The update nobody asked for but my brain needed to write...

This is the first post I've been able to bring myself to write for a couple of months (not enough mental capacity 😅) and what a couple of months it has been since leaving my corporate role of 20 years to start my own business 

I now feel like I need a little moment of external processing...so this is it

Starting a business is one thing, opening a physical premises is quite another, and wow, what a rollercoaster it has been 

Whilst a had several offers of investment, I decided to 'go it alone', I could just about afford to and I was put off by the thought of having to run everything past someone else, especially when I had such a clear vision of what I wanted to create. At times this has felt very isolating, despite the support of my partner, family and friends, the responsibility of it going well feels like a heavy weight hanging around your shoulders all the time, punctuated with the knowledge that the book stops with you...that's the downside. 

The upside is that one of my core values of freedom sings a happy song day in and day out as I manage my own time, make my own decisions and am able to have complete creative agency over every aspect of my business

Knowing I was going to have blind spots and having listened to enough podcasts on the topic, I found a mentor fairly early on and he has been invaluable in questioning my thinking, and especially navigating some of the legal/financial implications...areas I've been very protected from during my corporate career 

What's been amazingly reassuring is just how many transferable skills I've been able to take over from my corporate role...creating seamless customer journey, negating, influencing, recruiting a team, marketing, selling, networking...I could go on and on

But the other side of that is the amount of 'stuff' I relied on others doing for me, owning a start up means you are doing every single role known to man from marketing, social media content creation, filming and editing, cleaning, doing deals, sourcing products, designing, rostering staff, you name it the list goes on! I have learnt so so much already, but to be honest I love the challenge

I have had so so many moments where my imposter syndrome is screaming soooo loudly at me, but I'm too far in to do anything but push forward, instead relying on my drive and resilience to push through these moments that have come much more regularly than they did in my previous role

I have absolutely loved meeting so many new people from so many different walks of life, careers, business owners, and so during sessions with my clients I spend time finding out and learning about things I've simply never been exposed to in my little Nationwide bubble 

Seeing those signs going up, and my vision for the space come to life has been surreal but also some of my proudest moments 

As we approach our opening, the nerves are real, the presale has gone well and we are  very busy, but execution of exceptional client experience is absolutely key, we don't have second chances to make first impressions, and I'm very aware of that as I rely on a brand new team to support me in delivering that 

Stay tuned...diaries of a start up!

(*Photo taken earlier in the week during some press interviews)