As January comes to a close and we are 10 months into a series of lockdowns here in Ireland due to the Covid 19 Pandemic I am so grateful. I am one of the lucky ones. Everyone is well and business has been great, in fact more than great, it has been inspiring. For the past 12 months I have had the opportunity to work with some of the most amazing business owners. These owners have been willing to change, to pivot, to uproot themselves and to really challenge themselves to make their businesses relevant in the lockdown. They have gone from traditional bricks and mortar business to online business, they have gone from office based to being dispersed nationally, they have changed products, changed production methods, changed delivery methods, changed purchasing behaviours, changed sales methods. To have had the opportunity to work closely with these people has been a privilege. To all our clients who chose to work with us during this pandemic and who trusted us to guide them during these challenging times, thank you. I promise to continue to work with you and support you on the next stage of business and market recovery.

Remember this will come to an end, but our new business methods may be here to stay.

Don’t you just dislike all those articles etc that go on about New Year, New You. Can I just say, there is no need for a new you. You are perfect as you are, a work in progress, continually growing, evolving and learning. However, your business may need a few new year tweaks, especially given the last 9 months of 2020.

2021 looks like it will continue throwing many challenges at us from a business perspective as well as a personal one, so if we haven’t started yet, we need to start reviewing our business and possibly making some changes to our product/service offering or delivery.

Many of our businesses will close to the public until probably early or mid- March. So we have to revise our overall business strategy, how we will deliver our products/services to our customers. We have to consider how our customers will find us, engage with us and communicate with us.

Time to get your team together and do a strategic planning review if you are to hold and grow that customer base in 2021

Wishing you all well. Stay safe.

Yesterday I had a new client. We had never met. She was referred from a third party. We were both a little apprehensive about the first meeting. Would the other party meet our expectations? She wondered would I be any good? I wondered would she put in the work to achieve the business goals. Then we met and we both had our expectations exceeded. I learned a lot from her, as I always do from all my clients but she took the time at the end of the session to give me some feedback which I have really taken on board. One of my weaknesses always is pushing myself out there. I focus on delivering for my clients rather than delivering for me. Business has always come to me through referral, recommendations, word of mouth etc. I haven’t really promoted myself as I didn’t have to. I probably haven’t given enough thought to driving new business to myself. Its not complacency in the slightest, I just did not see it as the main source of my business.

Yesterday my client told me that my website is not a reflection of me at all. She told me it does not reflect the energy I bring to the client or to the session and nor does it reflect the sharp focus I bring to a business. She has given me serious food for thought and I will definitely have to review my online presence to bring the real me across.