19th January 2015..
I don’t really remember that first day. Bit of an exhausted, excited blur..
Probably have little memory of the first year actually – it just flew by, with all it’s newness and excitement and my heart beating out of my chest, and some things going very wrong, and some things going very right…!
And here we are, half a decade later.
Central Business Associates – we are celebrating five years in business, and I wanted to do a little ‘check in the rear view mirror’.
Starting a business like this, making ‘flexibility’ the core concept – if I’d known what that would actually involve, I wonder if I’d ever have agreed to do it!
But I’m so glad I did – making flexibility my key offering has opened up so many more doors, meetings and opportunities that never would have happened if I’d stuck firmly to a plan.
So my version of a ‘plan’ has really been around ideas – and values.
Flexibility, Community & Collaboration – those have been the core values that have helped me make big decisions along the way.
- We’ve had businesses move in, flourish, grow and then move into their own spaces,
- we’ve seen businesses collaborate on hundreds of projects, and
- we’ve made lots and lots of friends – lifelong friends, that we might never have met if this business didn’t exist.
We’ve held events, hosted workshops, created membership programmes. We’ve laughed, and cried, been angry and ecstatic.
We have consistently looked for new ways to help local businesses connect, collaborate and grow.
I am grateful for every person who came through these doors, and thankful for all the lessons that I have had to learn along the way.