DREAMS AND CONSEQUENCES

After Bill and I had been in business for about 6 years, we made the decision to build our own offices. There really wasn’t a plan in place and we hadn’t thought a lot about our circumstances, but we were just very excited to do this as it was a dream of ours.

The land was acquired without a hitch, at a good price, so we were on our way. Our idea was to have a low brick building with ‘fret’ work joinery (fancy wooden trims) outside and wrought iron railings. Something that was old and new at the same time, and so would appear timeless.

The Bank lent us the money so construction started in 1983. We really didn’t scrimp on anything and had it fitted out just the way we wanted. There was even one of those old red telephone boxes out the front. Once the sign “GUARDIAN HOUSE” was erected, and our services that we offered listed below, it was time to open the doors. This was about March 1984.

It was time to celebrate the completion of our dream with an official opening. All our clients, family and friends were invited to enjoy nibbles and drinks on our beautiful verandah and a great time was had by all.

Times were good for a few years until ……

The economy wasn’t on our side, interest rates soared to 23%, and after some ill informed choices, we found we were struggling financially. With a young family to look after, the decision was made to sell ‘our dream’. This didn’t come easy at first as I had come from a life of instability, our family moved around a lot, so I wanted a stable environment and didn’t like change.

But when I realized that it was jeopardizing our family’s livelihood, I found the courage to “Let It Go” as it really was only bricks and mortar. This was a huge relief and we eventually found a buyer for our building but we leased it back for 5 years so we got to stay there a little longer.

It was a very costly venture which took us awhile to recover from.The exercise taught us lots of things though, one of which was to have a plan for any major project and to do research so that we would be better informed. It was just one of life’s many lessons for us.