Looking back

I can't believe that my blogging duties are drawing to a close.  It's been a great discipline thinking and writing about Brighter Creative twice a week.  It has been an opportunity to really think about how to solve problems and why I run the business the way I do.  I have been looking back at my old blogs, wondering whether I have managed to reach any of the goals I set myself.  I'm pleased to think that I probably have; my main aim was to try and step the business up to another level, get out of my comfort zone and start to attract a different calibre of client and things have certainly gone in that direction over the last few months.  Today I had a great meeting with a potential new client - it would be the biggest client to date and certainly give our annual turnover a big boost.

When I started my blog, the intention was to embark on a more structured marketing campaign.  To some degree I have done more marketing but not to the level that I thought I'd have to.  This is partly because we're absolutely flat out with business generated through networking and word of mouth.  I'm really proud of that and someone actually commented that they envied the way I had built a business on good reputation.  I want to build on that and still intend to push forward with marketing.  Sometimes I feel a little phoney telling clients to invest in marketing and advertising when we have little need to do it ourselves.  However, I see marketing as being the catalyst for real growth for Brighter Creative, providing we overcome the constant battle of balancing being with doing and selling with delivering.

To conclude my blog, I have a Jerry Springer-style thought of the day which is this; It is really good to set yourself clear goals when you run a business.  It helps you to focus when you have something to aim for.  You will tackle and eliminate problems along the way, but there are always other problems ahead, so you just have to always be prepared to change tack, try and see what's coming and respond to things the best you can.  I don't think I will ever be able to completely relax running a business, but I know that I will be happy if the problems I face today aren't the problems I face tomorrow.  Growing isn't always easy, but it is a lot of fun.  I only hope that one of the problems I face over the next year is finding a new office to accommodate the growing team.  Fingers crossed!