I think you all know how honest and open I am about the journey of being a businessperson, so let me continue that journey with you.
I sat in a café on Saturday to write this as I am speaking in Lisbon next week and have therefore lost two days of my normal routine. I stared out of the window and thought deeply about the week I have had and what message was channelling through me for you today. This week has been about how much time and money should I invest this year in my skills and personal development, knowing that each year I must do this to ensure our business is never ‘stuck’.
It’s really scary, we all look at our cashflow and want to hold onto some reserve cash, but equally, we know that without new skills and commitment to learning, next year will be the same as this year, and worse still, as the world moves on so fast with technology and new wisdom, we could actually slip behind.
Within BIP100, Thomas and I planned 4 new impactful projects for our clients, always seeking to help our clients grow and connect deeper. The development of our services for our clients is now planned and in the execution stage.
My personal investment needs to be in my marketing of my Speaking, as experts ‘this is our time’. My Speaking Agencies tell me that companies want real people, with relatable stories that pass on impactful wisdom. This is the best news for anyone that has honed an expertise and always seeks to have impact.
So, this year I need to invest around £10,000 in a new speaker video, website plus new skills and equipment to improve my Virtual Presentations. It’s scary, but with just a couple more speaking client, I will get my investment back and I will have also ensured that the work I deliver is cutting edge and appropriate for today’s audience.
So this week, can I ask you, what are you investing in? In addition to this question, can I ask you not to create financial excuses for not developing yourself, as the saying goes in companies with regard to their employees, “what is worse than not affording to develop a member of staff? Well it is the result of the quality of the employee if you don’t’.
and finally, always, I have empathy with anyone who has cash challenges, back in 2018, life was not easy, our business was challenged when Thomas had to focus on overcoming his Cancer and enduring chemotherapy, I was licking my wounds from a failed investment in a new company I wanted to create. I knew I needed to innovate again and so I borrowed £20,000 through a bank overdraft on our business, I hired a Coach, I invested in a new website plus I invested in a therapist to keep me strong having had 10 really hard years, in business and personally. That £20,000 created my book “Business Is Personal’, and turned into over £1million over 3 years through a new approach to our business life. I wonder where we would have been now without my book, and our new business model and my sanity.
Have a great week and thank you, as always for reading my Ponderings, I truly hope that they make you think and that you can feel me beside you.
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