One of the biggest lessons that I have had, apart from faith in my own ability to achieve something, is managing people whom do not share your passion to achieve a dream. It is SO frustrating to be given un-concise information whilst dealing with companies and institutions whom have no interest in doing more than is required.
The process of both applying for ‘Change of Use’ on a property, getting a company to complete that in a given timeframe and being able to follow up and find information whilst the application is in progress are key examples of this. Step 1 – After 3 or 4 weeks of ‘it will be ready on Monday…’ , lots of phone calls to keep things moving and in the company’s focus [life lesson – chase people! If you do not chase them and assume everything is happening, you are being dillusional. All businesses have multiple things on the go and priorities change constantly. It is your perogative to keep your stake in focus!]. Step 2- Once the application is submitted, be prepared to wait for a while before you hear/see anything. The councils are institutions, therefore NOTHING happens in a timely manner! Each application/request has to pass through at least 2 people (if you are lucky) or more (if you are unlucky) – this takes a long time! [life lesson – patience. it gets to a point where you need to sit back and let things percolate, like fine coffee. The result will be sweet, but only once you have waited for the process to complete sufficiently].
In our instance, application finally submitted at the beginning of March 2017. I am writing this on the 19th March 2017. I currently have not visibility on what is occuring, no control over the process and no-one to directly speak to regarding this…….patience.
Rockburn LTD 