I’m going to cut straight to it. 2024 wasn’t easy for me in business. In life it was good. I’ve continued with feeling healthy after my heart issues – in fact, it marked five years since I had my heart attack.
I had a few key takeaways to note down:
No matter how nice a customer is, they can still be damaging
In 2023 we’d had a relationship breakdown with a customer who had started to bully team members and myself. In the end I had to terminate our contract with that customer. At the same time, we then had a lovely customer come along who, in every way bar one, was perfect. They turned up reliably to meetings, communicated well, did their bits of work.
Unfortunately they ran out of funding – as investment capital dried up they had to switch to making a profit… and they couldn’t. So they went bankrupt whilst owing us a hefty sum. Meh.
Stress is when pressure stops you dealing with self care
In the past year I had to fight to get our business back to profitability after various shocks and some large customers pulling back spending whilst also coping with our acquisition of Design Week. Meanwhile, my teenage kids are demanding a lot of time in shuttling around to activities, taking on new activities and I’m very keen to support these as much as possible. This takes time. It’s hard to combine supportive parenting with lots of exercise and care, whilst also handling the stress of effectively running two businesses!
I found my running went down. Yes, I still hit Parkrun almost every weekend. But I don’t run nearly as much in the week. Part of that is because the activities my kids do are now longer – so they don’t lend themselves to me getting in a quick 5k whilst they get busy. So instead, I drive home, work a bit, then drive back to collect them. Or if it’s my eldest’s new karting adventure then I’m heading out to the circuit, working on the kart, etc. For 2025 I’m going to resolve to a little bit more time at the gym and a little less time at the desk. To help that I need to work on focus and performance a little more.
On the upside, I went to more concerts and shows than I’ve ever been to in my life, and it was amazing. From Jacob Collier to Nitin Sawhney and they were all great experiences that the whole family enjoyed.
Karting is more technical and a steeper learning curve than I expected
But the people are lovely! Seriously, our first day had us discovering that we didn’t have the right tools, knowledge, or ideas about what to do and when. But the people around us guided us, supported us, lent us tools, advice and gave support. Three times, when Conrad span off and was struggling I saw people pop out to give him guidance on how to get his kart back on track, how to get it restarted, and tried to help when his spark plug fouled.
I’ve learned that true racing karts are more sophisticated, lighter, and more complex than I’d realised. It’s a miracle the karts are as cheap to buy as they are – but top race teams throw so much money at the sport that they’re constantly selling off nearly new parts, meaning that second hand parts are more affordable. They’re effectively subsiding us poorer racers at the grass roots level. The downside is that no matter what level you race at, you’re going to go through a fair few tyres unless you run in a series like Pro Karts, in which case you use two sets over a year. They have fun in the wet! Those tyres we’re running cost nearly £200 a set and you’re going to use a set over a weekend. Eep! I hadn’t quite figured that out in our early budgeting. You’re also going to need more new tools than you ever thought.
Also, who knew that a kart solves the problem of not having a differential by becoming a three wheeler in corners?
Family time is finite. Make the most of it
It suddenly occurred to me that our eldest will be 15 in 2025 and our youngest will be 14. They could easily be gone to university in just a handful of years. I already decided to just ram in the experiences in 2024 and that’s continuing for 2025.
That means finding ways to go on cheapy cheap skiing holidays (try Slovakia!) and going to concerts… but not of the mega-expensive A-listers. And it’s been great. This has fed Kolya’s interest in music, leading to him getting up on stage and rocking out regularly with friends. And it eventually led to Conrad deciding he wanted to try karting. As someone who’s always tried to be as economical as possible and to save for the future this was hard… until I realised that this is the future. And experiences are more important than things, right? I can save money when they’ve started their careers!
2025 brings new adventures
With my Design Week hat on I’ll be working hard on getting events and awards up and running. Two things I’ve never been involved with before. The good news there is that it brings us the space to try to re-invent these in a new way that’s not been tried before.
And you know how, above, I was talking about the importance of experiences? This is a part of it! And the opportunity of being able to be surrounded by leading designers from all around the country is thrilling.
At Standfirst too we’ll be taking on some new ideas and developing new tools based on what we learn from our ownership of Design Week.
There’s no real point here
I’ve been told that I have to have a narrative in writing my content. A point. A reason. A journey to a conclusion. But this is my own blog and there is no deep insight here. No incredible education. It turns out, having checked around, that my philosophy might best be described as meliorism. I feel like we make small steps forward and make a point of not regressing. I also understand that for some people, the past may have seemed better even if it was worse for most others. They are always going to need sensitive treatment if we’re to get them on board.
So if I have one resolution, it’s to continue that step by step improvement of our two businesses – Standfirst, the web design and development studio, and of Design Week. And by doing that I improve the lives of the team behind those two firms, as well as my own life and that of my children. All done with an eye to not making the world worse for others. Standfirst helps to grow the businesses of others, and Design Week helps to support the design industry and help that to grow.
Enjoyed that!
Family time is finite. Absolutely.
My three have now all left to go to uni (medicine, law, engineering) and the house is horribly empty, except for holidays!
Also, I’m poor. Financially, the university years are a drain one one’s wallet (even more than all the sporting activities you encourage them to do).
On the plus side, the sporting stuff comes in handy. No 1 (the medical student) is doing his intercalated degree in sports medicine whilst on placement with Scottish Rugby.
Keep writing!
Thank you for dropping by Lauren! I’ve recently discovered that we’re expected to pay for all the subsistence costs of university. I always assumed that was also included in the loans, but it’s not if you have a family income.
I guess we’ll be budgeting carefully for a while!