re: Looking for some advice/opinions please :)

I am not in your shoes either so not sure I can say what is right or wrong but I can tell you what I heard on the Steve Jobs movie and it makes sense. In an orchestra there are many musicians, each musician is very good at what they do but it will be the conductor who gets the recognition. The musicians play their instruments but he plays the musicians, I believe this is also the same in your business. You will have many people playing a part in making your business successful but at the end of the day you are the one who will be credited for the work that comes out of the shop. That conductor is not going to lower the cost of his show tickets because he has a new band member. The price will be the same because he is the one still leading the show. So I agree with what Donna said also.

Now in the same movie there was also another quote which went something like this but please don’t quote me word for word,lol. In a play a play right does not stop and ask his audience what they think the next scene in that play should be, no then it would not be his play it would be theirs. I feel this is so in your business also, it is your business you get to call the shots not your customers and they should not get a discount because you had to add staff. The recipe for your cakes are still yours, being cooked the same way and put together the same way, so what should it matter if it is you or your assistant who actually puts it all together. In fact if I was training someone my hopes would be that one day that person could do the cakes herself with no guidance so as I had more free time or could take on even more orders so as I had to move even another girl to the back to teach her and so on and so on. I think most of us that run businesses hope that one day we just get to stand back and reap the rewards. You are on your way to that so do not question yourself you are doing the exact right thing and if your customers don’t like it they can go elsewhere but you know they will come back, as your product speaks for itself, it is not just about you, you have already put the ground work down to guarantee that not be the case.

Remember this is just my opinion but I think you got this lovely lady! Big hugs, Shags