Best Laid Plans ….

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 at 6:20 pm

For those of you that know me – you will know how much I like to plan, even great spontaneity needs a plan my next favourite activity is delegation. One thing you can definitely guarantee about a plan is that it needs to be flexible and to be updated – as you can imagine I planned our South African Adventure to cram as many activities in as possible and that is exactly how the first two weeks of the holiday worked. We have had loads of fun, made new friends, worshipped the sun and spotted wild animals galore on various safaris. Then the volcano erupted ……..

Well that certainly was not in the plan !!! With most flights still cancelled we do not know when we can reschedule our return to the UK. Luckily this week of the holiday was about meeting dear friends in Durban, who have very kindly offered us their spare room for as long as we need In fact every South African we have met is so nice, Sean has even offered us to stay at his mother’s if we get stuck

I have learnt two lessons; first that while I can do change – I loathe living in the information desert. I think we have all become so used to be able to access information when, where and how we want it … this ‘crisis’ has shown me that companies are fundamentally failing to put themselves in the position of their customers. Just tell me what to do next, even if that is check the website again in ‘six hours’ for example … grr!

Second is that systems, delegation or outsourcing as much of your business as possible not only makes sense while you are in the UK but is a life saver in unexpected situations like this. My penchant for delegation may well save our lives. Although we are temporarily stuck in South Africa I can still run my business. Just before I had left the UK I had fully embraced delegation and outsourcing. My outsourcing team now includes; my property team (solicitor, broker, letting agent, builder and Estate Agents) which means that I can still buy, refurbish and let properties – that guarantees my income even when I am not in the country.

I also have a new admin and IT team as a result of writing and developing my new book (Using Other People’s Money – how to invest in property). The team of experts are managing the editing and development of the ebook content (video, audio, proof reading and production), John is taking care of the website development and Charis is managing my contacts list and other background work. The only challenge I have is online banking. While I did bring my laptop with me and we have now found internet connection (thanks Julia ) the little gadget that makes the secret pass codes for online banking is still in the UK. That’s where my children are finally going to “join” the business – haa haa

So let’s see how long we have to practise flexibility and delegation … and while we are doing that we can go to the beach or diving or maybe even another safari