Last week was the first week of post-corporate life and the week when Diamondthrills Limited became my full time focus.  So how are things going?

Well, it is perhaps no surprise that ‘full time’ when working from home does not really mean full time, at least not for me.  There are too many distractions – too many displacement activities – all the little jobs that need to be done around the flat.

But some progress was made: a new iPhone has arrived and been set up so I now have a phone number, the new bank account with online banking is now in place, the business plan is coming along, the website has been updated, business cards have been ordered…

One of the things that has proved to be more challenging than I expected has been the bureaucracy involved in business startup in the UK.  Registration at Companies House was relatively easy, but opening a bank account and getting a mobile phone have both taken weeks, mostly because of the credit checking that needs to take place and very slight differences in addresses being held in different places.  It seems that there is no room for common sense: everything has to be absolutely correct, to the letter.

Anyway, this week is going to be about product: diamonds and jewellery.  I am off to Basel in Switzerland tomorrow for the Basel World Watch and Jewellery Show – one of the world’s biggest trade shows for the watch and jewellery industries – certainly the biggest annual trade show in Europe (trade shows in Las Vegas and Hong Kong are the other two big ones).

I am not quite sure how the show is going to be for me; I might get as far as actually buying some pieces, but it’s more likely that I will come away with names and addresses of suppliers together with ideas around specific pieces, and then I will follow up by placing firm orders in the weeks ahead.

I will report back later in the week when I’m back from Basel.