Following twenty years as Owner/General Manager of pubs, nightclubs and restaurants along the East Coast of Ireland, I decided it was time to leave that difficult lifestyle and struggle behind me.
I spent many sleepless night over many weeks mapping out my past, my present and my future. I knew my area of expertise lay in my first-hand experience and extensive knowledge of running my own businesses but what was I really? How could I adapt to this whole new world? How could I offer genuine skills to those who would need it? How could attract clientele to I make my new business viable and give me a comfortable livelihood?
I knew I needed to work for myself again having done so for most of my life so that wasn’t something I was going to change easily. I took a very honest look at my strengths, weaknesses and areas of expertise along with the possibilities out there. I was acutely aware that I needed the right fit if I were to survive this pivot and the next few months were make or break. I knuckled down to researching a niche that would befit my skills and find out how I could successfully reinvent myself.
An innate sense of fear of failure at a most vulnerable time in my life drove me on. I had already run successful businesses for many years but I wondered was that just good timing and luck? After much head scratching and brutal chats with myself, my strengths slowly became clear and the niches began to reveal themselves. I was never afraid of hard work and dedication so I just had to use those to my advantage now.
This whole time was life changing and there was no time for faltering. I felt I was being pulled in many directions so I needed to surround myself with a professional support system. Luckily, I reached out to Wicklow Partnership and it was then that I found Liz Dunne who gave me the ear and steady hand I needed. I could say she reached in and drove my self-belief that had waned somewhat. She suggested that although I was previously a business owner, the Start Your Own Business course with Talentpool Ltd would give me the perfect insights into a whole new world. She wasn’t wrong! It was on this course that I found the information, direction, confidence and clarity I needed to move forward.
My first business was in consultancy and Health and Safety in the Hospitality Sector www.visumbusiness.ie. This was starting to build momentum but after a few months of the pandemic, hospitality fell off the cliff. It became clear that would be more than many months for it bounce back. I couldn’t afford to sit around and wait. Again, I embarked on researching a viable livelihood in these current times. I spotted Brexit and thought perhaps there was a slice of the pie somewhere in there for me. I completed a Customs Clearance Agent course, invested in the software and reached out to the logistics sector to procure clientele. This business wwwcustomsagent.ie is now thriving and over recent months Health and Safety has also started to build again so I happily wear two hats in my week.
Because of the ongoing counsel of both Wicklow Partnership and Talentpool I have successfully reinvented myself (twice!) and have never looked back!
You can find me at my website below: