After two years guiding WEN through unprecedented times, Liz Search has handed over the baton to new WEN Chairwoman, Geetanjali Dhar.
We would like to sincerely thank Liz for her dedication to WEN and for leading the way over the last two tumultuous, challenging years and doing it with aplomb. Her hard work and her historical knowledge of WEN will be so very helpful to the new incoming board.
Meanwhile, we welcome Geetanjali as the new Chairwoman of WEN, and look forward to working together with her for the benefit of Women Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong. We are excited for the future of WEN with her at the helm.
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WEN is shining a spotlight on Members who have had great wins, overcome obstacles, used innovative approaches or made other strides as an entrepreneur and who are ready to share their tips with you!
We are delighted to shine our light on Platinum Member and Circle Event Sponsor: Dr. Nichole Salmond of Optimal Family Health Ltd.
Dr Nichola Salmond is the Director and General Practitioner at Optimal Family Health. She has been a general practitioner for 30 years and established Optimal Family Health 5 years ago. We asked Dr. Salmond to share some of her most valuable insights as an entrepreneur and tell us a little bit about her journey as a business owner.
Business Nature: General Health Practice
Business Start Date: 2016
Best Achievement to Date: Seeing my patients recover from long term issues.
One Thing to do Different if Possible: Set up SOP‘s from the start! I never even heard of them until two years in!
One Tip: Join Wen and get support from other women business owners!
Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey: It never crossed my mind to start my own business before, however my previous practice was sold to a business group whose ethos I did not agree with. After considering my options I chose to open up on my own to be able to have a practice where I could better control the patient experience and continue practicing holistic and functional medicine.
I was definitely scared on several levels, the financial investment, the possibility of failure and the responsibility of the buck stopping at me. However I decided to give it a go and I have been pleasantly surprised by how successful the business has become.
I am aware that although the business is successful it has adversely affected my work life balance as I now have 2 jobs; being a doctor and running a business…
Another issue is financially the business is completely reliant on my being there the majority of the time which I find frustrating, however I am looking at ways of solving this issue going forward.
I have learnt a lot about myself and my strengths and weaknesses and I have been surprised to find that I am more capable than I realised. I never saw myself in the role of business woman however sometimes you just have to jump in and do something to realise you can do it!
How do you measure success? Measured success is having to work less and delegate more!
What have been your biggest lessons? Don’t keep incapable staff just because they are liked by everyone, and never hire friends.
What is the next step for your business? Find more good staff so I can work less and the business is not as reliant on me being there.
What top three pieces of advice do you have for other women entrepreneurs?
- Take time to hire the right staff and get rid of them quickly if it doesn’t feel right.
- Set up SOP’s.
- Have good staff contracts set up by lawyers.
Optimal Family Health is Event Sponsor for our upcoming Circle Event on 26th May 2021: Success Stories. Reserve your spot to be inspired and learn from those that have walked before you and to enjoy a special offer from Optimal Family Health here.
Website: www.optimalfamilyhealth.com.hk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Optimalfamilyhealthhk
If you’d like to be in the spotlight, read more on our Sponsorship page.
WEN is shining a spotlight on Members who have had great wins, overcome obstacles, used innovative approaches or made other strides as an entrepreneur and who are ready to share their tips with you!
Tracy Ho of Frame & Fame Personal Branding
Business Nature: Personal Branding Consulting & Coaching
Personal Brand Positioning and Narrative Development, Content Creation, LinkedIn profile optimization, Online Presence and Social Media Strategy.
Personal Branding Coaching, Executive Communication/Presentation Coaching, Executive Presence Coaching
Business Start Date: Nov 2015
Best Achievement to Date: In 2019, we re-positioned ourselves and changed our strategy – instead of covering both company and personal branding, we focus on working with PEOPLE who are serious about their career/business on their personal brand. We had a number of remarkably successful cases on supporting various clients to achieve their personal branding goals, including coaching some entrepreneurs/business owners to pitch to their investors for the required funding; coached corporate executives to land their ideal jobs or get a promotion with a decent, higher-than-expected pay rise; refreshed some business owners and corporate executives’ bios, LinkedIn profile and website content to acquire more clients/opportunities. It’s amazingly rewarding to hear from clients on what they had achieved from a strengthened personal brand.
We are very much honored to have been selected as “the Most Trusted Personal Branding Consultancy of the Year” by the Hong Kong Most Outstanding Business Awards 2019-2020.
One Thing to do Different if Possible: Set up a well-structured business administration process to deal with daily operations, finance, legal, hiring, and resourcing related issues from the beginning. It gets messy easily and quickly. I prefer to put my time into driving the business and working with clients. I should outsource these mundane but necessary parts to someone who’s good at that.
One Tip: Doing less for more results. Be confident to say “no” to things that are distracting or even diverting our energy away from our core strength. Focus on the niche and excel in it. More high-value opportunities will come along.
Tracy Ho is one of our WEN Branding & Pricing Workshop facilitators. Reserve your spot to get honest and constructive feedback on your branding and pricing strategies here.
Website: www.frameandframe.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/frameandfame/
Facebook: facebook.com/frameandfame
If you’d like to be in the spotlight, read more on our Sponsorship page.
On 22 May, our Chairwoman, Liz Search, and Vice-Chairwoman, Geetanjali Dhar, were interviewed by Noreen Mir on RTHK Radio 3’s 123 Show via a Facebook Live stream.
They talked about how WEN supports women entrepreneurs, especially during times of unrest and how to overcome challenges.
To watch the full episode, please click here.
There have been many news articles and social media posts about the various measures that the Hong Kong Government is taking to support individuals and business owners. However, you may not be able to see the wood through the trees with multiple information coming from all sides.
We are therefore happy to see that the Government has created a clear overview that outlines exactly what you are entitled to and which industries can apply for grants. It is encouraging to see that industries such as education and coaching have now been included too.
Please note, this booklet outlines only measures taken with regard to COVID-19. The other regular government grants can still be applied for separately, where applicable to your industry.
