I retired as a Police Sergeant in 1992 & joined the ranks of the self-employed then the light went on in my head

A couple of years ago a friend of mine told me about a business opportunity where I could get paid every time a customer turned on a light, but it wasn’t until September 2004 when I was looking for cheaper phone calls that the light went on in my head, and I realised exactly what she was talking about.

I retired as a Police Sergeant in 1992 and joined the ranks of the self-employed as an aroma therapist, which gave me more time at home with my children. Unfortunately, after a rather bloody divorce, I became a single parent with two children, a large house that was miles from the bus stop, and an unpredictable income. My Police pension was slowly falling in value, and I was turning into a taxi-driver for two teenagers. So we decided to move to a smaller house, nearer school and civilisation, and it was when I was looking for ways of saving money that I found I could make money too, with a range of essential services that everyone already used.

I fit in my customer gathering between running the house and organising the family. I love the simplicity of the Utility Warehouse business opportunity. All the free training, evening meetings, websites, and support are all fantastic. I started my customer gathering with my old friends and customers. Some were really keen; others thought there was a catch, or just didn’t like change. I’ve made some mistakes – check the TV schedule before you call on people, because football is much more important! I was eager to attend events as an approach to gathering customers, and went to a busy car boot sale, only to find that no-one wanted to talk to me. Next time I was far batter prepared.

I’m building relationships with people at women’s networking and business support groups such as WiRE (Women in Rural Enterprise) and WorcNet, as well as BNI. I’ve arranged stands at various events, including a local horse show and the Great Yorkshire Show, and I continue to speak to lots of people about the benefits of either being a Utility Warehouse customer or Independent Distributor.

Why am I doing this? I want to get to the end of the month without worrying about my bank balance, and I want to take time off more often and still get paid. Long-term, I want to move back to my family roots in the Lake District and when my kids have both gone to University I want to take my own gap year too. I want to make sure that you are one of my team/family/friends, because when I turn 60, I plan a very big birthday party where I fly everyone out to Turkey and book them into my favourite hotel!