Two months on ...

On Sunday 19th April I made the Ballard Down consulting website live. We were at pretty much peak lockdown. Some would see this as a ballsy move, but in many ways I felt I had no real option but to take control of something … anything!

I had lost my full time job as the MD of a technology and design business right at the start of February 2020, this having left a business I’d been running for 16 years only 11 months earlier. The founders of the firm I was working at decided to close the doors for a number of non COVID related reasons, the most significant of which was a longstanding and chunky debt owed by a large client. That is, perhaps, a story for another time.

First off I had a slow couple of weeks gathering my thoughts and then I started to look at the different opportunities that might be available to me. I was pretty open to ideas, but my ideal move would combine travel (I had always worked in travel and leisure prior to 2019) and an element of technology. That said I did apply for roles in other areas that I thought I would enjoy and would make good use of my skills. The focus at that stage was firmly on a full time salaried job - it’s what I was used to and there were bills to pay.

Going in to March I was meeting up with some hugely interesting people and having lots of fascinating conversations. In the background Coronavirus was building momentum but, like many, I had no idea what lay on the horizon. Looking back at my diary entries for March, my last meeting that didn’t get canned was on 12th. The previous week I’d travelled to London three days out of five for multiple meetings around possible work. My only face to face since then has been someone dropping by my garden last week!

The tail end of March saw me, like many, start in my new role as Year 1 teacher for a six year old and tutor for a 12 year old as the schools closed. My wife was able to ramp up her work a little and I discovered I could bake bread and make hummus (how very middle class suburban Hampshire I hear you cry!). We weren't going to starve and had both a bumper pack of loo roll and some hand sanitiser already in situ. Result.

At the start of April I was desperately in need of conversations that went beyond the Yr 1 curriculum; I put out a post on LinkedIn letting people know I was offering free calls to anyone wanting to talk business strategy, or simply in need of a sounding board. A decent number of people took me up on the offer and it was great to have interesting calls with some grown ups running lots of different businesses. It's worth noting that most of them, notwithstanding short term challenges, were pretty energetic and upbeat.

Buoyed by the success of these calls, and one (yes, just the one) of the people I’d spoken to wanting to get me involved in some paid work, I decided to take the plunge and properly position myself as an independent business consultant. It was something I’d always thought I'd enjoy, but I’d never been brave enough to take the plunge. With nothing to lose and a stagnant (and worsening) job market it had suddenly become the logical move.

Ballard Down was born; if you want to find out where the name comes from follow this link. On that note it is worth mentioning that once I’d committed I knew I wanted to create something that had the potential to be more than just me … hence not being called Chris Thompson Inc or similar. I still really like the idea of building a consultancy firm that can draw on people with many different specialisms from across a variety of sectors. Right now it’s largely about me!

So what has happened since then? I’m delighted to say I have five regular clients at the time of writing and have also done some ad hoc work for a couple of other businesses and individuals. Even more excitingly, the work I’m doing is the kind of thing I love; strategy, planning and problem solving. There are travel businesses in the mix, but also firms from other sectors with some interesting challenges and opportunities. Fitting things around the Year 1 teaching can be a bit of a juggling act and, to keep us all on our toes, my wife has also launched a new business. Necessity really is the mother of invention.

I owe thanks to so many people that have supported and helped me over the past five months. I definitely couldn’t have got to this point on my own. Thank you too to those people that have taken a leap of faith and chosen to work with a new kid on the block, you are without exception a lovely bunch of people.

This time next year Rodney ...