Behind the Calculator: February

February gets a bit of a kicking from a lot of people, but it’s one of my favourite months. It’s not as dreary and cold as January, and Spring is just around the corner. It might be the shortest month, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t packed full of great meetings and great people. I had lots of interesting conversations and I’m heading into March feeling really excited about the future.

It’s a puppet!

It took me a while to find networking events that I enjoyed, like a lot of people I’m completely turned off by being sold at for 10 minutes and then having a business card thrust in my hand. Drive the Network is different, it’s supportive, friendly and there are absolutely no pitches. So different, in fact, that this month’s Huntingdon meeting saw us making puppets. Yes, you read that right! The wonderful Jo Bryant from The Hands-On Company helped us to tap into our business values and create our own cheerleaders. Neville is mostly understated and serious, as you’d want and expect from someone working on the financial side of your business, but his neon pink leopard print ears and hidden crystals reflect that I think that business should be fun too.

Celebrating

Okay, I admit it, I’m not completely impartial when it comes to February. One of the reasons I’m so fond of it is that it’s my birthday month. I chose to work on the day this year, which I don’t normally do, followed by a wonderful meal prepared by the catering students at Cambridge Regional College. The quality of the food was much better than I’ve had at a lot of restaurants and I’d highly recommend it.

The future

Running a business can be lonely, particularly when you work by yourself. One of the (very few) things I miss about being employed is being able to bounce ideas off colleagues and run ideas past them. I might be running The Number Ninja by myself, but that doesn’t mean that I’m alone. I have a few things coming up in the next few months that are both challenging and exciting, so having the right support in place is important to me. I also want to provide that support to others, and I’ve been offered a perfect opportunity to do so later this year. I’ll share more nearer the time, but it’s something that has me both excited and terrified, which can only be a good thing!

How was your month? I’d love to hear what you got up to.