Looking back, over my shoulder...

With another year done and dusted, I’ve been reminiscing over what I’ve learned from the last 12 months whilst planning for the up and coming 12.

So here it is, a review of the year gone by and a sneak peek into my plans for 2020.

The year gone by - 2019 

- Technology - Never before has technology been so important when it comes to working a virtual EA business. I have realised that I very rarely pick up a pen and paper - everything I do is online. Now more than ever I use my phone for everything - it acts as a message board, note pad, video conference, scheduler, diary, camera, image resizer, video camera. Never before have I downloaded as many apps I did in 2019 - already this year, I have downloaded another 3 apps to help keep my business growing. Long may efficiencies be readily available at the touch of a button!

- Networking - I spent a lot of my focus networking with new contacts last year. This has been so worthwhile as not only have I be able to grow my network, I have grown my knowledge as well as my client base too. I’ll be doing more of this in 2020 so hopefully we will meet soon.

Delegation - I was strict with what I delegated out to third parties and once again, have reaped this decision in what I have gained in return. Not wasting time on things that I didn't need to personally deliver or learn how to implement, meant I could continue to focus on growing the business and delivering a first class service to my clients. 

- Client relationships – all of the above help massively on managing and accomplishing the day to day tasks that will keep the clients happy, but nothing beats regular face to face contact, be it over a lunch or a few hours working session or both! It's easy and essential to mix business with pleasure because we don’t all sit in an office next to each other from 9 to 5 everyday. Everything is more concentrated but with the same purpose - maintaining and developing the working relationship. You can always find out more about your client's business plans and how you can support them when talking to your client over a relaxed lunch, where there is no pressure or deadline to deliver a task. Our clients are just like the rest of us, they want to be able to trust us and let their hair down for a few hours. They want someone to help them find solutions and be able to rely on someone who can do that for them.

Looking forward to 2020 

Onwards and upwards - this is likely to be my biggest year yet. I have plans to further grow the capacity and services available from Duck Soup London making us more of a full service agency. Continuing to offer cost effective virtual support, the plan includes access to even more services and support in the areas that a business needs to take it to the next level. Digital marketing and social media, PR, finance and more. 2020 is the most definitely going to be the year that we will be branching out and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.