Thinking About Business

A few things have happened lately that have made me think about my "business".

For one thing, I saw a couple of speakers at the Big Business Event in Salisbury, including Lara Morgan and Hugh Vivian. If you've never heard of Lara Morgan, you really should click that there link. She's amazing, and really quite the inspiration - not least because of her ability to talk on the phone whilst breastfeeding, whilst in a meeting. 

I tend not to think of what I do as a business - it's just me and my laptop, sitting at an increasingly crowded desk in my living room and trying to think of something profound to say.

But realistically, if I want to do more than just coast along, I probably need to start thinking of it as a proper business. Which is why I attended the Big Business Event in the first place. Considering I've lived around here my entire life, I barely knew anyone in the room. It made me think perhaps I should be... networking!

The majority of the work I do is for people who aren't around here. The articles I write are all online; the blog posts I write are for companies up and down the country. One of my clients lives in Italy. But does that mean I should ignore the local community? And not just to get more business, but to be a part of the community.

These are hard times for business. A lot of high street shops have closed lately; independents are really taking a hit. The independent businesses are what makes any town or city different from every other city filled with chain stores. I don't want my city to be the same as every other one. I love the diversity we have here. 

Lydia Evans, me, Amanda Foster and Ali Osborne at the Salisbury Big Business Event.
Photo copyright Simon Ward Photography

I had an email the other day from a prospective client, a local company. They had looked at my advertising page and it turned out, we had several people in common. They don't call this place Smallsbury for nothing! It's nice to know the people and businesses around you.

At the end of the day, if I want to be successful at what I do, I need to treat is as a business rather than a passtime. And since I'm surrounded by hundreds of successful businesses, I would be stupid not to be a part of this community.