The UK and I are having a tough time at the moment. I liken it to a relationship that you had been in since a young age, then you take a break, form new relationships but come back not out of love but because it is comfortable. Now I know someone will read this and say, well if you don’t like it here, you know where to go. Yes that is very true, but for the moment in time I am going to stay in the place that I love but not necessarily in love with for the sake of the children, i.e. I have bills to pay.

It’s not completely bad though, in this past week, I have discovered that there are resources out there that may or not have yet been discovered but just like Christopher Columbus, I am going to claim that it is a new discovery.

Now, if you live in the UK you know that when you are unemployed, there is the job centre, there you can claim benefits to tide you over (it’s really not that much) until you get a new job and you would expect to get some kind of assistance in helping you get to the job market. In reality, you fill out a form and they ask you for evidence that you are looking for a job and you have a certain period of time to get something, anything to get you off benefits but no one really helps you find the job that you are qualified to do.

What they don’t tell you is the help that you can find in your local library. My God sister mentioned it a while ago but I really only discovered what it truly had to offer until I happened to check the library open times this week. At my library, they have a little section called the hub central, it is basically a work space environment in the library where you can do your day to day.

It also provides you with resources with helping you with your CV, and any developmental training needs that you need, mainly soft skills but there are a plethora of online courses and workshops.

Today, I attended a workshop called “turning your business idea into a successful business”. It was an intimate group of 3, there was me with an idea I had in mind, a lady who had a couple and a guy who was looking for a side hustle but wasn’t quite sure what to do. It was an action workshop where we spoke and got to share ideas as well as learn from one another. It also helped me not just focus but look at the bigger picture. I have an idea of a product I want to produce but didn’t really think about the marketing strategy or it’s unique selling point and this has given me a lot of clarity surrounding this area. I also spoke to the facilitator prior to this about my idea and she printed off a whole load of research and food for thought, something you probably wouldn’t even get in one of these paid workshops. The main thing is that it has given me motivation, as you loyalists know I have been using lip service to starting my own business for a while now with no basis, so today I am going to start putting pen to paper to do something about it. I am not going to say that it will launch in a month or even two, it may take me until the end of the year, but the main thing is as I say this now, I have started moving so watch this space.

The greatest thing about my “newly discovered” business space is that it is totally free and a great place to start networking with people who are in the same position as you to keep you moving.

My next workshop is “creating a business plan” and there are a lot of interesting things coming up in the pipeline that should bring about exciting times.

So, UK my love, even though the love is waning, I haven’t lost total faith in you.