What a week - at the time of writing this article its been nearly seven days since UK "lockdown" and when most of the business world stopped. Small businesses up and down the country were either forced to close or business owners made the correct moral decision to close helping to protect the health of their employees and customers as well as helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Every small business owner in the country who has been affected should be proud of their actions and also give themselves a pat on the back for what they have had to go through over the past week.

Many have had to furlough employees and spend many hours and long days on the phone to customers, suppliers and banks.  

It’s not been easy and it is unlikely to be any easier over the coming weeks and months. But that does not mean that as a small business owner we just sit back and accept our fate, whether that would be as extreme as business closure or just sitting back, waiting and hoping for normal times to return.

It’s important for our health, our families and our business that we have sacrificed so much for over the years to build up that we do not just let the current situation and events overwhelm us.

There are steps we can take to get us through this, to give us the strength to plan our next moves and to action our way out of this not only as business survivors but also in a much stronger position. 

Like nearly every business owner over the past week I've lost sleep, spent many hours on the telephone to a host of different people and organisations and had to make some pretty big and important decisions in recent days that not only affect my own but other peoples life’s. I’ve been running my own business for nearly 24 years now and nothing over that period has prepared me for events of the past week but over those years I've learnt many tactics, routines and plans that have helped me navigate through those many years of small business life.

There's probably going to be no other time in my business life where I need to rely on that arsenal of tools as much than the present time - I'm compiling this list of things primarily for my own benefit as it's so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of news, social media posts, guidance and rules, that I needed to write them down in this article to keep on reminding myself that I have tools to help my wellbeing, to help me focus and to help me plan for the coming weeks, months and years ahead.

Below is a list of 10 tools that I rely on, some every day, some every week and some whenever I require them. The list is not exhaustive but hopefully you will find some of them helpful to not only as small business owners but also as human beings trying to navigate through this turbulent time.

Please comment and share with me your own tactics and tools. 

All future news and blog posts about Stirling Electrical Services and Stirling Alarms will now be on their new blog available on the Stirling Electrical Services website.

Please visit this link for the new business blog.

Fallin-based electrical contractor Stirling Electrical Services Ltd. celebrated the official launch of our new Electric Vehicle (EV) Charge Point Installation service on Monday 17th February.

Formed in 1996, the company have a large client base throughout Scotland carrying out electrical and security system work in homes and businesses.

The new EV charge point service is fully approved by both UK and Scottish Government grant assistance schemes OLEV and Energy Savings Trust, enabling Stirling Electrical Services Ltd. clients to apply for financial assistance for the installation of a new EV charge point at their home.

After many months of preparation company director Scott McLean said “The EV industry is an exciting opportunity for us, we have invested heavily in training and qualifications for our EV team and our office-based and electrical teams have worked tirelessly to prepare for the launch of this new service.

It is approaching 5 years since Stirling Electrical Services Ltd. launched our security systems division, ‘Stirling Alarms’ and everyone is excited to bring our new EV service to the local area."

The company have launched a new website www.stirlingEV.co.uk to provide current or soon-to-be owners of electric vehicles with information and guidance on the process of having a new EV charge point installed for their vehicle.

Across our electrical and security system services we currently have opportunities available for qualified electricians and security system engineers to join our team.
Vacancy information is available at www.stirlingelectrical.co.uk/recruitment

Stirling Electrical Services recently installed a new audio visual system at The National Wallace Monument.

Situated in 'Keepers Lodge' on the ground floor of the monument the new video will give an insight into the famous local landmark.

Visitor information can be found at www.nationalwallacemonument.com

A busy day for our Saturday electricians.

Emergency fault finding (and repair) a socket circuit fault over three floors of a local hotel.

While also completing our planned Saturday job of upgrading old fuse boxes to two new RCBO consumer units at a Stirling business.

Oh and also a security alarm call outs and repairs.

Well done to our team. ​

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
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Did you know that a staggering 64% of British adults admit that they are still scared of the dark.

36% regularly get the feeling someone or something is in the room with them.

And 1 in 5 regularly check under the bed for lurking monsters and close cupboard and wardrobe doors before they get into bed.

Those were some of the findings from a 2017 poll conducted by a UK bed company.

And with the clocks now turned back and Hallowe'en upon us, travelling to and from work in the dark will soon be a reality.

But even with 17 hours of darkness each day in the depths of the Scottish winter is there any reason to still 'Be Afraid Of the Dark'?

Let's look at some suggestions to help cope with the dark nights. 

​What Can You Do?
To help protect You, your Family and your Property during the long dark winter

It’s been a double Apprentice celebration week for us at Stirling Electrical Services.

Apprentices have always been at the forefront of our business development and while we do not employ apprentices every year we will always have at least one ongoing apprentice.

This week I received the fantastic news that our 4th year apprentice Craig had passed his electrical trade exam and then at the other end of the spectrum we welcomed our new apprentice Shaun to our team.

After four hard working years and a two day trade exam I was pleased with Craig’s success and equally delighted to offer him an electrician position as we look forward to many more successful years together.

All of us at Stirling Electrical Services Ltd. would like to wish a happy 20th birthday to the Trading Standards organisation Buy With Confidence.

We were one of the first company to be vetted and approved by Stirling Council in 2012.
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To be included in Buy With Confidence membership the following is required: