Sun, 22 Jun 2008
Happy
first entry since winning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've had a great couple of weeks;
The shop celebrated its first birthday, and the very next day i was announced as winner of the ifwecanyoucanchallenge for South Tyneside. Then I went on holiday for a week....
Back to reality, I'm posting this at close to mid-night on the longest day of the year, its still not long enough for me!
Holidays are great, but on the back of everything that happened before we went, it means that there is so much to do.
In describing how it felt to find out I'd won, it was a bit like getting the results of my finals, telling myself I'd be happy with a 2.2, but secretly hoping for better. I didnt get quite as drunk in response to this result, but the elation and joy were just the same!
I am so grateful to everyone who took the time to vote for me; it was great telling my staff and my parents I'd won, Their faces were a massive reward.
I've had congratulations and cards from the mums in the school queue, flowers, champagne and when i came back from holiday on friday, my staff had decorated the shop with congratulations banners, and popped a bottle as soon as i walked throught the door. I only had a sip, all glasses prescribed on Friday will still be accurate!!
Lots of my patients have been popping in to congratulate me personnally, I've felt truly special.
Meeting this week to discuss how i take everything forward, and how i make best use of my prize, I'm really excited as it means I'm now going to be able to develop the business in certain directions much sooner than I thought, and have expert business advice to help me along the way. Exciting times ahead........
posted at
22:33:00
Sun, 08 Jun 2008
Busy week
posted at
22:35:00
Sat, 31 May 2008
Month ends
Its funny when your picture keeps on popping up in the paper, the coverage of the whole event has been pretty high profile, so another article keeps on appearing when i'm not expecting it.
Its been great for business, and for my general credibility as a new business, my patients seem to like it; I just happened to bump into one of them in the butchers and she proceeded to tell everyone in there who i was and how i'd been shortlisted for "that competition" , a tad embarrasing, but its all good.
Its coming up to the first anniversary of my shop opening and i'm thinking of ways to advertise around it. Again, the competition helps, but the anniversary falls the day before the winners are announced so I will have to hedge my bets and proclaim myself as finalist and not winner (yet)
My staff have been absolute stars in getting people to vote for me, no-one leaves the practice without a brief on how to vote, lets just hope it pays off.
I was really pleased this week when someone came in for an eye examination who was another woman with her own business, with small children like me. We had a really good chat and shared networking ideas, she left with a bundle of my business cards to take to her next networking group,(which i have been invited to join). This is what i love about the north-east. I've lived lots of places, but i doubt it would have happened like that anywhere else.
posted at
23:19:00
Mon, 26 May 2008
Reflections.........
Bank holidays are wonderful, because they give you time to think. My life is so full, so hectic and so timetabled, that its great to get this extra day just to sit back and reflect.
I remember this bank-holiday last year, I was two weeks off opening my new practice, and had about 4 weeks of work to do to get it open!!!!!!!!
Beacause i am a contractor to the NHS, I had to have the practice inspected thouroughly, and i mean thouroughly, by two very learned NHS experts before i could by registered as 'fit to practice'. I can honestly say that the run up to this, and opening itself was the most stressful thing i have ever done. I was getting everything together on very little sleep (about four hours a night), caring for two children, training new staff, painting walls, and scourcing signs, whilst awaiting the outcome of an application for funding, which, had it not come through, would have meant that I couldnt have opened at all.
In time honoured tradition, it did all come together on time, the inspection went well, the funding came through (with only 7 days to spare though- tense stuff) and the store looked fabulous on the opening day. (And girls, every cloud has a silver lining, i lost a stone in weight due to all the stress!)
So now I'm thinking what a difference a year makes.
I am managing director of my own company, which looks set to show a profit in its first year of trading when i originally hadnt forecast that 'till year 3. I work 24 hours a week and am able to spend lots of quality time with my children. I have a wonderful team of employees who have really given their own hearts and minds into this, and are as passionate about what we do as i am. This reflects in our steadily growing patient base which has largely come about by word of mouth.
I am a finalist in a competition which gives credit to my achievements, and should i win, will enable me to take my dreams onto the next level of reality and start to realise the massive potential that my business has.
There is a line, spoken by Dougal on an episode of 'Father Ted' in which he says " The sun is shining and we're sitting in an opticians. Does life get any better than this, Father ?" Lets wait and see shall we, I'm hoping it just might.
posted at
20:03:00
Fri, 23 May 2008
Entrepreneurs Forum Annual Conference, Progres5ive
It was a great day. It was really hairs on the back of your neck stuff hearing the speakers. When I heard everything they had to say with all their experience, it was amazing.
It was an amazing line up of speakers. I wrote down the pearls of wisdom as I went along. It was really inspiring.
posted at
15:20:00
Thu, 22 May 2008
post conference
Just back from the Entrpreneurs forum conference and buzzing big-time having had a great day. Thouroughly enjoyed the inspirational speakers, Elle Mcphereson was amazing and so beautiful and i gleaned some good ideas from the Hotel Chocolat guy, Angus.
the whole networking experience was valuable and best of all meeting up with my fellow finalists was fab they are certainly a pretty talented bunch. we talked of meeting up again and i certainly hope it happens, we bounced off each other really well i thought.
i hope this one publishes, as the laast blog entry seems to have dissapeared into the ether. its made me decide that short bursts rather than 2000 word biogs are probably the way forward, so thats all for now.
posted at
23:40:00
Tue, 20 May 2008
First blog entry
Well, I've finally navigated the super-highway in order to start this thing off. I've been meaning to find out more about blog writing for ages, so this is my baptism by fire, i guess.
Since getting word last week that i have been named as a finalist in the iwcyc challenge, things have been madly hectic, only in part due to the challenge....
Its been quite a week, all in all, and i cant believe its still less than a year since i opened my practice.
we had our best-ever week, in terms of takings last week, and i do think that i am already seeing the benefits of the publicity generated from being a finalist inthe competition, I'm pretty much fully booked at the moment.
I've had my son's third birthday and subsequent party, with bouncy castles and racing car birthday cakes and all other joys that such an occasion brings, coupled with having to re-arrange my daughters party for her birthday in a few weeks time, when i realised another child in her class was having a party at exactly the same time, and her (infinately more organised) mother had got the invitations out first.
The shop that i own is in Stanhope Road, South Shields. I opened it from scratch, but its on the site of an opticians practice that had been there for 80 years, and had only closed down when the previous owner died in April 2006.
I've been very lucky, in that all the components fell into place as and when they did. i purchased the practice with my brother and his wife and we re-developed the property into two sites. My sister in law is a chiropodist and has opened her second practice next door. We both benefit from the synergy between the two businesses.
The shop is also only about 5 minutes drive from where i live, which saves so much time. it also means that i can walk my 4 year old daughter to school every day before going to work.
I am secretary of the local traders association, set up last year with the help of communitee workers, and currently i am in talks with the council to see what help may be available to businesses in the area, its n my best interests to ensure the area is as prosperous as possible, so its about attracting new business but also what can be done for those of us already here, from possibly getting cctv on the surrounding streets, to improving the cosmetic appearance of some of the shops. Its a massive and ambitious prospect, but i do believe that it is possible for one or two people to make a difference, and i'm lucky in that there are some progressive thinking traders around and about where i am based.
Another project this week was talking to a business advisor at SouthTynesideMeansBusiness about my plans for expanding. We had a really good chat, there is money available, mainly based on job creation, so the next step is to go away and put together a really good business proposal together. Thats where trusty husband Steve comes in! He's the number cruncher... he's been amazing throughout this whole journey, happy to sit on the sidelines and help me through this, although i have to admit he was gutted when he heard i was going to see Elle McPherson at the Entrepreneurs forum conference and he couldnt come!
That will have to be all for today, the children are in bed but I have 'black tie' and 'lounge suit' to iron for the conference before i start on the childrens stuff, its hard work being an aspiring entrepreneur........
posted at
19:47:00
