Dear Darlings….

….Please excuse my rambling….

Whenever I was thinking about an opening my mind went to dear diary – but then I couldn’t help drifting to that popular song (I’m hoping I wont get in trouble) so for now I’ll go with Dear Darlings!

Hi! I am a full time self-employed, single parent, small business person, with a part time job and a dog! I am in no way shape or form claiming to be an expert, trying to sell a course or promising to let you in on secrets that will generate a 6 figure income. Instead I am just here, sharing my thoughts and experiences in an honest, open and transparent way. Now I know my opinion is not always the popular one, in fact – fair warning – it may be a very unpopular one – but I do always try to consider different sides before taking a position on a topic, I am always open to informative discussion and never afraid to change my mind! Nothing I write is aimed at any one individual, business or organisation nor designed to cause offence but I appreciate some people may not like my content…giggling away to myself now, writing a disclaimer – who do I think I am! As though anyone is ever going to actually read this! If though someone somewhere does stumble across it and finds it offensive then I’m sorry. My hope is that if anyone does ever read it they may find it helpful – or maybe it might just bring them a little smile – either one is a win in my book – but if not, hey ho – hopefully the actual writing of it will help me! 

I have always wanted to write a diary, always imagined it to be therapeutic, stress relieving and comforting being able to share your secrets, thoughts and feelings. Thoughts and feelings that you worry you maybe shouldn’t have or shouldn’t feel or you don’t feel confident making public or you just want to keep to yourself – and as I’ve gotten older I think what a wonderful way it would have been to record the different stages in life and flood yourself with memories by looking back on the diaries. But I lacked discipline and whenever I tried – full of fresh commitment and determination – I felt silly. I felt like I was moaning and whining and having a bit of a self pity party, recording how hard done by I felt or trying to prove how hard I worked and demonstrate all the different things I had to manage and cope with like some kind of wo is me tale of martyrdom! And so I never stuck it past a few days. But don’t worry – this isn’t a diary, I wont be boring you with daily life briefings and I wont disappear after just a few days! Instead I plan to write and explore my thoughts and experiences on all things ‘small business’ related, (more on the use of ‘small business’ another time) and I hope to add a new post every week or two.

Now, whilst I am not an expert, not trained nor qualified in anything business related, I have been and still am successful in my own business. I started at the end of 2019, adapted and changed throughout the pandemic, adapted and changed again as life got back to ‘normal’ and have continued to adapt and change in a landscape that has been getting increasingly difficult since then, and I am still going strong. I will not be sharing my business or talking about specifics – this isn’t about self promotion – but I will share everything from starting out, supplies, packaging, posting, markets, advertising, processes, accounting, legalities, admin, feedback, support, criticism and everything in between – all on a general level – but also the more personal side – the work life balance (or work work balance might be more appropriate) – the targets, milestones, expectations, pressure, self comparisons, the wonderful highs and the terrible lows of being small business owner.  

Ok, back track – where was I –

Introduction Trigger Warning Reality Check Back Story Mission Statement

– now for the Apology. I am terrible at tangents. I start off in one place with a plan, drift down a road that leads me somewhere else and then try to circle back and sometimes its a success but other times I end up 3 streets over, in a different town, stuck behind a bin lorry in a one way straight with a bus behind me and no option other than stopping, going back to the beginning and starting again! So apologies in advance for any wandering that ends up being completely irrelevant or ends abruptly! I mean yes, I could go back and edit it or delete it but this isn’t designed to be a perfectly curated well referenced academic standard of text. I will go back and check the wiggly blue and red underlines (because SPAG is not my friend!) but other than that it’s a genuine flow of my thoughts and ideas.

If you have made it this far (enter self delusion again) thank you, I know time is precious and I’m grateful for a little of yours. If you started, skipped a bit and scanned what looked like the end, I don’t blame you, thanks for still being here! I’d love to connect with all (or any) or you! So whether you like what you read, hate everything I say, agree with bits and disagree with others, find something useful, something makes you smile (or frown), if I’ve made a mistake, if you have a question or you want to say something completely different – I would love to know! You can use the contact form to the right, send me an email or join my email list at the bottom or pop over to socials where you can message, comment, follow, like, share or tag me in your small business posts!

Email hello@alittlebusinessblog.co.uk

Instagram @alittlebusinessblog

That’s the contact details – now for the plan…

I am a very logical person and so I would love to have made a schedule and write about things in a progressive order, but there’s two factors here – firstly, l’d love to be the organised and well prepared person I think ( and people that know me) think I am, but the reality is, I’m just like a swan – gliding along on the surface but paddling like a maniac underneath! The other point to consider is that small business isn’t really a step by step thing – its more of an ‘spinning 37 plates all at once whilst doing cartwheels through flaming hoops blindfolded on a stage Infront of a 1000 people’ kind of thing. So, whilst my next blog will be about starting a small business and I do have a vague plan for what’s after that, it is likely to be more of a reactive schedule based on things I see, read, get asked or experience that spark an idea.  

And that’s me… so for now ……Goodbye? Thanks for reading? See you later? XO (definitely think that one would cause me a copyright issue)? HMMMMM, I spent so long thinking about the beginning I never thought of an end…. to be decided at a later date…

H 

x