13/06/2026
The side of running a business that people don’t often see…
While my grandson is shouting from the garden on this beautiful Saturday morning, “Come and play football with me, Grandad!”
While people are taking their wives or girlfriends shopping…
While others are washing their cars or getting on with DIY around the house…
I’m sat here tendering jobs, organising paperwork, and doing all the things behind the scenes that keep a business flowing smoothly.
We started this business nearly two years ago now, and at the time I genuinely thought it would give me more freedom. More time with my family. More holidays. More opportunities to enjoy the precious things in life.
And hopefully work fewer hours.
How wrong I was.
The reality has been the complete opposite.
Running a business isn’t an 8 or 9-hour-a-day job. It’s a 24-hour-a-day commitment that completely consumes your life.
While our staff get to go home and switch off, for me and my business partner it starts when we open our eyes at 3 or 4 in the morning and doesn’t end until we go to sleep.
Weekends are never really our own.
Even going out for a meal with my wife is interrupted by endless walks outside to answer a phone call because, “This is important, love.”
Or constantly checking messages because after nearly two years, it feels like I’ve forgotten how to put my phone on silent during the moments that matter most.
The sacrifices we’ve made since starting this business can’t really be compared to anything else.
The endless weeks worrying about bills because we’ve put buying stock before everything else just to keep the business moving forward.
The constant worry about where wages are coming from.
The times we’ve had to rely on the Bank of Mum and Dad because invoices seem to get paid whenever people feel like paying them, rather than when they’re actually due.
Like many businesses, we made the mistake in our first year of trying to run before we could walk.
We grew too big, too quickly.
We had crews everywhere, trucks filling the yard with nowhere left to park them.
The reality was, we’d become busy fools.
Getting the work is one thing.
Getting paid for it is another.
The number of contractors we’ve had to cut ties with because of broken promises and missed payment dates is unbelievable.
At the start, I looked at other local firms and thought:
“If they can do it, why can’t I?”
The reality is they probably make it look easy too, while behind closed doors they’re having the same worries, doubts, and sleepless nights that we all do.
I remember pricing a job a few months ago. It was a good one too — well over £10,000 for four days’ work.
I told my partner and he replied:
“Dan, we haven’t got the kit for that.”
I said:
“I’ll make it work.”
We sold stock that had been sitting around the yard barely being used.
We bought what we needed.
We completed the job on time.
And we gained a brilliant contractor that we now work with regularly.
Once we got paid, I replaced the stock we’d sold.
That £5,000 worth of equipment paid for itself almost immediately and has gone on to generate even more work since.
When I think back to a year ago — struggling to find money for stock, vehicle repairs, wages and everything else — I remember the comments:
“How long are you going to keep struggling before you decide if this is actually going to work?”
What nobody else could see was what me and my partner could.
Was it hope?
Belief?
A vision?
Determination?
Or were our egos just too big to give up?
I still don’t know.
We’ve had to make some incredibly difficult decisions.
We’ve had to let staff go — some of them friends — in order to move forward.
Some took it personally and friendships were lost.
Others said:
“I get it, brother. Love you. We’ll have a beer soon.”
Sometimes you have to take a step back before you can move forward.
What I didn’t realise was that removing some of the stress would actually give us more motivation and energy to grow.
So while I’m still working on a Saturday morning, unlike a year ago, I’m doing it with a smile on my face.
Me and my partner laugh more.
We stress less.
And we genuinely love running 🆔 Scaffolding.
I guess what I’m trying to say is this:
If you believe in something enough, go for it.
You’ll make sacrifices.
You’ll have sleepless nights.
You’ll question yourself.
But if you’re willing to work for it, eventually you’ll get out what you put in.
We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built and we absolutely love running 🆔 Scaffolding.
It’s just taken a lot longer than I expected before we started seeing the rewards of all the hard work and determination.
When people ask me how business is going, I always reply:
“Up and down… like all scaffolding!”
And as I sit here listening to my grandson playing outside, I realise something.
I’m doing all of this for that little terror out there.
That six-year-old hooligan ruining my grass is the reason I keep pushing forward.
He’s what gives me the determination to keep reaching for the sky.
Dan
🆔 Scaffolding
