I can hardly believe that 12 months ago I quit my job of 16 years to start my own business providing local mail and parcel deliveries on the Wirral. Looking back I was incredibly brave, most would say stupid, maybe a bit of both. From amazing highs to suffocating lows it has been a roller coaster of emotions all year. I have made many mistakes along the way each and every one I have learnt from and evolved. When I started this adventure my vision was completely different to how it is now. All my original targets the council, housing associations, solicitors etc shunned any advances. I delivered 10,000 leaflets whilst I was waiting for work to come in, the phone never rang once. I remember phoning a friend up to ask him to phone my business number, because I had convinced myself that there must be something wrong with the phone. There wasn’t and you just start thinking that this amazing idea is just an amazing idea in your own world, it’s a very lonely place. Fortunately I was given a lifeline in early August by of all places a garage, not just any garage but the North Wests premier garage Walsh Autos. And so the journey began a journey which has seen me cycle around 7,000 miles in 12 months to deliver mail more efficiently and more eco friendly.
It was a further 2 months before the phone would ring again for customer number 2, by this time my vision had already had to re focus and divert to other areas. What I soon realised is Walsh autos aside I was picking up one small local business after another. It was at this point I found the heart of this company “supporting local business”. The fulfilment of helping local business achieve efficiency at a more affordable cost is what drives us every single day. As the days and the months have passed, I have slowly pieced together why anything council funded or large organisations haven’t yet used our services. And it simply comes down to boards or governors. The decision makers in small businesses are the people who own the businesses, maybe one or two people discussing the pros and cons. In councils it’s huge boards of people who are often financially well off and have investments in conflicting companies. So there decisions are influenced by not what’s right or morally or financially or environmentally better, there decisions or objections are based on their own conflicting interests.
During the last two months we have been picking up a new client every week. And my decision 12 months ago is gradually becoming more and more justified.
This week as we celebrate our first year in business we are going to in turn celebrate the amazing small local businesses we support and deliver for, without whom this one year anniversary would not have been possible. Keep checking the blog as I hopefully attempt to blog every day this week.
Not just a postman.
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