09/10/2026
What "being your own boss" actually looks like behind closed doors:
In 2010, this business was just an idea sitting on my kitchen table.
No bank loans. No financial handouts. Just pure, relentless drive to build something real. Today, I stand in my own shop premises, having fought tooth and nail for 16 years to keep those doors open.
People see the shopfront, but they don't see the real cost:
👉 I’m 38 now, and I wake up at 8 AM checking work messages before my feet even touch the floor.
👉 I work 9 AM to 7 PM most days, plus Saturdays.
👉 I’ve sacrificed family time, weekends, and quiet evenings.
👉 I don't have hobbies anymore. I can’t even sit down to play Football Manager without my brain pulling me back to unread emails and tasks.
Work isn't just my job—it’s my life, my hobby, and my brain’s default setting. I’ve poured so much into this business that I honestly don't know how to turn it off or enjoy downtime anymore.
The physical and mental toll has been brutal. The sheer stress of keeping everything afloat has seen my health take a back seat—gaining and losing 3 to 4 stone over the years, leaning on alcohol and poor diet just to get through the exhaustion. There have been times I’ve been so mentally drained that I didn't want to go on with any of this. Literally I'd go work a 9-5 minimum wage job, just to escape the mental stress being self employed delivers.
2010............ not a problem. 2026, It almost feels like the government want's us to fail, die from a stroke or not live old enough to reach retirement :(
To make it harder, I'm fighting an uphill battle every single day. I'm constantly competing against non-compliant businesses across the county and right here in York—paying thousands of pounds in VAT while others dodge the system. Every year, I spend hours locked in the office readjusting prices just to stay competitive against people playing by different rules... time that should be spent with my family.
And when your business is your entire life, everything is deeply personal:
⭐ Every 5-star review feels like a warm pat on the back that makes the sacrifice feel worth it.
❌ Every 1-star review legitimately feels like someone punched me in the face and told me I’m a complete failure.
People say "you can't please everyone," but my brain doesn't work that way. Failure is NOT an option. I will spend hours trying to turn a bad review into a good one because I care that much about what I’ve built over the last decade and a half.
Being self-employed isn't a freedom flex or an easy lifestyle. It is a quiet, everyday obsession.
Every single month is a relentless battle—but it’s a battle I refuse to lose.
To every single person who supports this shop, leaves a kind review, or simply understands the grind: thank you. You have no idea how much your support keeps a small business owner going when the burnout sets in. ❤️
We're PC Revamp
We keep going
We stay strong
2010 - 2016 we keep doing what we do best...... We make sure that un-diagnosed ADHD brain of mine keeps powering on 🤣🤣