September 22, 2025 – Daily Recap

New Beginnings
Today felt like a fresh start. My main guy is now officially on with me every Monday, guaranteed for now. We got to the warehouse early, and while he handled some warehouse duty, I knocked out a few follow-up emails. With four jobs ahead of us, I wanted to let traffic thin out before we hit the road.

Stop 1 – Tables & Chairs
We started with a simple pick up: just tables and chairs. Easy work, but the numbers reflected the low stakes. Margins came in at about 70% with me doing it, but if I’d paid someone else, they’d sink to 56%. For something that quick, I can tolerate it—but not exactly exciting.

Stop 2 – 40-Guest Wedding Package
This one stung a little. A full package for a wedding reception should be solid margin-wise, but we ended up at 70% actual and 63% standardized. We were efficient, but I had to make an extra trip because I forgot the linens. So not that efficient, huh?!?! Extra time and mileage add up fast, and the profit calculator doesn’t lie.

Stop 3 – Cocktail Tables
Eight cocktail tables, no linens. Originally this order had linens included, which would have really helped margins. But the client “found some” and removed them before finalizing. That turned it into a bit of a bait-and-switch. Margins slid to 60% actual and 42% standardized—my lowest of the day.

Stop 4 – Lights, Tables & Chairs
Funny enough, this was the highest-margin job at 80% actual and 65% standardized. Even with an extra trip to drop off a table and linen free of charge, the math worked out. What didn’t work out was the review request. This client and I exchanged what felt like 500 texts and calls leading up to her daughter’s birthday. She seemed thrilled with our service, but when I sent the review link? Crickets. Hard not to feel a little disappointed when the energy shifts like that. But I remain hopeful!

End of Day Reflections
What surprised me most today was how low all the standardized margins were. That matters, because at some point I need to be able to step away from every delivery. The one silver lining is that these were shared jobs, so I wasn’t driving back and forth to the warehouse after each one. That created some efficiency the tracker doesn’t show.

Still, the smaller jobs continue to drag profitability down, and my extra trips for the wedding and string light jobs didn’t do me any favors. Lessons learned.

Back at the warehouse, we unloaded quickly, my guy called it a day, and I stuck around to play logistics Tetris for the week ahead.

Until next time
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