Time to reflect on 2018

I’ve been using the last few weeks to reflect on 2018 and to think about what I want to achieve in 2019.

I feel like the year has flown, but taking time to look back has made me realise that I’ve done so much since January.

Providing insight to amazing teams

I’ve continued to work with a great bunch of clients, helping them with their research programmes throughout 2018.

I’ve also continued to build new relationships, I’m going to be working with a start-up who have an unique new product and with a small, local charity who are doing really important work in the community.

I love the fact that my clients are so varied – one day I’ll be working with a multi-national corporate whose dataset is 10,000 respondents, and then next I’ll be working on a project where we’ll be speaking to just 50 people.

So for 2019, I’m going to ensure that my client workload continues to remain varied.

I also need to mention GDPR, I’ve worked through the implications with my clients. In some cases it was smooth, in others there were lots of obstacles to overcome, but we got there. We are all compliant, are continually monitoring, and are always transparent about everything we do.

Developing my business

I launched my new website.   It was a long time in planning and development, but I’m so glad I took my time to tweak and review as I worked through the process.

I’ve had my first taster of business coaching, which was so useful.  I definitely want to incorporate coaching into my business plans for 2019.

As an independent consultant based at home, it’s very easy to feel isolated so at the beginning of the year I committed to attending at least one networking event each month.     Total count for this year is 31 networking events.

Creating lasting relationships with suppliers

I’ve got a great IT support company, they’ve helped me work through a list of niggles and I’ve now got reliable systems in place and I know that if anything does go wrong they’ll be there to help.

I’ve moved to cloud based accounts software, the impending Making Tax Digital means that I needed to move away from my trusted excel spreadsheet.   And with the help of fab accountant that transition has been smooth.

Goals for 2019

I’m taking time off over Christmas and will be spending early January thinking about what I want to achieve in 2019.  Watch this space ….

Wishing you a very happy Christmas, with best wishes for 2019.