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My name is Andreas. I am the owner of Baldwins Butchers Limited. I started this business about 22 years ago. It’s gone from strength to strength since we’ve been here. When it's your own business you put everything you have into it: more enthusiasm, you somehow find the energy. It is very hard work. Very stressful. Like I said, the advantage is you’re your own boss.
I feel everyone is struggling with their businesses at the moment. It's very very hard times. The shop may seem very very busy. You seem to be taking a lot of money. But when you balance out with your overheads you are lucky if you break even.
We're always concerned. If something happens, or catches fire, or god forbid anything in the business. If you haven't got insurance then that's it. We’ve had a couple of accidents in the van over the last year or so which would have been very very costly for us to repair.
My advice to anybody who has in mind to start up a business would be to be prepared to work very hard, very long hours. Make sure you have the right team around you because if you have the wrong team around you, you aren't going to last very long.
Andreas has been running Baldwins Butchers for over 20 years. Despite being stressful and a lot of hard work, he says that when you're running your own business you have a keen sense of enthusiasm and enjoy being your own boss. He says that "if you haven't got insurance then that's it".
