A Review of F&A's 2021
All things considered, a great year!
It is interesting to consider how many times plans change or adjust. Not that they change wholly, but rather that you cannot predict how everything will play out, alongside not being able to control everything. I like to build plans that can adapt, that gives many options and outs, without total risk of failure. Essentially plans that can be recovered from. To do this, I make calls on high probability outcomes within my control and sphere of influence and make sure to build in ways to recover from events outside of my control. This pushes accountability onto me, and in turn allows me to hold others accountable. It is not perfect, but it is perfectly good, and it keeps us progressing even in the face of change and setback. For me, that is the game. Anyone can be good when the going is easy. I’m sure we can all agree that the past 18 months have not been easy!
I am proud to say that 2021 has been one of our strongest years to date. While it is easy to see growth off a small base, it is much harder to realise it off a bigger one. Reporting across the past 12 calendar months, I am pleased to share that F&A has grown nearly 30%! This gives me huge confidence, not only for our future, which is bright, but for fulfilling the repayment I committed to when purchasing F&A from my Dad. It may seem simple enough, but any purchase comes with pressure, and when it’s your folks it ramps up. The beauty about business is that customers vote with their feet (less so than politics, unfortunately), and we have seen more feet come through the door this year for which we are grateful. A genuine and heartfelt thank you to every single person that has placed their trust in us!
Growing the top line of the business gives us additional resources to allocate to future growth, and I have already allocated and earmarked several areas of investment to come. The reason I share the above progress with you is to let you know, transparently, that we aren’t aiming anywhere but upwards. This will continue to be our mindset.
As some of you may be aware, we have some exciting developments on the horizon too. Again, focussed on creating resilience. More about those projects in the new year!
A sincere thank you to my two right hands;
Andrea (my wife) has worked tirelessly to support our marketing efforts and me of course, you can make your mind up about which is harder to do! Love you, babe!
Candice continues to come into her own and has, in my opinion, delivered quite an incredible performance. The genuine love, support and care she shows each person she comes into contact with is an example of what society needs more of! It is completely unsurprising how popular she is, as well as how high our phone bills sometimes are. It seems neither our clients nor Candice mind a good long chat and I am all for it!
Health & Happiness
As is customary, we would ordinarily wish you health and happiness this festive season, and a Merry Christmas. This year, we would like you to know that we really, truly mean it! My hope is that you find the strength to look after yourself like you deserve to be looked after, and after that, if you can, that you might help someone else too.
Amongst the Covid, Omicron, Eskom, looting, local elections, lockdowns and travel bans, we want you to know that we care very deeply about you! That you are worthy and loved. And that your life is worth living, and to its fullest!
To those who have the strength, please reach out a little further to those you may not have had contact with in the past while. Check in and see how they really are! Christmas is a tough enough time of the year for many folks, your call and love could make a huge impact in someone’s life!
For those that are not coping at all, please know that there are many resources available, such as https://www.opencounseling.com/hotlines-za, where you can find a whole host of specific solutions for various challenges. More than anything, please find the courage to reach out to someone you love and that loves you and let them know that you are not coping.