It was twenty years ago this month that I decided the time
was right to start my own business and twenty years ago this month that I set
up shop at 352a Park Lane .
In that time we’ve gone from renting an adjoining ‘shack of dreams’ (see below)
to owning the whole building, and in that time we’ve worked with an array of
amazing clients, some of whom have supported me from the start to now.
It seems strange to consider that the time at which I set up
in business was potentially quite precarious from a family point of view. There
was I the main ‘breadwinner’ selling the idea to Claire that of course
everything would be fine with the new business. I’d worked out a ‘survival
budget’ and once we’d passed that, it would be plain sailing…
And there was Claire, coming to terms with cutting back her
working hours in order to cope with our first baby. That was baby Sophie of
course, who has recently joined me as a Marketing Executive in the business.
That was baby Sophie who we forgot we had one night and nearly ended up going
out for a meal forgetting she was upstairs asleep.
It’s easy to say now but from my first day in business,
there has never really been any looking back to a time when I might not be
working for myself. I remember the first groups I ran in Norwich in my first week – driving home and
rather than bemoaning my misfortune at another late night, thinking this was my
choice and this was how I wanted things to be, this was for me, this was for my
family.
So it’s not always been plain sailing and starting a new
year has always felt daunting. Will anyone ever want to work with me again? Will
this year be as good as the last? These are questions that continue to haunt my
January days.
And so far the phone has continued to ring; the jobs have
continued to come in. But that doesn’t stop you wondering, and doesn’t stop you
being grateful to those who do still recognise you’re committed to what you do
– and appreciate you’re pretty good at what you do too.
So here’s to the special year for us which is 2014, and you’ll
be hearing more about our anniversary celebrations in the coming year.
In the meantime, I genuinely hope this can be a successful
year for whoever chooses to read this blog too.
Cheers!