The year that changed my life!

Wow where has the last 12 months gone?  I cannot believe The Project Bench is about to celebrate its first year in business.  Reflecting on the last year makes me feel proud on the one hand of how much I have achieved in a year, I have completely transformed my life in just 12 months.  Yet on the other hand, I need to keep coming back to the plan and pushing forward to achieve the scale I set out to achieve…. or do I?

“It’s not a lifestyle business!”

A year ago, it was suggested that I was starting a ‘lifestyle business’ – to me that was not my plan at all.  To me the term ‘lifestyle business’ conjures the image of keeping your ‘hand in’ with work, whist not being entirely dedicated to the cause.  A business that ‘fits in’ with one’s home life, not one to be taken too seriously, but a business to be admired in prioritising what’s most important in life. I know lots of people who have lifestyle business – they don’t need to work; they’re typically retired from their ‘careers’ and no person or lifestyle would be affected if they worked or not.

So, I set out with a quiet confidence and an attitude of I’ll show ‘em! 😊 I was absolutely determined to make The Project Bench a well renowned recruitment business – which I would scale and invest in quickly.  I would take the first year to prove myself and get some capital behind the business, demonstrate to the banks that I was able to secure clients and business only normally associated with bigger more tenured businesses and then take The Project Bench to the next level – employing more people, and getting city centre premises.

It’s been an amazing year!

In year one, I’ve won business that I wouldn’t have expected to have won, invested in to the right tech to future proof the business, got the financial backing I needed, joined a trade body, got legal support, outsourced my back office support – I’ve done everything I intended to do by this point (quick check back on the trello board) and I’m exceeding my financial projections.

I’ve stuck to my plan of building a business that is about the authenticity of different people, their different skills, and strengths their personalities, their desires and matching that to the business leaders in my network who will benefit from their experience and help move them on to the next level. Everyone on The Project Bench is interviewed and fully qualified.  And its turns out, I was right – that’s what’s missing in the market.  When businesses need some external support with project recruitment, they don’t need a resourcer – they need proven professionals with knowledge of the market, long standing networks and demonstrable successes.

So, what’s it all about, a year in?

I work hard, I am dedicated to the people I represent, and I know the impact I have on people’s lives so, that part, I take very seriously.  I love what I do, and the people I meet, and I have a great time. I now spend far more time with my family, I work how and when I want to work and now really understand the meaning of flexible working and I have never been happier!

Proudest moment?

Reading a simple line in a school textbook, written by my 11-year-old son which said: “My Mum has started her own business and its going great!”

So, is it a ‘lifestyle business’?  You’re damn right 😊  Who knows what the future holds but right now I am grateful every day for what I have and what I’ve achieved!