Sara Hall, owner of Finer Details Personal Concierge Services has been awarded Woman of the Month by Women In Business WA.
Women In Business WA is a locally run networking forum. The owner, Sue Rowe had a vision of creating an interactive knowledge based website along with regular networking events featuring guest speakers.
"I realised a need for like-minded women to be able to communicate and network with each other through a common forum." Sue says.
This vision came alive in August 2008 with the official Women In Business WA launch. Sara was amongst 77 guests who celebrated the launch.
At $27.50 a month many Perth business women are joining and newsletter readership has already grown to over 500.
If you join in October 2008 you will also get one free bonus hour with a Finer Details consultant.
Women In Business WA are having their next luncheon on Thursday 30th October 2008, find out more here.
Click here to see the Woman of the Month article or read the full article below.
| Woman of the Month - September 2008
Sara went into business in February 2007. "I started Finer Details Personal Concierge Services (Finer Details) because my own life/work balance was out of sync. I never had enough time to manage my personal affairs - what I call ‘life admin'. I realised there were many others like me out there and there was a real need for support and assistance. People are working longer hours nowadays, making it harder to successfully manage day-to-day living and still have a social life."
With the help of her Life Coach, Susie Ascott from Present Perfect, Sara started researching alternative career opportunities and discovered the Personal Concierge industry. "It was ideal," she says. "I've always enjoyed working with people and I realised that, as a personal concierge, I would be able to use my organisational and administrative skills to help others. It was daunting though - I'd never even considered starting my own business and I didn't have a clue how to go about it."
Not to be put off, Sara completed a Small Business Management Course and enlisted the assistance of ECU students in preparing a marketing plan for the business.
Since the personal concierge concept was new in Western Australia, there were other hurdles such as low awareness and no networking opportunities with similar Perth-based businesses. So, wanting to learn more from those who had first-hand knowledge and experience in the industry, Sara travelled to San Diego in California to attend an International Concierge and Errands Association (ICEA) annual conference; becoming the first Australian personal concierge service to do so.
| |  |
"My sights are set high for this business. I wanted to network with other personal concierge businesses and this was the perfect opportunity. It was fantastic to hear keynote speakers on topical subjects and to make international contacts."
On returning, Sara organised a local Perth "networking circle" for fellow ICEA concierge businesses. "We all started our businesses around the same time and now meet regularly to discuss marketing strategies, current issues in the marketplace and to support each other in our business ventures". Through the Australian ICEA chapter, Sara has built relationships and alliances with other concierge businesses around Australia. Realising the importance of networking, Sara also attends various different networking events: "There are so many benefits to networking - learning from others, the amazing support and friendships created, building working relationships with clients, potential clients and providers. In this industry we need a comprehensive database of reliable competent providers for our clients."
When Sara started Finer Details, she anticipated the majority of her clients would be Fly In Fly Out workers and busy individuals needing help to reduce their domestic workload. However, she has found the demand in today's marketplace to be much higher from businesses. Most of Finer Details' clients are small to medium sized businesses wanting help in their business and personal arenas. "Amongst other things," Sara says, "we've helped with organising events and marketing material, purchasing gifts (in December we helped several clients to source, gift wrap and deliver Christmas presents for their clients in and around Perth) we've organised gifts for new mothers, booking and waiting for trades people, customised house-sitting while clients have gone away on business or holidays, and we ran personal and business-related errands for another business client who had undergone an operation which left her immobile for several weeks."
Sara is now working with business coach Anthea Moffat from Business Fusion to redefine her business and concentrate on the needs of small to medium sized businesses. You can help this process by filling in the Finer Details business survey - Finer Details Survey.
|
