A well-known face among Mayo’s business community, and winner of last year’s Network Mayo Businesswomen of the Year Award (Employee ), Olwen Dawe is starting anew with an innovative business service for SMEs nationwide.
Ms Dawe, a native of County Galway, moved to Westport in 2007 and has been actively involved in local commerce, particularly Network Mayo, since then. Based in Louisburgh, Ms Dawe was employed as a marketing manager until earlier this summer. The idea to start a new business was not immediate. “Like so many in the same situation, I did reel from the shock of losing my job,” she said. “It wasn’t an obvious move to start something myself.” However, increasing evidence of job-scarcity changed her mind: “It became obvious I wasn’t going to find the job I wanted, and moreover, my friends kept nudging me in the direction of self-employment — in the end, it just made sense.”
So what is this new business of hers all about? “Essentially, I had little choice in what I was going to do, I had to play to my strengths, and try to make sure that I had an audience in doing so. My background has been in the communications line, more recently marketing and client management, so I felt that I could utilise these skills, plus other experience over the years, to help others.” How did she know there was a market? “Well, a little was guess-work, talking to friends in business, and I used forums like IBW to test the water. Thankfully the responses were what I’d wanted them to be.” IrishBusinessIntelligence.com provides practical, cost-effective, marketing and communication solutions for SMEs, focusing on improving the business’s sales efficiency and ultimately, the bottom-line is “now more than ever, you have to get your marketing plan straight and know where your business is headed.”
For more information visit www.irishbusinessintelligence.com, email Olwen Dawe at [email protected], or phone her on 087 799 7772.
