Seriously. What the hell? Get out of your own way.
My best friend moved a block away and we decided to go halfsies on a CSA share this summer. For those of you who don’t know, CSA stands for “community supported agriculture” and basically, we front a bunch of money and receive a faction of whatever the farm produces that growing season. They get the cash, we inherit the risk, and as a reward we get relatively inexpensive, locally grown produce. It’s a good deal all around. We’re going halfsies because you end up with a pile of fruits and veggies that no one family can consume. It’s a lot of food and what you get on any given week depends on what is ready. One week it could be a boatload of lettuce, cucumbers, or tomatoes…or it could be kale. We did this a few years ago with another family and ended up with a metric ton of kale. For starters, nobody really likes kale. But for sure NOBODY likes THAT MUCH kale. The other family got creative and put it into every dish and snack for three weeks straight. Their kids must have really loved them…
We call the farm and discuss the options. We opted for a weekly deliver for 22 weeks of veggies starting in June. My buddy is upsold on getting fresh beef and adds that on for a few hundred bucks. I’m considering a late-season fruit package for an additional cost. We’re in deep financially. But the spot is reserved, the forms are signed, and the check is cut and put in to an envelope with a stamp. It’s sitting on my desk just waiting to be moved to the mailbox.
We have one question: where is the pickup point?
“We’ll get back to you.”
What? For starters you’ve planned a delivery and don’t know to where you’re delivering? How does that work? All we can get out of them is that it’s Thursday afternoon sometime, location TBA.
We have been having this conversation with them for about 10 weeks now. TEN WEEKS and they haven’t figured out where they’re delivering. We know it’s somewhere in this massive city but we don’t know where. Realizing one of us has to take leave every Thursday afternoon to grocery shop make this all the more aggravating.
I just made a last-ditch effort to find out. I call. No answer. Voicemail says leave a message and we’ll call you back immediately.
Mailbox is full.
Screw it. We’ll head to the supermarket.
Listen – when you decide to run a business, RUN THE BUSINESS. It doesn’t matter if it’s big or small or a full-time or part-time business. But when you get into it and start one, run it. Know your products, services, audience, and logistics inside and out. Answer the phone. Give good information. And, once you make a sale, never ever ever ever ever stand in the way of someone who has a cash and wants to pay you.