Yesterday was May 1st - Labour Day here in Thailand and in many countries around the world.  I was slumped in a state of pure exhaustion, aimlessly watching episodes of Border Force (preparing for international travel in the near future 😆) and ***considering*** a virtue signaling blog post about our astounding fair trade labour practices in our Thai social enterprise business.  After all, [my Thai social enterprise business](www.purethainaturals.com) IS getting it right. 

- Our staff get paid more than double the legal minimum wage, since we have personally tested the legal minimum and found it to be IMPOSSIBLE to live on;
- Our staff get family leave, on request, with pay;
- Our office officially closes at 4pm so staff can manage the after-school pick ups;
- Our staff get sick leave without restriction, with full pay; 
- Our staff (unlike most workers in Thailand) receive Thai government social security, which allows them long term disability, maternity and even a tiny-weeny stipend when they are old and retired;
- Our staff are encouraged to bring kids to the office if childcare is a problem;
- Our staff get free lunches, coffee, tea, kid drinks and drinking water, every day.

####  😆 I wish I had all of that, I laughed to myself wryly.😆

You see, as the business owner, buck-stops-here-person in a post-Covid world, I'm the ONLY one on our small team scratching around for cash, working 18 hours a day and NOT enjoying the Labour Day Weekend, since *someone* had to go in to the office and ship orders.  The whole online retailing thing is *fiercely competitive* and Sweet Goddess forbid if the lady who urgently ordered Lip Balm and Eye Area Treatment Oil at 6.50pm on Friday should have to wait till TUESDAY to receive her couriered parcel. Cos that would trigger a negative review and we all know where that goes.... keeping staff employed with orders flowing is WHY we do what we do, and so yes, the buck-stopped and I went.

Contemplating all of those dynamics and the huge PRESSURE I'm under as a business owner in a rapidly changing entrepreneurial world, I realized that May Day might actually be cause for ***Mayday, Mayday!!!***  


![Entrepreneurial MayDay!!.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/artemislives/23w2si4FNzbvMxcKoHhQ1moadjah7FfRBCVmtxuewEG8dcRG7v8sYsSAMJCf6YovJdcZx.png)
*Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash*

It really hit me yesterday just how much online business, covid cash flow and supply chain challenges, higher costs etc etc have ERODED working conditions for small business owners. 

Owning a  café, restaurant or food business?  You're expected to be open 18 hours a day, 7 days a week AND handle online orders and deliveries. Selling online in multiple timezones?  You can expect customer queries 20 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Turning off your phone??  There comes that negative customer feedback again....

Side hustle on Hive to PAY staff while we're restructuring to repair and rebuild after Covid?  Damn - I can barely be bothered to EAT somedays, let alone think of something witty and original to post on Hive.  

#### The best part about being an entrepreneur and a business owner?  You get to not only COMPLAIN but you get to fix it too!! And I realized (yet again) last night that the BEST thing I can do is put on my own oxygen mask.


![Entrepreneurial May Day 2.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/artemislives/23xydfVK4zd7KdFGTCVbeuwF8wTY2Fduiqc4Tr6S8FwNen3CcFNgKq78qit1AYAaZn2ji.png)
[Image Source](https://thegate.boardingarea.com/safety-video-children-delighted-to-see-oxygen-masks-drop/)

Today, my **Personal Development Challenge** is to find creative ways to embody the spirit of Labour Day and the 40 hours working week and apply it ***to myself***.  

I DO HAVE a new office manager starting in later May, so part of the challenge will be splitting the online tasks in a FAIR WAY so that she doesn't end up burned out and resentful, messaging customers at 11pm on a Sunday night. 

The FIRST STEP towards more sustainable work habits is identifying the problems, and I think I've done that.  **And it's fair to say that the 40 hour working week and 4 weeks paid vacation is an expectation that no longer fits or works in a post-Covid, entrepreneurial world.**

I'm GIFTING myself some hours this week to IDENTIFY those things in my world that have suffered or been sidelined due to entrepreneurial overwhelm, and finding some out-of-the-box ways to achieve things-that-matter in new ways.

If there's ONE thing I've learned in 20 years here running a physical business with staff, it's that the health of my business is defined by (and sometimes limited by) my own personal health and development.  And that the BEST thing I can do for my business is to be more generous in managing my own needs and wants.

#### Pondering... 

***Do YOU have thoughts about employment, labour law and the changing entrepreneurial landscape?  I'd love to hear them!***

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