We are one year old today!
Bellona Advisors has officially been trading for a year in what can only be described as a tough but rewarding period of trading and personal development. Huge thanks to all who’ve helped the business get to this major milestone.
I won’t lie – it’s been tougher than I expected. After over a decade being the client I’d underestimated just how big the leap would be in both being the advisor (different mindset required) and in being your own boss with responsibility for ‘the lot’. Working seven days a week is occasional; thinking seven days a week about the business is mandatory!
From a standing start last year, I realised two things were going to drive business success:
PART 1: Working with great clients on great projects – and proving myself pretty damn quickly.
PART 2: Growing mine and the company’s profile to showcase our offer – after all, it’s a congested market!
That first part has gone well, with ten regular customers across the real estate and energy sectors using us for visioning, funding, lobbying and communications work. A growing part of our day-to-day work is ESG-related, including sustainability and net-zero projects and strategies – something that wasn’t part of our original core offer. This is now the case, replacing our previous Investor Relations offer; the likes of Equitory do this better than we ever could!
The second one remains a strange conundrum. Whilst our reports and podcasts have been well received on key social issues not covered elsewhere, the entire events and membership market remains a riddle to me on this side of the fence. Get in touch with us if you have any sage thoughts on both selecting and making the most of these sorts of opportunities.
A near universally held belief in business is that resolute consistency pays off. My focus into our second year of trading remains working with great clients on great projects, continuing to write and podcast on key economic and social issues and in growing my professional network across the UK to help solve key problems.
Specific thanks must go to my accountants Jeremy Hague and Louise Roe at Cloud Accountancy, who regularly prove that tax doesn’t have to be taxing; Asgoo Pirbhai at Reach Marketing Communications for his usual sage marketing and business advice; and the mercurial Owen Michaelson for being my first customer back in November last year.
Onward!
Iain
