I think I need to close down my business.

This week the private busing company we hired to transport our 2 kids to school decided to suspend service until Wednesday next week, and there are rumors that it won't resume then, either. THat means I drive them both ways EVERY SINGLE DAY. I also teach karate 4 nights a week. I don't feel I can stop this.....Shihan is very good to me, and has basically bent over backwards for me...now in his time of need it would be crappy at the very least to quit on him. Plus, my son is still a student there and I'd be there every night anyway...so why not work?

I still pull shifts at the hospital, as insurance in case something happens to my DH and I have to get a full time job. It is difficult to be employable as a pharmacist if you've been out for any great length of time.

My daughter is in color guard and there are practices 3 or 4 nights a week and games every Friday night. This weekend I finished a 3D cake and a wedding cake (that is delivered tomorrow) and I've been up really late every night, subsisting on cake, not cooking for my family, and my whole body hurts. Next weekend I have a 2 tier birthday cake with cupcakes that have hand made wraps and a small wedding cake. I am dreading it already.

I have orders booked through next June. I am wondering how to go about it. Just post on my website that I am no longer booking orders? But if I do that, my current brides might panic.

Maybe just tell everyone who calls or emails?

I also participated in a contest with a local photographer to donate 75 servings of wedding cake to the winner.....if I post publicly that I'm not taking any orders, you can see how all parties involved in that might not take it well, even if I fully intend to honor my commitment.

I just don't see how I can keep on spreading myself this thin. Something has to go, and this hurts the least number of people and will save us the most money.

I should mention that my DH is fully supportive of me, but he is spread too thin as well. We have projects piling up around the house and he has taken on a LOT of housework to help me, which isn't fair to him. (I never have to do laundry)

People will be disappointed in me...(the aforementioned photographer) and probably my daughter as well. Half my daggone FB friends list are cake decorators. I'm going to feel foolish if I quit after putting this much time and $$$ into it. But I just don't see managing all this for the next 4 or 5 years while the kids are in high school.

Sorry so long....Guess I just wanted to unload.

Don't think of it as "quitting" think of it as a leave of absence.

I completely understand and it's why I've never grown my cake business to more than a couple of cakes a month.

When you start dreading it...it's time to step away and take a break.

I wouldn't post anything on your site because of the orders you have booked already. I would just tell people as they call or e-mail you that you either can't do the cake or that you're taking a break.

Family and your well being have to come first. When the kids are older it will be easier for you to dedicate more time to caking again.

Good luck with your decision!

Don't worry about others disappiontments you have to do what works best for you now, if you keep up trying to get it all done something will give and you don't want it to be your family.
good luck your family comes first.

I would finish your booked orders first, period. Don't take on any more orders and once you finish out these order, see how you feel. The best thing about being homebased, you can do a cake a month if you want.

Karateka, I know how you feel. It's hard to know what you has to give when you've got so much on your plate. I'm contemplating cutting way back too.

"Not accepting any new orders at this time" is not the same as "canceling all orders already taken".

I agree with indydebi. You can always say that you are booked up and not taking new orders at this time. That way you can keep the business "open" in case you decide to go back to decorating later. If you "close" the business, even if you finished out the orders you have taken, people will start looking elsewhere. Not taking new orders may cause customers to keep you in mind later on because if you're that booked up you must be good!

Why not hire some help? Instead of giving up the income completely just use a bit of it to hire either a baking assistant, a cleaning lady, etc.

I have a service that comes 1x per week (I picked Friday so the house is in top shape for the weekend) and, I was shocked at how much of my time it freed up not having to worry about DEEP cleaning. Everyone in the house is mindfull about picking up after themselves and putting things back where they belong so, the house stays tidy and, the cleaners do the deep stuff when they come.

Are you able to hire someone to help out with driving kids to school, laundry, preparing meals, etc. while you finish up the cake orders you have? How old are your kids? Is there housework they can help out with?

Sorry you are going through so much. I agree with the LOA. You don't have to give it up entirely. You can still do cakes for friends and family, then when the smoke clears a little then maybe you can get back into it full time. Or maybe go back to doing it full time over the summer if time allows.

I hope everything works out for you.

You are 100% in charge of your own life. You can redefine your own view of 'success' at ANY time.

If your daughter is watching and learning how to live her life, what lesson are you teaching?

If she came to you with the same exact problem, what would you advise her to do?

Sometimes, parents who love so completely forget to love themselves.

One of my friends had her business get a little out of control. She is a homebaker, stay at home mom to 4 kids under 8. Suddenly her business took off and she was doing huge orders every weekend, and some in between. After about 8 months or so of business, she posted that she was only taking 1-2 orders per month from that point on, and honoring all prior commitments. But she posted honestly, that it was cutting into her family life and her children were more important to her than anything. She didn't list any customers, in fact, more admired her decision to put family first. She now is booked 6-7 months in advance, and she chooses which orders to do, and makes sure she always has time for both. I think done well, letting your situation be known can be beneficial. Not only do they know where your values as a wife/mother stand, also your business values, and that you can provide a much better and higher quality product when you aren't stretched thin.

Count your blessings you have such a supportive husband as well. My hubby is that way, and I truly can't imagine not having him behind me. I know many people who aren't quite so fortunate.

You are correct, Indy, it isn't the same.....just worried about how panicky some brides can be.

My husband says don't close down, too. My only issue with that is making sure I can pay the bills this business necessitates. I guess I could cut some advertising and maybe pick up an extra hospital shift once a month or so, that wouldn't be too bad.

My son is currently learning to drive, and won't be ready for at LEAST another 6 months or more. I have been looking for other private busing people....

My kids do have chores, but getting them done properly is so much harder than doing it myself, and I have to constantly remind myself that whether or not it is done to perfection is less important than the fact that they do them. It is a life lesson. Hard on the parents, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

The really interesting part is my son's new acting class. He has this monster list of all these performances he has to attend, and put on, and all these hours of outside class time partnered assignments that I will have to get him to. How I wish that boy was a licensed driver! We just spent most of last night jumping through hoops to get my daughter a ride to color guard! (Her first ride fell through last minute)

All of those are good suggestions, and I will be looking into them. I won't make any snap judgements.