Working from home used to be the exception and for many a privilege. It was an opportunity to reduce the amount of time we spent commuting – as well as saving us money.
And, best of all, it gave us more time to spend in the company of our family and pets, at either ends of the day.
These challenging last few months, thrust upon us by Covid-19, has given us plenty of time to reflect.
We don’t know what the future will look like, except it is likely to change and perhaps dramatically.
So it’s increasingly important we take control of our lives, when and where we can.
Don’t forget, that change provides opportunity. An opportunity to reflect on what has happened and plan for the future, however uncertain this may appear.
At The Creation Station we sometimes ask those who attend our online discovery events to perform this simple exercise, using a single sheet of paper – A4 size will do.
The left-hand side of the page represents ‘now’, while the right-hand refers to ‘five years’ time.’
Five years may sound a long way off, but the last five have gone pretty quickly – well, they have for me anyway.
We ask our attendees what they would like to happen over the next five years and write this down.
If anyone requires help to get this little task up-and-running, we suggest they review the last five.
We ask them to make a note of what things they enjoyed doing, as well as those they didn’t. What made them happy and what they found to be ‘a bit of a pain’?
It’s a straightforward exercise but the first simple steps towards ‘getting us off the hamster wheel of life.’
Life isn’t meant to be a sausage machine. So when life changes, as it has recently and quite suddenly, we should all feel empowered by the opportunity it presents. A chance to make positive changes to our daily routines.
Strangely, we tend to do more planning for a holiday or a trip to the supermarket, than we do for our general day-to-day life.
Alexis Jervis, a senior manager with a large retails chain had always wanted more time with her family and to do something a bit more creative .
She explains: “I’d always wanted to do something creative when I left school. But there just didn’t seem to be the right career path available for me.
“I wanted to have more control over my working hours. I wanted to build on the skills I’d developed, but also learn new ones too.
“I really wanted to do something creative, plus make a difference to others.”
To cut to the chase, Alexis discovered The Creation Station on the British Franchise Association website and her life took a completely new direction.
In Jan 2020 Alexis invested in her own Creation Station franchise in Newcastle under Lyme.
Alexis said: “I decided if I didn’t make the change quickly, time would overtake me. Within days of my training I got my first booking. Then of course we entered the Pandemic. I was very nervous how would I be able to carry on running my classes. One of the benefits of being part of a franchise is there is so much support. I was helped with new online plans, crafts packs, up dated training and so much support to help me move my classes online.
I am very proud that I have grown my business and built my customer base and received lots of fab reviews in the process. The feedback makes it all so worthwhile, to know that my customers are enjoying my sessions and crafts as much as I am enjoying creating and leading them!
During our Creation Station franchise conference, I won the ‘Making People Feel Special’ award, this was such a proud moment for me!
I am just so excited for 2021, after a pretty challenging first year of running my business during 2020! I cannot wait to be able to run all of my regular face-to-face sessions and to also explore other income streams which I haven’t yet launched.
I am super excited to be able to see the true potential of my business. I have big plans to inspire the imaginations of lots more children (and adults) in my area this year
The Creation Station, which has been in business since 2002, offers three types of licences for prospective franchisees.
1) Inspire families: Baby and parent keepsake classes, Little Explorers and Family Fun.
2) Inspire in education: Afterschool clubs, school workshops and home education.
3) Inspire adults and the elderly: Adult craft evenings, crafternoons and intergenerational classes in care homes
Alexis chose the licence to Inspire Adults, although many have opted for all three.
During lockdown, The Creation Station has provided free online resources, so that the company’s business partners are able to support their customers during these testing times.
These have included online classes, pre-recorded courses and activities which have been streamed live.
These resources have also been available to assist the local community during lockdown.
Our franchise partners have a wide variety of backgrounds (corporate, teaching, human resources, retail management, design and many stay at home mums, among others).
If you would like to find out more about the company, download our franchise information pack and discover a world of creative possibilities.
