1-Year Anniversary

IT CAN’T BE ANY WORSE THAN WHAT WE HAVE JUST BEEN THROUGH…SURELY???

Those were the words I said to my business partner Paula Bentley just over a year ago, sat with a coffee, listening to the gentle sound of the “sea” at The Wave surfing lake in Bristol.

Almost exactly 1 year ago Paula and I established Lifeboat Perinatal Mental Health CIC. It feels like a lifetime ago and for those of you who have started your own business – you will know EXACTLY what I mean. But the story doesn’t start there. It actually starts an excruciatingly difficult 10 months earlier. Paula and I had worked for a local perinatal mental health charity in Bristol for 12 years. I had been there pretty much from the beginning and seen it grow and flourish into an amazing resource. Sadly, due to a number of factors the charity had to close in 2023. There is nothing more painful and heartbreaking than seeing everything you have worked passionately for just disappear, unable to stop it happening. The first time Paula and I went to The Wave https://www.thewave.com/, we went to lick our wounds. This isn’t an advert for The Wave, just a description of how we felt when we sat on the sunny terrace, looking out at the water and hearing the sound of the sea. We both felt that we needed to do a lot of healing and this place just let us breathe. It is my happy place and I have been back quite a few times since. It was here that the idea for a perinatal mental health training company was born and took shape. Why should we let all our experience go to waste when there is so much more we can do? IT CAN’T BE ANY WORSE THAN WHAT WE HAVE JUST BEEN THROUGH…SURELY???

So Lifeboat Perinatal Mental Health CIC was born.

What have I learned in the last year?

Starting from scratch when your old job is still haunting you can be a real challenge. It has taken a long time to build back trust. I cannot thank enough those people who have supported us against the odds.
Funding for community interest companies (CICs) is limited and pretty much non-existent for training organisations like Lifeboat. But by delivering content which compliments the training which is already out there, we have developed a loyal customer base (thank you).
My computer skills have increased dramatically! It is really interesting to see just how much stuff is available free of charge. YouTube videos suddenly become your best friend when learning “how to”.
People you think won’t be interested in what you have to offer, are actually interested in what you have to offer – so don’t presume anything. I have been pleasantly surprised.
I’m not going to be a millionaire any time soon! Generating business that actually pays (especially without the help of charitable funding) is hard work. Expect to be poor for a very long time.
I spend 80% of my time on marketing activities at the moment. I thought I would be spending more time on training delivery. Luckily I quite like marketing but if you don’t then be warned.
There have been some real lows, where you feel nobody is interested/listening. Those are the times I have had to really dig deep and think, OK what else can I do, right now? What avenues haven’t I explored? Look at what I have achieved.
There have also been some amazing highs. It could be something simple like seeing our logo in print for the first time or getting some lovely feedback from a seminar. These are the feelings I need to hold on to through the lows.
If one door slams in my face (and there have been a few), there is always another door that opens, taking me in a different direction (this has also happened).
Having a true friend and colleague by my side during this last year has made the whole experience that much more wonderful/challenging (ha ha). Paula and I have worked really well together and I think having different perspectives on things keeps a business balanced.

So, sitting here a year on, I don’t know how the next year is going to go, but if we achieve as much as we have done this year then I will be more than happy. To all those people who are thinking of starting their own business – JUST DO IT!!!! Do you want to be sat here in 5 years time saying “what if…..?”