This is my last regular column for kbbreview because, after a brief hiatus, during which giving retirement a whirl, tending the garden and overseeing a team of builders didn't quite deliver the challenges I am used to, I am 'back in business'. Accordingly, I can no longer claim the bit-part of objective bystander to our industry.

Quite why is difficult to explain. And frankly, you could be forgiven for thinking that I have lost the plot. After all, the majority of the population dream about retiring and we are in the midst of the worst economic meltdown since the 1930s. So what is it about business that is so alluring? Why put yourself back in the risk game after a successful career spanning almost 30 years?

The truth is once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. Like it or not, I find business addictive and it has ended up defining my personality good and bad. Nothing I have done subsequently has measured up and put simply, it is extremely difficult to resist the lure of business. Its magnetism pulls you back into the fray and while I won't pretend to you that I'm at the helm of a multinational, there's no denying that standing on the sidelines was never going to be good enough for me.

Luckily, age isn't an obstacle where soft skills are concerned. Fortunately, the more cerebral skills such as strategic management, design and innovation don't have sell-by dates. However, I do recognise the verve and vigour that youth uniquely contributes and in order to provide that 'oomph', that I consider so essential, I have assembled a team of younger people including my eldest son Greg Jnr occupying the hot seat as md.

It's as exciting as it is discomforting. To turn the clock back 20 or so years and reacquaint yourself with the challenges that face small businesses each day is quite a shock - as is the number of different hats you need to wear. I was reminded of this recently when I found myself assigned to a service call for a customer that happened to live a few miles away from my home. Yes, she was pretty surprised when she realised the chairman had turned up with a bag of tools to install her new filtration system - but that sort of ground level interaction with your customers is priceless.

And alright, I felt a little apprehensive, but fortunately the job went well, the customer was happy and I was relieved. I drove away feeling quite chuffed and while I won't be making a habit of getting into my plumber's overalls, the experience enabled me to reflect on the importance of maintaining strong customer relationships - particularly in these difficult times.

It is incredibly refreshing and motivational to be involved in a small business again; starting on a new journey of discovery, armed with the knowledge and experience, but with considerably less money and fewer resources to hand. At the most basic level we all know that business is about making money. But alongside that goal, it is a fantastic feeling to contribute to a new business venture at such a fundamental level; influencing its growth, development and hopefully its success, too. Whether or not I live to see it become another Avilion is another matter entirely!

I am back in my element and despite the trials and insecurities, I now realise I know what I enjoy most. The feeling of involvement that only working with a like minded team can provide, negotiating new collaborations, designing and sourcing new products, visiting overseas trade exhibitions, re-branding, writing copy for the new website, overseeing product photography - just like the old times, minus a few loopy characters and with the added interest of a few new ones.

Some folk can cut their retirement cake, collect their carriage clock and leave their careers behind. But I didn't have a career - I had a way of life and while I willingly stepped out of it to evaluate my future, I cannot pretend to you that I never thought I wouldn't return to business in some shape or form.

Writing this article caused me to reflect on a certain Jim Russell - briefly a colleague of mine at what was then 'Barking Grohe'. Jim was the sales manager and there can be no doubt that selling really was in his blood. Following the restructuring of Barking Grohe, we both moved on and unfortunately lost contact. Then, one day, Jim turned up on the doorstep of a fledgling Avilion. Now in his late 50s, Jim explained that he had started up his own business, Jet Building Components Ltd., and wanted us to develop and manufacture some new products for him.

Jim, always a whirlwind of energy and enthusiasm, went on to build a highly successful and profitable business. Eventually - finally - he did decide to sell his business and 'retire' and at the age of 70, promptly enrolled on a university degree course to fulfil a lifetime ambition and study philosophy. Age? Ambition? It's all in the mind!

Now please don't misunderstand me - I have no intention of becoming a door to door salesman - but I am driven by the challenge of not only growing another business. And even more importantly, I want to create a living legacy for my children and hopefully, their children. In my last column, I discussed the importance of investing in the next generation. And what could be more of an investment than a living and breathing business? Sure, businesses often make inhuman demands, but they can also deliver significant rewards in so many ways and those - achieved through grist and grit - are invaluable.

So, farewell and thanks to anyone out there who has taken the trouble to read my monthly musings; if you enjoyed them - great. If you didn't, too bad. And, at least in these difficult times, it might be some consolation that, rather than being a questionable pundit, I'm once again sharing the pain with you.
 
Greg Rowe co-founded Avilion; he is now a director of Appleyard Rowe Ltd, a management and innovation consultancy.