I sell fashion clothes online, based in Phuket. I'm 36, small store, stock kept at home, been doing this almost four years.

In the past two years I started getting help with packing and taking photos, so I hired two part-time temps through a weekend-gig page. Both are in their twenties. I feel more like their babysitter than their boss because I have to teach everything — packing, stock counting, replying to customer chats, even a rough way to retouch photos (I teach from about 9am to 12:30pm and they say they’ll be back at 2pm, but they’re never on time).

The problem started about two weeks ago. There was a big order, like a dozen pieces, shipping out of province. The customer paid a deposit. I was excited because the profit margin was good and I expected a nice review. But on the actual shipping day one temp packed wrong sizes and wrong quantities, then went silent and didn’t pick up. She messaged on LINE that she’d gone to another event, and the other girl who was at the shop didn’t tell me because she was afraid of getting scolded — she kept quiet the whole day.

That night around 10:30pm I had to pick up a call from the shocked and upset customer. I apologized and offered to re-pack and resend for free the next day (I drove out at 11:15pm to buy patterned bird stickers and checked the boxes myself). I didn't want to make a big fuss since the temps are new, but after I calmed the customer down I warned both of them that this affected the shop’s credibility. One apologized, but the quiet one just said, “It’s fine, I’ll fix it.” When I actually checked, I found multiple stock discrepancies from counting mistakes — not just a one-off.

I’m really confused about what to do. These people leave me fixing things all night, even though I also have to pack, ship, take photos, post, and reply to chats at night. Sometimes I have to drive 30–40 minutes to pick up supplies myself. It’s so exhausting, seriously.

We agreed wages by day, sometimes bonuses if sales are good, but lately some keep coming late and say they have family stuff or they go sell things themselves as part-timers. I understand but I can’t accept it since they don’t notify me in advance and I end up finishing the work. Other people think the shop is unprofessional.

I tried retraining them, made a simpler stock chart, had them sign to acknowledge it. One night I asked someone to edit product photos during a late shift — she finished but didn’t send everything, then asked, “Will I get an extra night shift pay for late hours?” I was like, huh? We agreed on daily pay like before. I feel I need to be clear about pay but I’m not confident to negotiate.

Right now I want stability and store reliability, but I don’t want to run everything alone until I burn out. Some nights I think about reducing stock or temporarily closing the small shop, or hire a full-time staff though that’s more expensive and I worry the investment won’t pay off. Or I could replace all temps and train seriously, but I’m scared of messing up again. Am I overthinking? Is it stubborn to expect people to follow the same standards I have in such a small shop?

Anyone who’s run a small shop or managed a tiny team, please share how you handle part-time staff like these. What kind of simple contract should I use? How do I make them accountable? Any non-complicated stock-check systems? Or should I just hire full-time? If you have scripts for talking about lateness and making up for mistakes — polite but firm lines — please share. hehe

First time posting, sorry if I rambled T_T What do you all think I should do?