“Courage is being scared but saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne

So, the economy is back and firing according to Rishi Sunak who this week said “With the fastest quarterly growth rate among the G7 economies we have exceeded expectations, and I'm pleased to see the UK bouncing back.”

Um, not so fast, Rishi mate.

Your headline figures might be up but I’m sorry to report that this comforting outlook is just not the reality of what I’m seeing & hearing each week when I speak to hundreds of self-employed and small business owners.

At least it’s not the reality, yet.

Right now, for the majority confidence is still fragile if it’s there at all, projects are just not as forthcoming as they once were, and for many the money just isn’t flying in through the door just yet. Yet bills still need to be paid, mortgages still need to be paid and any government money – if you were lucky enough to some – either stopped or ran out a long time ago.

We’re coming up to nearly nineteen months of this situation, the on/off restrictions, the worry for our family and friends, the business uncertainty and literally not knowing where you stand, week to week, day to day.

I’m sure you’re like me when I say I’ve had enough, enough of seeing shops boarded up.?Enough of people I know having to shut down their once thriving businesses and those same people now having to go get proper jobs to make ends meet. Unprecedented and uncharted.

On top of that, much of the time we’ve spent over the last year and a half has been spent just waiting. Waiting for the daily press briefing, waiting for news about restrictions coming or going, waiting to find out when it’s safe to step outside again, to wear a mask or not wear a mask, waiting for your vaccine appointment to come, waiting for news about your Bounce Back Loan. Just waiting…

The problem is, though, we’ve become so conditioned to waiting for permission that too many people are still waiting – waiting for some kind of normality to suddenly re-appear, waiting for the order-book to magically fill-up overnight, waiting for the bank balance to start heading back in the right direction.

I get it. I really do.

But here’s the thing - what are you waiting for now? Why are we still waiting?

Despite the feel-good growth schemes being announced, the government isn’t going to bail you out, the banks are not going to help you and no, the cavalry isn’t about to come over the hill.

It’s time to flip the switch, flip our realities and accept that if any kind of normal is ever coming back, then we’re going to have to do it ourselves. Not them, us.

We are the cavalry. You. Me. Us.

Here’s my best shot at how we make that happen and reboot the economy and reboot our lives.

1.?????Reconnect. With each other. Call those friends you’ve withdrawn from. Send a DM to your social media friends. Check in over checking out. Get out there. Start writing stuff on LinkedIn, find out how others are managing. Reconnect with your passion, that thing that sparked you into starting the first time around. Find your passion again.

2.?????Rebuild.?What have we learned about our business during the pandemic, what’s worked, what’s different, what’s surprised you – and what are you going to do today to rebuild not just back to normal, but better than your business was before? Twice as good, three times. Why not?

It’s funny - people sometimes ask, “If you had your time again what would you do differently?” Well, here’s a newsflash for you – guess what, you now have your time again – go for it.

3.?????Restart. It might be hard to accept it but for many of us, we are right back where we started, right back to being a start-up again. But much the wiser and more experienced than when you started the first time. What have you learned about yourself over this time? Recognise the opportunity to restart. Realise that what got you to this point, may not get you to the next. The one big benefit for seasoned business owners are not starting from scratch, we’re starting from experience.

It’s easy to say and harder to do, but if I know one thing then it’s this - we really are the cavalry.

So, what are you waiting for?

And if you've not been waiting, good. What did you do? Share your story, your ideas, your support.

“Courage is being scared but saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne

Saddle up. #WeAreTheCavalry