As time goes by, have you ever worried that you’re sounding more and more like your mum or dad?

In the studio at BrightRED, it’s not unusual to hear “It’s like Blackpool Illuminations in here!” or “Shut that door, were you born in a barn?” along with other tropes that show our age and Lancastrian upbringing.

Never did we think, however, we’d utter those infamous words:

“Do as we say not as we do!”

But that’s where we’ve found ourselves after almost 18 months of dealing with the challenges associated with the Coronavirus pandemic.

What is the right thing to do when faced with a global pandemic?

Back in March last year, when the weight of lockdowns and restrictions forced so many of us to re-address how we do business, our recommendation was straightforward:

“The most successful businesses to emerge from lockdown will be the ones that continue to market themselves throughout.”

To be honest, we felt the weight of those words.

We were confident then as we still are that was the right advice, but it wasn’t for everyone.

And because we didn’t want it to seem like we were only interested in feathering our nest, we only actively advised clients that we had an ongoing business relationship with.

That doesn’t mean that we kept it to ourselves. We just made the decision not to publicise it because, at the time, driving new business just didn’t seem the right thing to do.

Little did any of us know how long the fall out from the pandemic would last!

Have you ever made a decision to do the right thing only to find it causes you more problems than you anticipated?

We are only human and don’t always get it right! The only people that get it right all the time are the ones that don’t own up to getting it wrong.

Throughout everything that the pandemic has thrown at us, we’ve never missed a beat for any of our clients.

But now, as the dust starts to settle, it’s clear to see that the same can’t be said for us.

Our marketing has taken a back seat.

Whilst working so hard to keep our clients on track we neglected ourselves. (The irony of advising people to continue marketing without doing so ourselves isn’t lost on us either.)

And as time has gone on it’s become so much more difficult to just ‘start again’. Like a marathon runner running a race, it’s harder to get back going if you stop to catch your breath.

So… here we are ‘starting again’ by owning up to a decision we wish we hadn’t made.

What lessons have you learned throughout lockdown?

Considering you’ve made it to the end of this blog, there’s something you should know about BrightRED.

Whilst we’re experts at letting everyone know about our clients, we’re kind of our own best-kept secret. It’s something we’re working on internally but, for now, it remains true.

Our business has grown considerably throughout the pandemic, but we’re very aware that there are lots of businesses that haven’t been as fortunate.

So whilst we’re not going to start crowing about it all, we are going to learn our lesson and never have to say “do as we say, not as we do” again.