Buckinghamshire Business women - start up!

I have started my own Business in Buckinghamshire and want to ask women what their aspirations are in developing their own business? What had made them interested in sticking at it? What motivated women to do this?

I'd also like to know if you haven't started your own business and your reasons why?
I'd like to know; What’s stopping you? What will you lose? What ARE you losing?

I'm a person centred counsellor living in Buckinghamshire and this is a short snippet of my journey to where I am now as a new Business Start Up in Person Centred Consultancies.

My working life has been offered for the good of others in the voluntary, statutory and charity sectors for over twenty years. I decided that the time has come to put my own ideas into practice. I have given my skills and services to others for the use of the community for this time and hoped that where funding allowed, my creativity would be utilised for the greater benefit of all.

The NYA( National Youth Agency )supports youth work across the country for anyone wanting to get involved in youth and community work and is the best place to start learning about how to begin a career in this sector.

As an employee, when opportunities to develop projects and programmes arose, but funding was not available to support them, I would feel at times despondent and almost like " ah well, it was probably too expensive to run anyway". However this kept gnawing away at me. I used the experience to ensure that by 'working on a shoe string budget' the community would still get as much help and support as was available, given the resources. and in the bargain, I'd get the opportunity to share my ideas and creativity.

STILL, this was not enough. I would not take no for an answer. What was the question? and who was asking? The query came from a small voice inside of me asking, "why ever not"? I decided to answer, a little at a time. I will tell you more about this voice tomorrow. To face the challenge and begin my own support resource for the community meant planning, deliberation, feeling scared and excited all at once.

I have been proud of my work as a youth and community worker and sometimes, just sometimes, a little bit of this would rub off onto others when I had the chance to do freelance training and workshops.

I have now taken this so much further! I now feel so much more satisfied within myself for listening to what's inside. This, I believe is the effect of the Person Centred Approach in my own life.

See tomorrow’s account of what creativity has done for me and why it's been worth every moment.

ciao till then Tish

Patricia Mata
copyright 2006