Today I received a letter saying that, further to my application a few weeks ago, my experience as a coach and consultant has been recognised through election to membership of the Institute of Business Consulting.

I'm delighted to have had my first meeting today for two hours with a coach/mentor that Business Link have supplied. Under this helpful scheme people volunteer to give their time free to be a mentor to a new business.

My coach, Lee, has a lot of sales background and is himself a coach. Hopefully this is ideal to help me expand Finding True North Development Coaching.

He is encouraging me to focus my business more, and to develop a talk that I can give at business gatherings as a way of encouraging business.

The last few weeks things seem to have gone really smoothly with the business when I have focused on what I know needs to be done, rather than being anxious about where and when new jobs are coming together. Although I have had a lot to do, I believe that I have prioritised well and what I have set my mind to has gone well.

I have been encouraged and challenged by visits to Corsham School - a Visual Arts College renowned for its creativity, and to the black tie dinner final of the North Wiltshire New Business Competition. (I was not an entrant: I hadn't heard of it in time!) The guest speaker, Alex Tew, had failed to win in a previous year, but had famously made $1million by selling 1 million pixels on a web page to help fund his business studies degree. He was so successful that he had to postpone his course!

I find myself being impressed by those who are in touch with what they do well, and having gained an appropriate grounding in their discipline are willing to break the conventional boundaries to "go beyond" and demonstrate excellence in a unique and groundbreaking way. This surpasses those who seek to achieve not so much by unique talent but by careful methodologies (wise and helpful as those are). I also find myself admiring those who, perhaps working quietly behind the scenes as local councillors, are able to help reconcile people who by helping them to see their different perspectives and so build community.

Maybe these are pointers to where my own life is heading.

First anniversary of Finding True North today... a good excuse for a cake!

This week I've been seeking to do more sales and marketing for the firm, which has included trying out networking meetings (with interesting speakers but we'll have to see how much business comes), and seeking to register with Train To Gain for their new Leadership and Management Advisory Service. The idea is that they will give grants to small businesses and charities to encourage top leaders to receive training - which may include coaching.

The idea is that as well as funding they connect clients and suppliers through their skill brokers. What seems strange to me is that it is very difficult to work out from their web site how to register as a provider, and when I phoned to find out I ended up following a chain of about six phone numbers that threatened to take me back to the one I started with. (In the end I did connect with a director, who knew what she was talking about.)

Maybe it's my fault for imagining that the process would be quick.

I'm pleased to have completed my courses in Spiritual Direction and coaching. The two have fed one another, and I feel more equipped for the work that I am doing.

Starting a new business continues to challenge emotionally, as I need to persevere with what I believe are the right things for some while before seeing results - months rather than days!

I'm very much enjoying the Change Leadership and Coaching Course that I am doing with the Wilsher Group in Corsham.

It is an eight day course and I have just completed the second set of three days, and there are two more to go.

There is a great balance of theory and practice, to further develop coaching skills. I am also enjoying the content on the ways people learn, which has been a gap in my previous studying.

My rest from being a school governor seems to have drawn to a close.

While Vicar of Neston and Gastard I was governor of two schools in the parish: I enjoyed the camaraderie and sense of contributing to something worthwhile. I stopped these in 2005 as I started my new job with CMS.

I have been invited by Wiltshire County Council to be a governor of Corsham Regis Primary School, in Corsham, and look forward to joining the team.

I've just returned from a week in Austria, organised by Accts MMI (see other articles in this blog) and hosted by the Austrian army chaplaincy.

There were around fifty participants from about ten European countries: mainly from the former communist area plus a lot from Austria. We had gathered to enjoy fellowship and skiing together, as well as to explore what it means to be a Christian in the armed forces. There were impressive speakers giving lectures and Bible studies (I led one of the Bible studies) and participation was enthusiastic.

This is an enjoyable way to do Christian mission, and it was great to see relationships growing during the week.

Today I visited the One Life Live exhibition at Olympia, London. This is an exhibition for people wanting to make the most of their life, and comprised several hundred exhibition stands grouped in zones to do with coaching, spirituality, gap year opportunities, starting a business, etc.

I went along to observe the competition in the coaching market. It was interesting to see that some coaches were obviously clear about what they offer, and others not - and some stands were far too cluttered. I feel challenged to focus my own marketing more effectively.

The spirituality zone was next door to the coaching zone, and some of the stands seemed really wacky, and to be offering escapism rather than a way of excelling at life.. On the other hand, the coaching zone didn't really seem very interested in spirituality, and was thus not really holistic. I found myself wondering what it would look like to offer coaching that takes spirituality seriously as a part of real life.

This last weekend I attended my second annual conference of Accts MMI. The chain of events that has led me, with little military background, to be trustee of this organisation devoted to the mutual support and growth of Christians in the armed forces worldwide still seems to me very curious

This unassuming conference held in rural Wiltshire is the only event I know where in a little over one day one can hear something of what God is doing, and how Christians are faring, pretty much world-wide. This achievement flows from the ability of military people to be concise and to the point, and from high quality speakers who are able both to give a clear report and present moving testimonies - for example generals and former ambassadors.

Testimonies range from stories of soldiers greatly respected because their Christian faith brings with it an independent integrity, to those who have been killed because of their faith. The context ranges from countries where religion is seen as unimportant, to those where Christians are oppressed, to those where societies are rapidly becoming Christian as a result of years of prayer and effective strategic planning. This is humbling.

In countries where much power lies in the hands of the armed forces, a movement which seeks to encourage the fear of God and not just the fear of man has much to commend it.

Links to Accts MMI partner organisations:
Accts (USA)
MSO (Mission Support Organisation, South Korea)

To find out more of my history with Accts MMI, search for "Accts" in this blog.

This week the progress in setting up the new firm has felt good. It is three months since Richard Hovey and Associates Ltd was incorporated (on 18th October 2007) and it feels as if momentum is building. I am pleased to be spending more time with clients, and also to have competed some negotiations with suppliers that I started before Christmas.

I have been looking for a competitive and helpful supplier of Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance, and I have found that through Towergate Professional Risks (they are brokers; my policy is underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc). Members of some professional institutions can benefit from corporate agreements.

I have been looking for a local accountant that I feel that I get on with, who understands what I am up to, and looks like giving a good service including forward-looking advice. It has been imporant to me that the firm is switched on about taxation, so a firm that comprises both Chartered Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers is likely to be a good choice. I have decided to work with Chippenham firm Carter Dutton.

I am excited that my investment in SIMA^TM Who do you think you are? training is bearing fruit, and a good addition to my coaching work.

So, the new business is building (praise God!) and this week I have also met with the Wilsher Group again to look at ways forward of collaboration, with particular interest in their coaching work and use of the Insights Discovery Personal Profile which is based on Jungian typology.

One of the highlights of my time with CMS was a one-month visit to India and Sri Lanka, in January 2006. One thing that I hope to have time to do soon is to make the photos and my journal accessible on the web.

This week I have started to get to grips with contact details of people on my p.c. (first of all I had to restore my PDA which crashed before Christmas because I allowed the batteries to run down) and started to e-mail people to meet abut Finding True North. I'm glad I've made myself get started on this rather than just doing admin!

Last night I was a guest at the final session of the Wilsher Group's coach training course (CLACC) and found myself unexpectedly on the receiving end of some free coaching from someone who was completing the course. This was really helpful as I used it to think through my USP (Unique Selling Point). I find this fairly straightforward to do for clients, but difficult to do on myself. An amusing and helpful question from my coach was, "What exactly is the Richard Hovey experience?"

After the Christmas and New Year holiday I'm back to setting up Finding True North. A focus for the New Year needs to be "doing the business" with clients but there are some adminstration jobs to finish off.

Today I contracted for office facilities at Hartham Park, a short drive from my home.

I have also been impressed by the speed of HSBC in sending me cheque books and bits of plastic after I chose to open a bank account with them. Either they are really speedy, or banks work faster for businesses than they do for personal customers. As well as a local branch and helpful staff they have a good charging structure. (Included in this is two year's free banking in their January "sale.")

Richard Hovey and Associates Ltd now has another associate, as Finding True North links up with PRW Communications - an impressive firm who specialise in PR and design work for business to business markets.

This has come about from some impressive footwork by long-term friend Robin Weekes, after he received our Christmas Newsletter.

I've been impressed by the work of artist He Qi.

He has produced a mural for the new offices of CMS in Oxford, and they used his picture of the Three Kings as a Christmas Card. At the time of writing, both of these are on the front page of his web site.

Mark Berry features another on his blog, with a moving poem for Christmas Eve also.

Finally I have arrived at the point of feeling happy with initial publicity literature and a web site for the new firm. The purpose of Finding True North is to allow me to spend more time doing what I am good at - consultancy and coaching - with business clients and individuals, in a way that is mutually beneficial!

It has taken a while to get to this point, having decided to do it during the Summer and then incorporated the company - Richard Hovey and Associates Ltd - on 18th October. I am happy with the direction that this is travelling in.

Go to the Finding True North web site.

I'm still working through the administration of setting up the new business   more »

A current family enterprise is the creation of a new website for the business, and I've been delighted and impressed by the creative genius that has been unleashed in the family, as well as the skill in turning images into a site.

I've been researching ways of doing this so that it is easy to make changes after the initial design. The deluxe way to do this is with a Content Management System (CMS). I have also been looking at "Instant Sites," of which there are many, to see if that is a good route to go at least for the first year or so as the costs are less. Many of the Instant Sites are easy to use and have good functionality, but do not look business-like. In particular they use ready-made graphic headers that can look cheesy and cannot be replaced. We have decided to run with Web Eden which is powerful, flexible, and inexpensive - and you can do a free trial. I recommend it.

The last few days I've been working hard on promotional literature for the new business, and text for the web site.

Yesterday I completed my first ever bid for consultancy work (previous work has come through less formal methods!). Hope it works out....

The last three days I've attended a course in Bristol (run by Business Link and hosted by Brave) for those starting a new business.

It has been a good opportunity to meet new people, to brush up on marketing and budgetting, and to have questions answered about tax-efficient business planning.

This week I enjoyed SIMA^TM training in Oxford with a group of new friends.

I have enjoyed being on the receiving end of this coaching and am now licensed to use the system, and in particular the Who do you think you are? programme in my own coaching work.

The probably unique method is not based on filling in a questionnaire that then describes a person as one of a number of categories (who does like to be just a number or to have to fit in a particular box?) Instead it draws out a person's motivated abilities - what they enjoy doing and are good at - through structured interviewing. This information is then fed back through conversations, or an ongoing coaching process, to develop self-understanding and good decisions to be made about career and life choices.

SIMA stands for System for Identifying Motivated Abilities and was developed by Arthur Miller in the early 1960's. It has been used extensively ever since in Europe as well as the USA.

Today I returned to Send a Cow for a final conversation about the report that I had completed for them about church fund raising.

They clearly valued the work (which was encouraging and good to hear!) and I have enjoyed being part of the charity in this way for the last few months. I was surprised to receive quite a send-off!

Recognising what I am good at and enjoying at the moment, through doing the consultancy work for Send a Cow and the Spiritual Direction course over the Summer now leads me to the bold step of setting up my own business to offer these things. Another influence has been that seeking (employed) work within the church or other organisations has not produced satisfactory results.

I have a particular heart to work with people who are struggling with a sense of identity, purpose, and direction. I realise that this connects the coaching and the consultancy work as both can be about working with individuals, groups, or on a particular issue.

I seem to be going down the route of a "portfolio"   more »

I couldn't resist putting this cute donkey window sticker, from Send a Cow, in our front window. It looks even more realistic in a photo!

The Llysfasi Spirituality Workshop (see earlier article today) has contributed to what is looking like a change of direction from seeking management work, to applying the spiritual direction skills that I am developing. The most obvious place for this is within the church, however I am discovering that there is an unfilled need for coaching of clergy and other church leaders, and that this could develop into coaching or facilitation work within the business world, which would draw on my previous business experience too.

Some of these thoughts have developed from a conversations that I enjoyed at a fascinating workshop that I was part of on Monday, looking at facilitation skills in the context of the future of "Whatever Next...?" I was in great company, including another Cranfield MBA Alumnus, and a director of 3D Coaching.