How to run a successful

By Gillian Jones HOW TO RUN A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS WHEN LIVING WITH A CHRONIC ILLNESS

MY STORY

Some years stick in our memories more than others, and 2014 was a good year. I had two children who were both at school and thriving, and I had started training to be a maths teacher. It was a long-held ambition of mine and I am still proud of the algebra lesson I planned, which was based on Marvel Lego characters! I had been having issues with my lungs, following a bout of pneumonia, but they seemed to be behaving themselves, so I threw myself into my new career. Unfortunately, it turned out that secondary schools and twitchy asthmatic lungs do not go together. Several ambulances later, I reluctantly withdrew from the training programme.

Things did not get better. I couldn’t stay out of hospital for more than a couple of weeks and I was no longer bouncing back between asthma attacks. My health deteriorated until I barely left the house and I needed a wheelchair − obviously not ideal circumstances to get a job, but I was bored! I had been tinkering with military artwork for a while and people bought pictures occasionally, so I decided to put what little energy I had into turning my artwork into a business.

Initially my business grew through word of mouth. I registered as a sole trader with HMRC and set up a website and social media accounts. I bought a decent printer and ready-made frames and decided to focus on digital art because it was something I could do lying down, if necessary!

Eventually, my health stabilised to the point I could mostly stay out of hospital (thanks to a brilliant consultant and the right combination of drugs) and I decided I should learn how to do this business thing properly! I went on a course run by X-Forces. Unfortunately, this was before the days of everything being available online, so I had to attend in person. The course involved me lying down at the back of the classroom quite a lot. There was one unfortunate day when the lift broke and I was rescued by a course mate – Neil, who now also runs his own business, Explorer Coffees. He borrowed an evacuation chair from the local leisure centre to get me down the stairs so I could go home! (Thank you, Neil from Explorer Coffees!)

From these not-so-auspicious beginnings, a successful business has emerged. I have two fellow directors and we are now a limited company. We make all our frames in house and are expanding to offer framing as a service to others. Our turnover has nearly doubled year on year in the last two years. Our pictures have been around the

world, with the Carrier Strike Group 2021 deployment, and now hang in palaces, embassies, consulates, military bases, ships, and homes worldwide.

So how do you run a business when some days you can’t get out of bed? When you don’t know if you are going to be able to work on any given day? When pain sometimes fogs your brain to the stage where you can barely string a sentence together? Everyone’s experience of chronic illness is different, but these are the lessons I have learnt over the last few years. Hopefully, they will be useful to others in a similar situation.

COMMUNICATION

Setting expectations is important. We make pictures to order, which obviously takes time. I have banners on my website stating how long a picture may take and this is reinforced in the order confirmation email. If someone orders by email or phone, I always ask if they have a deadline for when the picture is needed. If I cannot meet it, I will say so. I also let people know that things may change if I am unwell.

I have found that people are generally nice and empathetic. I have a footer in my emails that explains I have a chronic condition and can sometimes be out of action. It also gives the email address of one of my business partners who can be contacted if something is urgent. Obviously not everyone has a business partner, but this brings me neatly to my second point. OUTSOURCING AND DELEGATION

As soon as you can afford it, outsource. Not long after I started the business, I found someone who could help me with framing, packaging, and more physical work. Interestingly, it has always been a military spouse! Understandably, this has reduced my personal income because I have been paying someone else. But it frees me up to do what I am best at – the artwork, thus increasing the range of pictures I can offer and enabling me to work on bespoke commissions. And this leads me to my next tip.

FOCUS ON CORE COMPETENCIES

Do what you are good at. When you run a small business, the temptation is to say yes to everything. I have certainly fallen into this trap. I started by doing all sorts of different artwork, including bespoke projects that had nothing to do with military art, and they took hours and hours because they were not my usual style. I finally realised the futility of wasting that time and now only say yes to military (and transport) artwork in my style. This means my business has a strong brand and I am not spread too thinly.

On a similar note, I am simply not interested in accounting and finance, so I invested in some brilliant software and an accountant. I physically cannot make picture frames, so I found a business partner, Emma, who could! Emma is happy and our frames are of the

standard I want. I physically cannot set up stalls at shows or stay there all day, so I found another business partner, Amanda, who could! Amanda is happy and we have been able to increase the number of shows we do in a year because they don’t exhaust me anymore.

COPING WITH LIMITATIONS

This growth has all happened over many years. Because of my limitations, the business has taken longer to grow than it could have done. This is something I have struggled with because I could see the potential and simply could not fulfil it. But we got there, slowly and surely and without breaking me (too often!).

I also still struggle on days when I have lots of work and simply cannot do it all. It is difficult to stop and accept that rest is what is needed. I am slowly learning to accept this, with the help of counselling and a health coach. It is tricky having a chronic condition and I have complicated that by throwing in a business to run. I have gone through periods of severe depression but I am now able to recognise when they are coming and get help or use the techniques I have learnt from counselling.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GOOD STUFF?

I have focused a lot on the difficult things about running a business with a body that doesn’t always do what you want it to do. But what about the good things? thing, it is making the world far more accessible to people like me.

So, in summary, business and illness can go together. It can be a bumpy ride, but that is true of anyone who sets up a small business. Focus on your strengths and don’t be afraid of asking for help. I hope you love it as much as I do.

About the author Dr Gillian Jones is a military and transport artist offering bespoke, limited, and open edition prints, which are perfect for gifts and awards. She is a Royal Navy veteran, spouse of a serving member of the Royal Navy, and an ambassador for the MILSPO® business network.

info@gillianjonesdesigns.com www.gillianjonesdesigns.com GillianJonesDesigns gillianjonesdesigns GillAJones

I enjoy it, it gives me purpose, I am proud of it, it gives me links to people all over the world, I have become part of a community of military spouses running their own businesses, and I now have two business partners who I adore and enjoy working with.

And, in the era of the virtual world, I am more connected than I have ever been. If Covid can be praised for one