As we head into October the year is getting ready for the roller coaster ride to December. The time of year where South Africa shuts down and goes into beach & fuck-it mode!
It is also the start of a new financial year, the crazy rush to get everything done before the calendar year ends; and the time summer shows its face in Cape Town. All in all it is an interesting, somewhat stressful, rather irritating and nice time of year.
I must say, I would much rather be traveling like a year ago than having to deal with normal life in the coming weeks. At least this year I am not stressing about the exchange rate while waiting for a brewhouse to be manufactured overseas and shipped to South Africa. But thanks to the shenanigans of our president and his cronies we are worrying about the exchange rate affecting all our imported ingredients and consumables.
This time round normal life comprises of dealing with prima-donna architects; unreasonable project timelines; juggling too much work with too few resources in the office; and trying to fit in brewing + bottling between day-job demands, family and exams.
I guess there are worse things to worry about. I honestly hope next year is less crazy than this one. Based on past experiences - and as my brother says: "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment! - next year will come with its own version of crazy.
There are a couple of things we need to get right for the new year:
The work-brewing-family-life balance needs some attention.
A proper brewing schedule, solid marketing and steady sales growth should bring some predictability at least.
Opening our tasting room / weekend sales outlet.
Finalising & implementing the big change/addition to Gallows Hill we have been toying with for quite a while.
I seriously need to let go of the mundane shit I deal with at work and focus on the work I really need to do, i.e. design guidance; quality standards; design overviews; growing the younger guys in the team; getting more Revit modellers; up-skilling the stragglers we have; getting more profitable jobs in; and getting rid of the bad projects haemorrhaging money...(struggling with the last one since en 2012)
The last few months until South Africa shuts down for 2016 is going to be interesting to say the least...
