After leaving the cosy familiarity of a business and a brand that I was truly enchanted with, my first month of trading was always going to be a very different experience. As January draws to a close I feel that this is a good time to reflect on my journey so far and introduce my first blog. I use the word 'journey' quite deliberately because I don't think there will ever be a destination!
I made the decision to start my own business based on many factors; the loss of my Dad back in May 2014 brought a very sharp focus on the fact that despite what we tell ourselves, we aren't going to be here forever and I had the overwhelming need to challenge and push myself and venture way, way outside of my comfort zone. In the words of Roger Waters: "All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be". Other forces were also in effect - a change in business strategy meant that rather than being out in the retailers every day and enjoying the variety of different training challenges I instead had a daily return journey from Coventry to Milton Keynes (enduring 104 miles of misery on the A45 and M1) that began to make my soul weep. I also realised that there were no immediate opportunities available for me to develop my career. So, in June 2014 I resigned. Mercedes-Benz were fantastic and allowed me to stay until the end of the year (working part-time from September onwards) and I began to realise the enormity of the task.
I need to start by saying that up until now I have never been anything other than an employee, therefore everything I've done thus far regarding the set-up of the business has been by either intuition, trial & error or relying on counsel from those around me that I trust implicitly. So I began the list and between September and December 2014 I had to build it all from scratch:
- Design & build a website, organise domain names & email addresses.
- Employ the services of a professional accountancy business to enable me to trade in the most cost effective way (and to look after my accounts, which I have no aptitude in!)
- Draw up a list of prospects and relentlessly pursue (in a very customer-focused way!) each one until I achieved face-to-face meetings so that I could talk about my unique proposition.
- Organise a multitude of insurance to cover my potential liabilities.
- Invest significantly in I.T hardware and software in order to be efficient and credible with my clients (I can't overstate the joy that using a MacBook Pro has brought me rather than enduring a joyless Windows machine that regularly rewarded me with prolonged periods of 'the spinning blue circle of neg', countless updates and 20 minute login/logoff procedure)
- Get myself mobile (and I couldn't scrimp or compromise - I needed a comfortable, economical and reliable solution). Anyone out there who enjoys the benefit of a company ECO car scheme should never take it for granted. Having to buy and run your own car brings an appreciation of the things you used to have!
There were many other things that needed to be put in place but you get the picture. When I returned my car and all of my equipment to Mercedes-Benz on December 30th it was with mixed feelings but an overriding sense of excitement and pending adventure. There are many people that I should thank for helping me thus far; Jon Harrison at the One Black Bear Agency for his kindness and generosity in building an amazing (and user-friendly) website, Andy Todd for providing great I.T advice and support from the other side of the world, Andy Ludford, Lauren Twigg & the team at Mercedes-Benz Tamworth for making my car purchase painless, my former colleagues in HR & the People Development Team at Mercedes-Benz UK Rachael Edwards, Becky Roberts and Anna Snelling for their support, encouragement and (significant) help with my venture and not least my long-suffering partner Nicola Green for limitless amounts of support, encouragement and patience.
In addition, I should also thank my very first clients who had enough belief in me to employ my services.
How has the first month been? I've enjoyed two separate (and massively rewarding) visits to Stuttgart to deliver training for emerging talent, I have written and delivered a General Managers' Sales Process Workshop and been involved in consulting with a manufacturer regarding their global aftersales training offering. I have also written an 8-day talent development programme for a Dealer Group that has had approval to commence in April. There are lots of other projects, plans and meetings scheduled for the coming months that I will update via this blog as and when I can.
It has been daunting to have to make the financial investment that I have done without seeing any real return so far (although January has been an amazing month in terms of revenue for a new-start business, you have to relax into the fact that with some clients there is naturally a significant time lag between delivering the work and being paid for it). However, the projections for the rest of the year are very, very positive and will only improve further once the plans mentioned earlier come to fruition.
In summary, the journey has just started. This decision was never about money and despite my earlier comment regarding the lack of opportunity for me to progress my career as an employee, I was never unhappy; I was very well looked after and will always hold Mercedes-Benz in the very highest regard as an employer (I now own and drive their product and am looking forward to continuing our working relationship). Moreover, this was about me embarking on a journey that would help me to get back to doing what I do best: writing and delivering thought-provoking, impactful and motivational training that makes a tangible and positive difference to behaviour and business performance. So far, it has gone to plan!