New Year. Renewed Focus.

It's been a while since I've updated my blog here at WA, as it's been a roller coaster few months at our little lodge on the West Coast.

November

Steven, my son came to stay, but went missing after going for a swim...

I can't describe the emotions that went through my head during this time, it's a parent's worst nightmare!

December

Then in December; our local council announced it's plans to do a 'rates overhaul', which would result in our property rates increasing by a whopping $5k a year. The council 'consultation' process has taken up a huge amount of my spare time as I am the local accommodation sector chair for our region and many other motels and accommodation providers will be badly impacted if the proposal goes ahead. It's not over yet, there's more submissions and hearings to take place - we can only hope that the councilors see sense and don't push the proposed changes through.

The 'rates overhaul' has again made me realise how vulnerable a bricks and mortar business can be, as accommodation providers we are subject to so many factors outside our control that can be detrimental to our business and our livelihoods;

• Earthquakes, weather and natural events can change the flow of traffic, as happened in December 2016... with the Kaikoura earthquake. Kaikoura was a boom for us, but bust for many adversely impacted businesses whose steady flow of customers dried up overnight.
  
• Councils and regulators can shift the business playing field right out from under your feet - by imposing more compliance regulations, increasing rates (there is no limit on what they can increase by either!), or just changing the rules.
• AirBNB is having a profound impact on our business and now the hospitality industry as a whole is struggling to understand the different landscape we are all operating in. I take my hat off to the likes of Uber and AirBNB, personally I think market disrupters like them are needed - it keeps us all evolving our products and our service delivery. But they are disruptions, and this does have an impact on traditional businesses (like us).
• Social media also plays a huge role in ALL business these days. We are constantly monitoring our reviews on the likes of TripAdvisor, Booking.com and now with Google My Business becoming a force in it's own right - this is another platform we'll have to manage. Our personal and business brand can be built up or destroyed so quickly if our service delivery is not spot on.

Oh, and our first grandchild was born!! Six weeks early, but he's perfect in every way, and we are so happy to welcome him into the world.

January

With January comes a new year, and a renewed focus.

I've realised that the distractions like those of the last few months will always happen. And distractions will happen regardless of whether we're busy working on our online businesses or not.

So no more excuses. My aim this year is to stop letting these distractions take my eye off my long term goals.

That goal has never changed: I am going to build a successful and sustainable online business.

So here I am again, with my sleeves rolled up, ready to put in the hard work, and implement my plans. When 'distractions' and the busyness of life invariably crops up along the way, I am determined to have resilience and focus to dust myself off and keep moving forward.

ps. I got my first WA sale in January as well :) There's nothing like a referral going premium to give one a much needed boost!!

Enough about me... What does 2018 have in store for you?

Please leave me a comment - it's great to be back and I'd love to hear from you!

Onwards and Upwards, Kaz