calls at all on weekends. I will be keeping my inbox open at all times from 9:30am to 4pm Monday to Friday but that doesn't mean I won't reply outside of these hours. I will aim to reply to emails as quickly as I possibly can but during out-of-hours times the response times may vary depending on my workload. I will still try and read emails as often as possible but I won't be taking any phone calls outside of these hours. I will also still perform repairs mainly at night as usual unless they're basic repairs such as device servicing, HDMI ports and USB ports. Those are normally done during the day.
Why am I making this change?
First and foremost I need a little time to rest. I can't keep up the pace I've been going at for the past couple of years and in all honesty, it isn't good for my own mental health. I also never get time to spend with my family, and that has to change. My family are my absolute top priority and I need to spend more time with them while I can. They will only be children once, and I don't want to be one of those people who are never around for their kids. I have a 15 year old, 12 year old and 6 year old, and they need their dad as much as I need them.
The other reasons for these changes are so I can perform other tasks such as:
- Stock and inventory management
- Bookkeeping and finance management
- Cleaning duties
- Packing orders and repair returns
- Invoicing
And obviously much more which goes on behind the scenes.
The truth is running a business is always going to be difficult, and it's even more difficult when nothing is managed properly. Over the past few months especially, my priorities have been all wrong. I've been managing things in the wrong order and putting the wrong things at the top of the priority list. I want to grow my business of course, but sustainability should always be a priority. If I keep working every hour of every day, eventually I'll burn out and that's when mistakes are made. The last thing I want to do is (forgive this language) piss off the people who allow me to keep doing what I absolutely love, and that's obviously my loyal customers who trust me with their devices, orders etc. I must make these changes not only for the health of my business but also to enable me to actually have a rest and take some time out for myself. Sometimes less is more.
Thank you for understanding, and I really do appreciate the opportunities presented to me and made possible by everyone reading this message.
Sincerely,
Philip (TheCod3r).
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