Cornish Woman in Freelancer Award
Dawn Lane proves that working from home as a remote secretary, helping other small businesses with their administration, is not 'just' a past time but a strong business venture by being awarded runner up in a UK national competition to find the Freelancing Consultant of the year.
- (1888PressRelease) September 08, 2010 - Freelance secretary and PA Dawn Lane, of Liskeard, Cornwall, scooped third place for The PCG Freelancer Award in The Remote Worker Awards, in association with BT Business at the winning ceremony held at The Grand Connaught Rooms in London on 1st September.
The PCG Freelance Consultant Award has raised awareness for freelancing as a lucrative and rewarding career. There has been a range of skills with enterprising individuals, who have forged a career for themselves using their expertise in consultation to help other businesses grow.
In 2006, Dawn was employed by the The South West Peninsula Strategic Health Authority (SWPSHA) and worked with an Associate Director who was always on the road, providing her with remote secretarial services when she was out of the office. When the SHA restructured later that year, Dawn saw that there was a gap in the market for businesses who were constantly out of the office and on the road but needed secretarial support, and as a result Your Office Online was born.
Never the twain shall meet
Working as a remote secretary was a bit of a leap of faith for Dawn. Known as a Virtual Assistant (VA), the industry sector was fairly new in the United Kingdom at that time, and she wasn't sure whether businesses would warm to the concept of their administration being completed by someone they couldn't see or may never meet. Today Dawn works as PA to a number of clients based in the UK, located in areas ranging from the West Midlands to Kingston Upon Thames and the West Country, and whose own businesses range from locum GP provider for the Armed Forces to a masseuse who works in the UK and Dubai.
"I am absolutely delighted to be recognised with such a prestigious award for the contribution that freelance workers make to businesses." Dawn continues "Most businesses, from small start-up companies to multi-nationals, can benefit from partnering with a VA gaining the professional services of a personal assistant whilst only being charged for the actual time spent on their work and not having to worry about things like HR issues, covering for leave, NI and PAYE etc. As VAs are self-employed business people in their own right, they have an understanding of the pressures businesses are under in today's economy and are able to help businesses with their admin requirements in many ways, not just typing reports and memos."
She says "Working as a freelancer in my industry sector is never dull - no two days are ever the same. One minute I may be taking bookings for my masseuse, explaining to stressed business people how the therapist can help them relax, and dealing with the Ministry of Defence medical service the next, providing locum doctors to cover for Army doctors who have been called away on service requirements elsewhere in the world."
Dawn is also kept busy with the setting up of a new venture which has grown from her current freelance work. Constantly being approached by other aspiring VAs who asked how she had set up her own company, Virtual Business in a Box is a product aimed at small businesses and sole traders who are venturing into the world of self employment. It is literally a box which contains all the administrative things which a new business needs to set up - things such as web site design, logos, templates and guides. Dawn is hoping to launch the completed product later in the year, once she finds time to finish writing her guide.
Further information about Dawn and her businesses can be found at: www.your-office-online.co.uk and www.virtualbusinessinabox.co.uk
About Your Office Online
Launched in 2006, Your Office Online specialises in offering traditional PA and secretarial services to SMEs and business start-ups. Current clients include private GP practice; a company providing GP locum services to the Armed Forces; a not for profit business organisation and a local journalist. Visit the website at www.your-office-online.co.uk
The winners of The Remote Worker Awards can be found at www.remoteworkerawards.com.
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