Starting you own business can Initially be very daunting. The worst part of it is the doubt generated by your own perspective of your abilities and worthiness to take on such a task. It felt for me a lot like an amateur swimmer diving into the deep end of a pitch black swimming pool.
It is no surprise that the number one response generated from a survey of over 60s was regret. This ranged from promotions that required people to leave their hometowns and families to people that had value and knowledge to share but lacked the confidence to speak in public or even write a book from the fear of criticism. They didn't take that leap of faith simply out of fear of the unknown.
If there was any lesson that I could learn from other peoples mistakes it would be this one, we have been advised countless times since our birth yet we still choose to ignore and learn through experience, and she is by far the best teacher. Yet regret is one lesson you cannot afford to wait for, by that point it's usually to late and so I took my leap of faith, started my first venture and fortunately it revolves around helping and educating people about nature's answers to good health. Connecting with nature again will not only cure our health issues naturally, but as a by product raise our consciousness and awareness which will inevitably force us to take responsibility for the state of our economy, politics and the health of our planet, and just maybe give our future generations a chance.
One month after opening shop and I can certainly say it hasn't been smooth sailing. Choosing January to start any business will almost always be a struggle but logic dictates that things will only get better as we go into spring. Our business is primarily based online but we decided to open a market stand, mainly for bringing awareness to black seed oil in the ever so trendy, eccentric and vibrant protobello market. I have to admit this area of London is by far my favorite and on a hot sunny day the place can feel like anywhere in the south of Europe. But it's January and freezing, compounded by the slow movement of money made for a tough opening month. Other surprising factors were how many people simply didn't want to hear about improving their health. Difficult to imagine beforehand how hard it can be to transfer a leaflet from your hand to the hand of someone walking past, even eye contact can be difficult to make.
Nobody said it was going to be easy and so I was still optimistic, turning up to these cold January mornings and spreading that good word about black seed oil. We didn't get through to everyone but the ones that did, returned to us with excitement and gratitude for opening their eyes to the magical benefits of black seed oil. We have created around 6 return customers with some already on their third purchase. Honestly this has been the most exciting part of the journey for me so far because I know it's only a matter of time before the power of word of mouth starts to get traction. I had also met a lovely lady who was kind enough to tell us about her personal battle with a brain tumor the size of an adults fist which she named bob, she treated and managed him with high doses of THC oil and of course black seed oil and this allowed her to take control of her health bearing in mind her doctors saying she didn't have long to live and that she needed radiation and chemotherapy to stand a chance. She was so happy to see what we were doing and she validated our efforts. Another chap was pursuaded by a passionate pitch from my colleague which spurred him to further research the claims for himself. He came back 5 days later with the excitement of a kid in a candy store and so much gratitude for what we were doing. I was incredibly grateful to find out that he tracked his sleep and noticed he was reaching long REM cycles of sleep, which basically means his sleep was less interrupted, deeper and richer.
The best part of this journey so far has to be the people I have met along the way, the stories and conversations that lead to connections on so many levels. Life is about experiences and I am thoroughly enjoying every moment it has to offer. My advise to everyone, dare to dream!
I would love to hear your stories about any venture you dared to take on, leave a comment below and let's get talking!