Today is a very exciting day in the history of Net Secretary. I received confirmation from the Australian Achiever Awards that I scored a 98.09% for customer relations and service in the SA Office Services and Supplies category. Anything above 80% is considered exceptional, so I am stoked. The winner in the category will be announced later in the year but in the interim, I have a “Highly Recommended” recognition that I can proudly promote to my clients, existing and new. Net Secretary’s details have been added to the Australian Achievers website as a business who is committed to customer service.

I believe awards are an important recognition of achievement in any business, big or small, and add to the business credibility in the eyes of clients.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Recently one of my VA colleagues wrote about her shock and sadness at finding out someone in a different state had registered the same business name as her. She has been in business for 4 years and the other person registered the same name last April. It was a huge lesson for her as she had assumed that once registered, no one else could register it but that is not the case in Australia - unless you trademark or set up a Pty Ltd. Different people in different states can register the same business name. She is in the process of seeking legal advice to see where she stands and where to from here.

It prompted me to have another think about Net Secretary and how much it has become part of my identity over the past four years. It defines exactly what I do (an Internet Secretary or Virtual Assistant) and I am proud that I dreamed up the name and tag line myself. I have done a few searches over the years and no one has yet registered the name in any other state that I am aware of. I have also explored the path of trademarking but I think I need to engage the services of an experienced IP solicitor to do this for me as I think it is more complicated than simply applying. I believe you have to have a case as back-up. So this is something I am seriously thinking about again.

I am certainly not an expert when it comes to registering a business name  but probably a good idea to do your homework and research.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I’m a regular subscriber to the Flying Solo newsletter which is always entertaining and full of great tips and advice for solopreneurs . This weeks’ newsletter had a great article on a simple little end-of-year exercise which I would encourage everyone to do. Looking back on your business over the last year, ask yourself the following three questions:

1. What are you happiest about right now?
2. What are you most excited about?
3. What are you proudest of?

In the spirit of practising what I preach, here are my answers to these three questions:

1. That I have a thriving, profitable business in an industry I am passionate about and that I look forward to working in every day.
2. I am excited about all the big changes and growth that Net Secretary is going to experience in 2008.
3. I am proud that I have steered Net Secretary to the business it is today, and will be, entirely through my own efforts and initiative.

Have a wonderful New Year everyone.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I’ve just finished a 31 page draft of my business plan. I have had a Business Plan in place for Net Secretary from Day One and when I look back now on what the original was, I’m amazed at its simplicity. The business plan has had a few incarnations over the years and I have always been quite good at revisiting my plan once or twice a year. However now that Net Secretary is growing, I really needed to revisit where I was and where I wanted to be. It was an exhausting but rewarding process and I found some things out about my market and my competition that I hadn’t previously given much thought to. When I say the plan is a draft, its been sent to my business coach to look at, so there will probably be more work on it soon. Not that a business plan is ever really finished in my view. I see it as an evolving, living document that should be updated regularly and referred to often. If we fail to plan, we plan to fail. I also really like this quote from Alan Lakein ~ “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now”.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!