The start of a new financial year & the start of Vetanswers!
So what is the Vetanswers story so far?
Well I finished up in my last job in May of 2010 with no idea of where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do next. This is where I have to make my shameful confession – although actual events or projects in my life are often meticulously planned, my life itself is not. I have no master plan!
I was confident though, that the right thing would come up at the right time (ummm hopefully?). And one day while I was cleaning my teeth (yes – really) an idea for a website popped into my head. It was a very special website – one especially designed for the veterinary industry that would offer one place where you could find everything you needed for your veterinary business. It was to be heavily supported by social media – something at that time I had absolutely no experience or knowledge of. About ten minutes later the name Vetanswers popped into my head – or Vet Answers, or VetAnswers, or vetanswers – I wasn’t quite sure yet!
It’s taken me over 12 months from that momentous teeth cleaning moment to this teeth clenching moment (yes I do apologise for that rather lame play on words!) of actually launching the website. I know so clearly in my mind what I believe I can achieve with my website, blogs, Facebook page, Twitter & LinkedIn – it’s going to be AWESOME! But at the same time there is just so much to do and so very little time to do it in, which is I guess the lament of the small business owner – but that’s the topic of another blog!
So what have I learned so far?
- I’m great at organising other people but not always so good at organising myself!
- Everything to do with designing a website takes twice as long (& more $!!) than you think (Note: that’s not necessarily the fault of the web site designers either!);
- It’s really, really, really hard to start a new business without somehow extracting yourself from your usual commitments to friends, neighbours, schools, etc. – sometimes you just have to say no;
- You have to have a clear vision of where you’re heading and write it down (& if you’re like me, turn it into multiple versions of multi-coloured charts & diagrams!);
- I’ve made the right choice – I have absolutely loved immersing myself in the world of social media but I need to learn how to control how much time I spend visiting this new world.
But my biggest lesson? That there is still so much to learn! However I’m still convinced I can build an online community for the veterinary industry that will match my vision and hopefully we can all learn along the way!
Till next time,
Judy
