I wrote before about the importance of the review. I even published a review of Nero’s Notes for members.
The end of January is coming fast. Nero’s Notes’ year ends at the end of January, and my anti money laundering consultancy, Lime, finishes its year at the end of February. There’s a lot of ends about.
Opening insight: It’s been quite a year.
I never said that it was a particularly clever insight, did I?
Nero’s
Nero’s weathered the storm of Covid. Clare was able to keep going in, and customers kept ordering.
Ballpark figures, the company lost 40k in Year 1, 11k in Year 2, 9k in Year 3. This year - we’ll be in profit. OK - I still work for free, but we have an operating profit. Huzzah! I think the bank manager would like me to keep tootling along, and see if we can recover a little more of the loans that I have put into the company - reducing my exposure. Sensible advice.
Naturally, I’m ignoring it. Helped by Enon, the man behind Dapper Notes, and Amanda and Scrib, who write for Nero’s, Clare and I are extending and expanding. The site will be revamped, and we will build on our strengths and continue to grow sales. In the back office, we may need to register for VAT and the work that goes with it, and we will face headwinds from the implementation of Brexit. We’ll need to grow, just to cope with that.
Lime
What about Lime? Ouch! All Lime’s clients were brutally impacted by Covid. I gave all of them an invoice holiday for a quarter. Sadly, a major client didn’t make it, and won’t be contributing next year. So, although it has been hard for the business, I have seen close up how much harder it could have been. Project FX is running - and is hugely demanding. For the moment it is part of Lime, but it may take on a life of its own.
Writer
My ever-present writing project, Sean, remains stubbornly stalled. There has been progress, but not as much as I would like. I’m writing another book, describing my Camino, from Southern France to Western Spain and releasing the first draft weekly on this blog. I’m smashing out a lot of words, if nothing else.
Podcasting
TJ and I have kept 1857 going. As this post publishes, we will just have released episode 156, so that’s three years of weekly shows done and dusted. I also record these posts and release them for Paid Members.
Outlook
I’m drowning. Nero’s, Lime, Project FX and Writer all need my time and energy - and those are both finite resources. I need to work out how best to move forward. Consequently, I am proud to say that I am a part of the first cohort of the Focus Course Academy, by Blanc Media, that began this week, to give structure to my thought-process. I will report back.
My writing is supported by people like you. If you can spare the price of a cup of coffee a month, please sign up. You'll get access to Paid Members-only posts and podcast and the warm feeling of knowing that you are helping me acheive my dream. If things are tight - please sign up as a free member. All writers like to know that somebody is reading their work.
