Sometimes things go to plan and sometimes they don’t.  That’s the case in life and business is no different.

The last 7 days have been a bit of a rollercoaster.

Day 1 – a 4-year client divorce was finally settled.

Day 2 – I received a court summons for something that I haven’t actually done and the summons has been wrongly issued.  Not guilty your honour, but it doesn’t mean I can just ignore it – I have wasted quite a bit of time making sure I don’t fall foul of the authorities all because of somebody else’s incompetence.

Day 3 – I had my 2nd COVID vaccination. As a Community First Responder with the Welsh Ambulance Service, I am categorised as working in Healthcare and qualified for the vaccinations earlier than my age would otherwise permit.

Day 5 – 3 client jobs needed to be done all requiring several hours work.  I have had to prioritise and decide which was the most pressing without leaving anybody upset.

Day 6 – test drove and paid a deposit on a new car. We need to replace the car but the speed at which we chose the model and made the decision was quicker than we anticipated, but it did mean nearly £9k of savings.

In these times of not seeing anyone or doing anything this last week has really kept me on my toes and relative to the recent past, been quite exciting.  It doesn’t take much!

What have I learnt from it?  Whether it is business or pleasure, we can never be certain how things are going to pan out, but what we can do is give ourselves options.  

  1. The client divorce settlement has been painful for all involved and it had the potential to leave me without a valuable client – I had to have a contingency plan in place.
  2. The court summons is nothing short of a pain in the neck, but as a member of the FSB I have access to free legal help, which was very helpful, because although I know I have not done anything wrong and I can argue that point, I don’t feel like spending a day, going to court, doing a 360-mile round trip just to tell them they have the wrong information. I also know that if you don’t do things the right way the courts get a bit upset. 
  3. The vaccination means that I can do things without fear, although I still have a responsibility to those I come into contact with and regulations to follow.
  4. All of us at times have to prioritise and juggle. The important thing is not to over-promise and under-deliver.  The timings were only set in my own mind, not in the minds of my clients.  I know, on the whole, what my clients’ expectations are and so I have not disappointed anybody – only myself for setting the target too high.
  5. We knew our car needed replacing in May. COVID means getting a test drive has been really difficult.  We did some online research and spoke to a dealer, who had a showroom model with a fantastic deal, but we had to make the decision.  The only stipulation was that we had to test drive it first.  We were fortunate enough to have the cash deposit available.

In all of these things I either had options or I have given myself options to move forward. 

Now to sort out the insurance on the new car.  How many options have I got there!