Tag Archives: commerce

Double digits and the next decade

This spring has been a biggie chez nous. As the daffodils tentatively turned their golden trumpets to the (occasional) sun, I was marking 10 years since leaving a long career at the BBC. And as is always the case with the passage of time, it’s been hard to believe that a whole decade has flown

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Baby steps and snail’s pace

Spring’s on the horizon, traditionally a time to pick up the pace. But as February storms and relentless rain have battered spirits and prevented any meaningful return to the outside world, there have been moments when it’s been difficult to do much more than limp forward. This ongoing limbo is pants. The light is supposed

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Feast, famine and feeling the fear

Aye, we’ve all been there, hovering over a draft email, fearful of firing it off into other folks’ inboxes. But as the saying goes, feel the fear and do it anyway. If, like me, you’re a sole trader or small biz owner, feeling the fear is par for the course. The daily uncertainty of the

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Missing in action

Two weeks on the Dalmatian coast did wonders for this old wordsmith’s suntan, but a long overdue holiday unexpectedly left me with a yawning gap in my life. This spiritual hole is not so much existential crisis, simply a severe case of ennui. That feels a bit wrong. Holidays are supposed to invigorate and energise, aren’t they? I’m

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The busyness business

Frazzled, fried and fed up. Truth talking, sometimes this small business malarkey takes a heavy toll. There are episodes in enterprise which are just not a laugh. Times when you’re clinging on by your fingernails and praying your shredded nerves can last just long enough ’til the next chance to draw breath presents itself. Times when

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Ego chamber

My closest relationship involves a never-ending battle of wills. Don’t worry, this ain’t no agony aunt stuff. This month’s wordy shizzle is all about the struggle to achieve, and maintain, a firm sense of self despite a ceaseless egotistical ebb and flow. You know how it goes. One day you’re a world conqueror, the next you’re

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Awkward squad

You’d think I’d know better. After more than half a century of this mortal coil, anyone might think that I, a middle aged, middle class proper professional person of the female persuasion, am far too grown up and sensible to still be flicking the V to certain parts of society. Well, d’you know what? Bugger that.

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Joking aside

Choked up, streaming eyes, gasping for breath… No, dear hearts, not evidence of the widespread January lurg, or the intro to a tedious “sickness and small business” saga. These, my dears, are simply the symptoms of helpless and hysterical laughter. You know, the kind that’s utterly impossible to get a grip of. The kind that has

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Progression confession

For me, there is no one direction. But for clarification, I’m not talking daft boys bands here. As if. I’m an old punk rocker, remember. I don’t do boy bands. By this I don’t mean that I’m veering wildly from one entrepreneurial idea to another. Nope, the basic principle has stayed the same. I help people

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Pack mentality

  If safety, security and water cooler chat feature high on your career wishlist, then sorry old chum, but sole trading just ain’t a path you want to be wandering down. Working as a lone wolf is exactly what is says on the tin. Not the wolf part – although I’ve met a few vulpine

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