The offices are suiting us well, but are now bursting at the seams on some days. We’ve done a mountain of court work over the last six months, and I’ve never worked so hard in my life! I’ve even done some work for the High Courts and Royal Courts in London. The team is currently me, a nearly-qualified CP, 3 APs, a part-time admin (currently off to recover from surgery), a part-time admin (who is covering the absence, but will stay on as my PA), a part time operational manager, a part-time CBT therapist, and we’ve got two interns for the summer. The nearly qualified CP is leaving, ironically just before gaining the HCPC registration we’ve been waiting 16 months for, so we have a job advert out to recruit a replacement. I really need a second in command that I can delegate to, as we’ve got lots going on.

The research project is going well, and we are bidding for related projects, both in paediatrics and in supporting patients with long-term conditions at the hospital, as well as related to adoption and Looked After Children. We are being commissioned to do therapy by Local Authorities in relation to LAC, have had enquiries from schools about using their personal budgets, and get a regular supply of self-referred private clients. We’ve got the small grants to do groups for pregnant and new mums, and various requests for training, as well as several agencies considering whether to commission consultation packages. My book seems to have done well enough for the publishers to be keen for me to write more, and my involvement in the BPS has continued to grow, along with my contribution to the political wrangling about legal aid cuts and the use of expert witnesses. And we’ve done some interesting research too, with an article accepted for CP Forum, presentations at various conferences, and various other publications on the way.

It has felt quite pressured to keep sufficient cash-flow to pay all the staff, because our running costs are now much higher (£15k/month) whilst there are still delays in being paid, particularly for legally aided work, and the grant is paid in arrears. As a result I’ve taken no income from the business at all for the past year, apart from minimum wage, which didn’t even cover my tax bill (which was unusually high as I had to declare all unpaid invoices from my self-employment in the same tax year as my NHS salary and redundancy payment went through). From that I’ve had to pay enormous nursery fees, so its been a tough year for me financially – probably more touch and go than I’ve let the team know, as I’ve had to borrow money personally to support the business. Nonetheless the accountant tells me if I get on top of the invoicing then the business should be on a solid footing in the longer term (and my kids start school in September, so my childcare costs will disappear, easing my personal finances).

At times the financial strain means I have wondered about jobs with regular salaries and less responsibility for others, but I love the autonomy and flexibility that running my own business offers. Even an 8D Head of Child Psychology in a really pretty part of the country hasn’t turned my head enough to apply. I think its the pressure of throughput, the lack of scope to be creative and the bureaucracy in the NHS at the moment that puts me off, along with fixed hours, commuting, paying for parking and trivial stuff like that. I love that I have created something from nothing, and that others are recognising the quality of my brand. I think it is quite telling that we have had to turn work away in a time when others are reporting struggling to find sufficient court work. I also love having my own team of people that I’ve selected and really get on with, rather than the NHS way of being stuck with what you’ve got (and not being able to get rid of anyone). The people I have chosen all work hard, believe in what we are doing and are amazingly supportive. They even made me a salted caramel cake for my birthday!

I’ve just started some management coaching, to focus on that side of my professional development. I’ve set the goals of getting on top of the money and getting a better work life balance. Whether it was that conversation or reaching a point I could not avoid any longer, I’ve finally conquered the invoices I’ve been moaning about for 6 months! I’ve compared all the work we’ve done to all the invoices issued, and then (with the help of my team) made up invoices for all the work that has been completed to date. I’ve also joined the Federation of Small Businesses. And I’m about to take nearly a fortnight off work with my kids, despite having already had two weeks off this year. This might not sound a lot but I took only 5 days off in total during 2012, so this is much healthier!