A Year of Change

I am now close to celebrating the first full year of Indy Licensing and it has been a rollercoaster so far. If I went back twelve months I would never imagine that I would be doing what I am doing now - no matter how small this business has literally kept me going. It has given me a reason to get up every day and has kick started my imagination in terms of forward planning.

On the 7th August 2022 my Mum passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly. Until then I had been working as a Licensing Manager at a firm in Manchester - a place I had worked for eleven years. Before that I had worked for a decade in a large corporate solicitors in their Licensing Department. Licensing was pretty much all I had ever done and it was something that enabled me to work with large multiple operators, small businesses and one person bands alike.

Following my Mum's death I lost my job. It was a difficult time and the week after she passed I had an email telling me that my boss had to put his business first and had found someone to replace me. There had been various emails between us before this - but it came as a real blow. I had lost so much in such a short time and I didn't know where to turn.

Then I got a message....

I had worked for a large Manchester Brewery in my last role and had a good working relationship with them. They asked if I would like to work as a freelance Licensing Consultant for them. I had just started a part-time job as a Governance Professional to pay the bills - but this was the opportunity to build something that I could be really passionate about.

There was a lot to think about. I had never worked for myself before and knew very little about getting started. Luckily for me I had a sister with her head screwed on the right way and the internet at the touch of a button. I had my doubts - everyone who works for themself worries about making it work, finding new clients, losing money.... the list is endless. The plus side outweighed it though. This was my opportunity to work for myself and be my own boss. So, I put the doubts to one side and promised myself that if it didn't work out it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Shortly after I opened Indy Licensing I was approached by a Solicitor I had worked with previously. He was touching base after hearing what had happened and wanted to know if I would be willing to take referrals from him. OF COURSE I WAS. He also asked me if I would be interested in delivering the Personal Licence Holder course every other month and I practically bit his hand off. The strangest thing is that before I lost my Mum there was no way I would have stood in front of a room of strangers - and yet now I don't even feel nervous.

Life is definitely different now - completely different. I work even harder than I used to and every minute of every day is filled with working or planning for marketing. It has absolutely been a challenge, and some weeks I wonder if I'm going to get enough work in - but what is life without worries and battles.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this - and I promise some regular industry related blogs will be coming soon.