It has been a while since I last posted, however in keeping with nature of this post .... time has been somewhat of a premium! In fact it has taken me three months to get this blog finished (although have set aside time once a week to make sure I keep on top of it)!
As mentioned in my previous blog, I wanted to share a of my thoughts, opinions and maybe a few moans about what we have experienced over the past 8-9 months since starting 'Nickel Support'. I am certainly not trying to pretend to be the next Richard Branson or have an encyclopaedic knowledge of business .... its just a few musings and if someone is looking to start a new business they might find it interesting ... take from it what you will.
Now it is a well used cliché that 'life is a rollercoaster', however there is no better way to describe starting a new business, and in particular the last nine months. There have been incredible highs, interspersed with lowest of the lows (getting broken into for the second time for example) ... not on a week by week basis, almost on an hour by hour frequency! The area under my eyes certainly are a couple of shades darker, with a few more lines rearing their ugly heads around the corner of my eyes (although they could just be to with getting old, but my vain side will disagree I'm sure!).
The area I have found the most difficult has been maintaining friendships and has put strain on relationships with those close to me. I have pretty much had to take a social sabbatical for nine months (with none of the benefits) hoping the strength of the friendships built over the years will hold true. With regards to the strains placed on relationship; this was, in part, due to the fact my fiancée and I deciding to get married this year ... as if starting your own business wasn't enough (don't worry the wedding prep is well underway and all is going according to plan). Be prepared to press pause on your social life as you knew it!
My business partner and I were chatting just last week about how much we have learnt and the experienced gathered over the last few months ... on reflection this has been pretty incredible. We estimated that we have experienced and gleaned as much knowledge and skills in the last nine months as we would have in five years in any other job.
When researching starting our business one thing that kept cropping up was the freedom people experienced ... now I hate to shatter this illusion but not getting a wage and shouting from the rooftops about us with no-one listening is not my idea of freedom. However, we can start to see this materialising and this mysterious holy grail of freedom is starting be within our grasp .. we just need to make sure we keep drinking from the right cup!
Another area I found difficult was selecting which advice to take .... everyone wants to support you and try and help move your business forward. The problem with this is that, although well meaning, they don't have the necessary experience to give you invaluable advice and can lead to hundreds of email's/phone calls/texts/knocks on the door. This can be really hard to deal with and feels like you are drowning a little bit. It is important you find your own direction, research your ass off and feel your own way into the business ... make your own mark and move it forward when you have a clear, balanced direction in which to go.
As I was writing this blog I was looking back at photos of when we got the keys in the empty shell of a shop and where we have got to now ... the swell of pride that rose from within was immense. It was a crazy, brave and a wee bit stupid decision to give 'it' all up and start for ourselves. What I can say however, with a 100% conviction, is that it is the best decision (apart from getting married to Ashley) that I have ever made and wouldn't change one bit of it .... the lows make you appreciate the highs and the highs make the lows just about bearable.
This obviously only scratched the surface of what you could potentially face when starting a business, however it is a blog, not a book! Chuck in finance, wages, social workers, landlords, websites, phone companies, plus many more and you might somewhere near to the pressures and strains we have faced. If anyone wants any more info about anything in this blog or anything else related, give me a shout .... nick.walsh@nickel.org.uk
In my next blog I am going to talk about the work we undertake with people with learning disabilities, the difficulties they face, with particular reference to employment ... so check in in a couple of weeks.
Until then make sure you check out some of the unique products we have in our shop or on our website ........... www.interestinglydifferent.co.uk.
Or have a look at the learning disability training side of things on our other website ....... www.nickel.org.uk.
Lots of love guys
xxx
