In 1997 I suffered an eye injury when playing 5 a side football. The end result of which was a cataract, and ultimately a replacement lens in my right eye.

For 20 years I’ve been seeing through it without any difficulty until in September 2016 when I visited the optician for a regular check up. I was referred back to the eye hospital because there was a film deposited on the lens. One Monday in mid-August 2017 I had that film lasered off.

For most of the last couple of years, without realising the extent, I’ve been losing the sight in that right eye. Brains are wonderful, I’d been building a picture in my mind of what the world looked like through a combination of fuzzy right and shortsighted left. It’s not ideal. Only after a laser had cleaned the surface of the lens did the loss become clear. An afternoon walk allowed me to see depth at distance that’s been missing for a long time. Colours had hues and brilliance I’d forgotten could exist. So much so, that for a while I had to stop and let my mind catch up. I’m enjoying seeing clearly with the new found wonder of a child who first looks at the moon through a telescope. I know that wonder will fade, but I intend to enjoy it whilst its newness enthrals.

In business too, sometimes little things start clouding over, but the business masks the gradually changing view we have. We lose a bit of colour here, and the depth perception starts to fail at the edges, until one day the business we had is no longer there. Sometimes, you need an outsider just to peer in and see the clouds, to refer you to the right specialist who, with a targeted intervention, clears the mist. If you’ve been wondering why things aren’t quite as bright as they used to be, this may be that time for you.

When was the last time you had a proper business checkup?