Coping with delivering a high value product/service (psychologically)

[Fire In Your Face]

Hi everyone. I've been struggling a lot recently and I thought I'd reach out to some of you who might have some sage advice! I am originally from the UK but I live abroad. 95% of my work is done from my home in Bulgaria however I return to the UK to deliver my services. Herein lies my problem...

I am a fire manipulation instructor and train people (mostly performers) this performance skill in group workshops. Like with any business, there's a lot of planning/marketing/admin work to do and this is easily the bulk of my work. The actual workshops are just the end product and actually, the fun and rewarding part of my job.

I absolutely love my job however I'm really struggling with the run up to these high value events (at least they're high value to me). Everything depends on me being able to get in front of my students and deliver the service they've paid for. I worry a lot (often not rationally) about different scenarios that could prevent a workshop from going ahead. Things like not being able to get to the UK, venues cancelling etc.

This weekend just gone, I had two workshops that went great! However the run up was very stressful. A competitor decided to inform the council that they were "concerned" last minute and the day before one of my workshops, I was dealing with a million questions heading my way. All is good and in place but my anxious brain was telling me "what if there's something you didn't realise?", "What if they shut down your workshop first and ask questions later?" etc. All went ahead fine and the council are still asking questions (which I welcome anyway) but it's left me in a bit of a mess mentally.

I can deal with losing a couple of grand from a workshop not going ahead but I'm terrified of upsetting students who have taken time off work, prepared and are often travelling a long way (sometimes from over seas) to come and see me. Aside from the obvious damage to the business this would bring, I just don't want anyone to be disappointed.

I can't really see any solution to this worry other than acceptance that the risks are real and doing my best to mitigate them. I already do this for everything I can think of, even going overboard if my friends opinions are anything to go by.

I have issues with anxiety in general so I'm also trying to get a bit of perspective from those who might be in a similar situation to me. Is this worry just a part of my job that I need to accept or is it unusual to feel this way? As I feel at the moment, even though my business is way more successful than I ever anticipated, I don't know if I can keep doing this.

Thanks for reading!

 

[The Byre]

Worry is a bit like pain. Put it in a box and look upon it objectively. "The worry is over there in that box. It's not going to go away, but I am over here, looking at it."

That - and get a good night's sleep!

 

[NickGrogan]

A competitor decided to inform the council that they were "concerned" last minute and the day before one of my workshops, I was dealing with a million questions heading my way.

Planning and openness eliminate a lot of stress.

It sounds like you booked a venue, but didn't tell the council what you were actually doing until the competitor raised the concern.

This could very easily have been avoided by simply being open and telling the council exactly what you were doing and answering all the questions at the outset.

Then when a competitor raises a concern, they just say, we know.

 

[Fire In Your Face]

Planning and openness eliminate a lot of stress.

It sounds like you booked a venue, but didn't tell the council what you were actually doing until the competitor raised the concern.

This could very easily have been avoided by simply being open and telling the council exactly what you were doing and answering all the questions at the outset.

Then when a competitor raises a concern, they just say, we know.

Yep, you're absolutely right. It would have been easier to deal with if the competitor was doing this out of genuine concern but as you'd expect, it's a malicious act. They're well known for contacting the council a day or two before an event in order to try to catch you out. I should have planned for this eventuality better.

The council thing is just one of many worries though unfortunately. I need some sort of coping mechanism to deal with the pressure of 3 months work riding on a weekend going ahead as panic attacks in airport toilets aren't fun haha.

 

[Fire In Your Face]

Worry is a bit like pain. Put it in a box and look upon it objectively. "The worry is over there in that box. It's not going to go away, but I am over here, looking at it."

That - and get a good night's sleep!

A good nights sleep was definitely needed haha. Thanks for the advice =]

 

[Forgot password]

Can you not get a fixed venue and let your clients come to you? Sounds like your a specialist in your field so I would imagine this would not be a problem for them.

This would surely then set your mind straight with all the rules/regs and logistics etc plus the familiarity will ease a lot of your anxieties.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Unless it is a council venue, why would they be involved?

Have you prepared a good risk assesment?

 

[Fire In Your Face]

Can you not get a fixed venue and let your clients come to you? Sounds like your a specialist in your field so I would imagine this would not be a problem for them.

This would surely then set your mind straight with all the rules/regs and logistics etc plus the familiarity will ease a lot of your anxieties.

I think location is a factor as while I do get a lot of people travelling, many aren't willing depending on the distance. Although central locations seem to do really well and I think that having a permanent space, while probably less profitable, might be a good middle ground for me. Thanks for the suggestion =]

 

[Fire In Your Face]

Unless it is a council venue, why would they be involved?

Have you prepared a good risk assesment?

I was thinking this also. They saw my risk assessment and only had one small concern which I count as a win.

I'm not entirely sure what powers the council have. Can they just "cancel" you with a days notice or do they have to go through the proper channels? I need to figure some of this stuff out or start contacting them beforehand to try and make sure we're on the same page.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Was it a council venue?

Who did you speak to at the council?

Did you ask them what their powers are?

 

[Fire In Your Face]

Was it a council venue?

Who did you speak to at the council?

Did you ask them what their powers are?

Nope, it was a private venue. I didn't ask what their powers were, I just gave them all the information they wanted. They're still asking for more info but I've not had time to sit down and collect it all yet.

The person from the council was an "environmental health technician/health and safety inspector". They contacted the venue first and were insistent on meeting up straight away the day before my workshop despite me promoting the even for 6 weeks. This is what led me to be pretty sure it was my competitor who contacted them as it's in line with past behaviour.

I've got nothing to hide and so far, they seem plenty happy enough with all the information I've given them. I do worry that if this happens in the future, it may just spook the venue and they cancel the event before I've had chance to talk to the council.

I think talking to the council of every place I go to beforehand (as suggested above) is probably wise, if not a bit of a pain!

 

[IanSuth]

I would suggest whenever you do an event and the council are fine, keep details, then try and get locations in the same council area in future. You should only ned 5 or 6 to be able to cover each region of the UK.

I have been involved in motorcycle events over the years where we have a bar and live entertainment (including fire poi etc) and know we have a council where we do our main event who know us, know our risk assessment and our track record. We now get each years renewal basically on the nod as soon as we say "same as usual" but if we moved we would have to rebuild that trust/internal knowledge of us. I also used to work on live events (although that was nearly 30 yrs ago) and know it was the same for new venues/promoters/PA companies.

On the face of it someone flying in from abroad to run an event with paying punters using fire could be a disaster waiting to happen so you can see why they might be concerned. Turn iot to your advantage - when you advertise in future state your risk assessment has been fully vetted by UK local authority environmental H&S, when you book somewhere immediately approach that areas environmental team sending them a copy of your risk assessment proactively, you will soon find you get to be known as a trusted operator

 

[Fire In Your Face]

I would suggest whenever you do an event and the council are fine, keep details, then try and get locations in the same council area in future. You should only ned 5 or 6 to be able to cover each region of the UK.

I have been involved in motorcycle events over the years where we have a bar and live entertainment (including fire poi etc) and know we have a council where we do our main event who know us, know our risk assessment and our track record. We now get each years renewal basically on the nod as soon as we say "same as usual" but if we moved we would have to rebuild that trust/internal knowledge of us. I also used to work on live events (although that was nearly 30 yrs ago) and know it was the same for new venues/promoters/PA companies.

On the face of it someone flying in from abroad to run an event with paying punters using fire could be a disaster waiting to happen so you can see why they might be concerned. Turn iot to your advantage - when you advertise in future state your risk assessment has been fully vetted by UK local authority environmental H&S, when you book somewhere immediately approach that areas environmental team sending them a copy of your risk assessment proactively, you will soon find you get to be known as a trusted operator

Yep I'm definitely trying to take some positives away from this weekend. Like you say, I only need 5 or 6 venues and that's the majority of the UK covered. If I can get a good relationship with these venues/councils, I shouldn't have any issues moving forward.

This council worker has been plenty obliging to any questions and suggestions. They've definitely approached me from a place of education rather than trying to cancel me it seems. Having them on hand to shoot any questions to will be a great asset moving forward I think. I'm sure different councils have different standards but it's hard to imagine any being more strict than this one. In hindsight, I'm glad of it all but at the time, it was more stress than I needed on top of everything else.

Either way, great learning opportunity! Thanks for the solid advice =]

 

[IanSuth]

Yep I'm definitely trying to take some positives away from this weekend. Like you say, I only need 5 or 6 venues and that's the majority of the UK covered. If I can get a good relationship with these venues/councils, I shouldn't have any issues moving forward.

This council worker has been plenty obliging to any questions and suggestions. They've definitely approached me from a place of education rather than trying to cancel me it seems. Having them on hand to shoot any questions to will be a great asset moving forward I think. I'm sure different councils have different standards but it's hard to imagine any being more strict than this one. In hindsight, I'm glad of it all but at the time, it was more stress than I needed on top of everything else.

Either way, great learning opportunity! Thanks for the solid advice =]

Just a piece of advice steer clear of Reading council, as they have developed their processes to fit Reading Festival/Womad they are a tad OTT for small events, I suspect other authorities that host major entertainment events may be similar

 

[Fire In Your Face]

Just a piece of advice steer clear of Reading council, as they have developed their processes to fit Reading Festival/Womad they are a tad OTT for small events, I suspect other authorities that host major entertainment events may be similar

Noted thanks!