To put it simply, it became clear that January and February of this year were extremely difficult for us. With sales dropping so sharply, our cash flow dried up, and we were forced to take several radical steps to keep the company alive.
The first and most important step—we let the entire staff go. Everyone. This was the hardest decision, but also the very first one. Labor costs in Austria are extremely high. Extremely. High. Massive taxes, plus the 13th and 14th salaries, plus of course paid vacation. Not to mention sick leave and so on. Let’s set aside the discussion about the social side of this—all that matters here is economics.
Our payroll, in months without the 13th and 14th salaries, ranges between €20,000 and €25,000. Cutting staff expenses made a huge difference. A massive difference. That is why it was step one. But also the hardest.
Of course, our director Valentina was fully aware of everything, and we had talked it through in detail. So, we gathered the whole team together, and I began a long conversation. Everyone was serious, completely silent. The silence was heavy. And I spoke. And it was not easy.
In the end, every single member of the team understood exactly what I explained. And they all left Fenster that same evening, by mutual agreement.
Of course, we sincerely offered anyone who was uncomfortable with that arrangement the option to be officially terminated by the company—something that would have been fine with us too, though it would have created additional complications. But every member of the team supported my decision. For that, I am deeply grateful.
The only ones left on the payroll were me and Valentina, our director. Together, we would run Fenster for 1.5 to 3 months, depending on circumstances. And given the drop in demand (as described earlier), this was absolutely doable.
Naturally, we had already planned to bring the entire team back step by step. And that is exactly what happened. In fact, everyone returned faster than expected. But that evening, which we closed with a glass of wine, was the team’s last day of work. The next day, everyone was free. Free to rest, free to take some time for themselves.
Here’s a bit of tough reality about managing people. We invited the team members to still come by Fenster if they wanted—to drink coffee, to chat, to train. If they felt like helping out in some way (outside of official work)—to brainstorm with us about how to bring in money, and so on. You understand. In the end, one person came. Just one. And of course, we paid for that help, no matter what.
The very next day we realized one team member would not handle this “forced break” as easily as the others. While most could manage—either through unemployment benefits or other ways—this person had only one option: to take a temporary job somewhere else.
I thought about it and decided we could afford to keep one more salary. Otherwise, we risked losing her permanently. So we did. She was not let go.
And the following day, I landed in the hospital with an infection. A week later, I caught COVID. Just like that, I was out for two weeks—unable to do anything at all.
Which meant that decision to keep one more staff member turned out to be absolutely the right one.
When I came out of the hospital, I had to work several days in a row at Fenster, because the rest of the team was simply exhausted. So yes, that was another experience—two weeks in a hospital bed, then straight into back-to-back twelve-hour shifts. No warm-up. It was intense. But that’s how it goes.
To wrap up this chapter about staff during that time, I will repeat: we brought everyone back to the team fairly quickly. I am grateful to all our baristas for their trust. Open and honest relationships inside a company are the foundation of its health. Trusting one another is critical. I am very glad we got through that winter without any real losses.
And the fact that we reduced payroll costs for about a month and a half played a very important role in the survival and future of Fenster.
A special thanks goes to Valentina, who during those weeks gave everything she had to save Fenster and did everything in her power.
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