Twists and Turns: Owning a business and surviving the ride!

I remember it well. That glorious month earlier this year where everything worked. Everything fell into place. I was achieving all my work and family goals. I was feeling so proud of how much my business had grown. I felt so alive and excited.

Well, I should have bottled that feeling because the next month, things were very different. Firstly, a major work project came to an end and I realised I was back to 50% capacity. And that of course means only 50% income. The ending of this project was nothing to do with me I need to add! The client was happy with my work, and I still do other work for the client, but this particular project was a huge one and a large percentage of my workload. It wasn’t the most fascinating task, it was tedious and repetitive, but over the two years of working on it I had grown very fond of this repetitive, monthly task.

The week before this happening, my two kids had been involved in an accident at home, leaving one of them quite upset for several weeks. And, my husband was away on a trip for two weeks, and I have no family here in WA…. So, if I told you my spirit and energy levels were spiralling downwards, I guess you wouldn’t be surprised!

But, I stayed true to my business goals and took a deep breath. The process back to feeling okay again took time. But after a few days of feeling sorry for myself, I pulled myself together, and I was determined to be proactive. I talked things through with friends who picked me up emotionally, and I also reached out to my professional network for support and advice. Just being able to talk through the issues really helped to give me a clearer view of everything that was happening. Having a good network is so vital, in the good times and in the challenging times.

I’ve learned some things from this set back and I hope that all this experience makes me a better business owner, better person, better friend and mentor to others in business.

And, soon enough, my daughter went back to being herself and seemed to be past the trauma. I secured two new clients, my husband came back with gifts (perfume and vodka!) from duty free, and for now, things are good again.

Until the next time life or business throws me a challenge.