Corporate Crises and Cottage Industries

'Banker Bashing' has been the country's favourite activity ever since the economic crisis came to the public's attention in 2008 but in recent weeks it has reached fever pitch. I remember, just when I was starting out in my career, when Midland Bank acquired an American bank called Crocker and shortly afterwards realised the extent of the poor loans and losses that it had bought. At that time Midland employees, when asked who we worked for, were reluctant to mention that it was Midland Bank, such was the tarnished reputation it had quickly acquired.

Now I don't suppose there are many 'bankers' who are happy to publicly declare the type of company they work for. So maybe it is good timing for me to be making the transition to becoming a 'former banker'.

In my first week of 'gardening leave' ahead of my formal departure date at the end of July, I struggled to adjust to the change of mindset needed for being a self-employed business owner. Day three was spent in the kitchen making jams, chutneys and fruit crumbles using surplus produce for sale and use in our B&B.

At the end of the day, as any meticulous banker would, I totted up the potential revenue, the cost of production and the anticipated net profit and to my dismay calculated that my morning's work would, at best, result in total net profit of £13.62. And I thought back to the previous week when it would take a matter of minutes to earn that (and no tears from chopping onions either!)

So ingrained had the corporate mentality become that I was only valuing my work in terms of pounds and pence. But gradually and with prompting from friends and colleagues who would like the same opportunity to start afresh, I am beginning to realise that running your own business, with the freedom to create things in the way that you choose and in accordance with your values and principles is much more meaningful and satisfying and that producing something of quality is more valuable than the face value of the product on the shelf.

Six years ago Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish started a business from home. Now it has become a multi-million pound business that helps hundreds of independent designers and retailers sell their products enabling them to reach wider markets and in turn as these people expand they employ more people. Their book 'How to build a business from your kitchen table' was published this week (www.http://buildabusiness.notonthehighstreet.com/).

The world and the global economy needs multinational, corporate companies but I wonder if the first thought has become, 'what is the impact on the bottom line and what can I earn from this?'

Finally after my previous blog on goal-setting in which I talked about the need for constantly setting and re-setting goals;  I've since been thinking of a few lines from a poem by W H Davies - "what is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare". More on work/life balance another time!

Below an example of building your business at the patio table (the sun was out - it's always sunny in Norfolk!)

Ready for sale......