We Love Our Business - Sanjay Badhan

It's February - the month of love! - and for the next two weeks we'll be celebrating what our family of clients and contacts love about their businesses.

First up it's Sanjay Badhan, Independent Financial Advisor of Swindon-based Future Planning. Sanjay and his team help clients achieve their financial goals via detailed planning and advice across a range of areas including mortgages, pensions, investments, tax, retirement and inheritance planning.

What do you love about running your own business? 

No two days are the same! We have lots of clients with different requirements and helping them achieve their goals then keep them in a good place is a very satisfying feeling.

We are trusted to do the right thing for our clients, who often have been let down elsewhere.

Working with a fantastic team who are all aligned to helping clients and have good ethical values.

What do you love about your business community? 

The locality is not tiny but it still has a close knit feel where people bunch together and help each other out, and are there to support and be empathetic where required. 

What do you love socially/geographically about your community? 

A variety of restaurants on our doorstep means always something different for lunch where healthy or a little naughty! Good spots to network if not in our lovely offices and there is a good amount of parking and public transport routes available.

While we are locked down name any  business you have ‘loved’ and bought from in your community over the last few months? 

Egg-e-licious for food and drink, fantastic quality and good ingredients made with care.

The Core for a healthy dose of food and juices.

The Bank for when rules permit, going for dinner/lunch/Xmas lunch.

February 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Day – have you carried out any  random acts of kindness (business or otherwise) over the last few months? 

We have connected with a lot of people, especially those shielding and unable to leave their homes. We have also helped to deliver items to any in need. We have spent more time than ever just talking to people who have really appreciated the time taken to liven up their day and provide a break from the news that can appear to be negative at times.

Has anyone shown kindness to you? 

Our clients! They have all been very understanding while we transitioned to working remotely and while our systems are set up to allow this, it is a new process for all both in person and mentally, and some tasks have taken a little longer such as postal or dealing with providers who have also moved staff to work remotely. 

What happens in your business during February?

We are busy as soon as the year starts and as we run up to the end of the tax year, it gets even busier with people keen to utilise allowances for saving tax and this year, they want to benefit from the stamp duty deadline with mortgages and moving or buying homes too.

What would your advice be to a business owner who is feeling ‘flat’ in February? 

Spend some time talking to your clients/customers even just a general chat about their day. That could be the only person they speak to and the impact of this can be very powerful for them, which hopefully provides a comforting and positive feeling back that you have made someone a lot happier.

And finally:

Lockdown will be over soon and the world will return to normal. Before then, focus on yourself and have a strategy of how you intend to make the most of the time remaining with lockdown in place but also what you will do when the world returns to normal. 

Life will run at 100mph soon enough and having a plan is crucial to succeeding. We have had quite a few new clients come to us to use this time to plan their future and finances so they know they are doing the best for them, which has been a great outcome each and every time.

For more information visit www.futureplanningwm.co.uk