Profile of Jeanette Forbes, leading woman in a man's world
Profile of Jeanette Forbes, leading woman in a man's world
2. What prompted you to start up in business?
I was made redundant with the last downturn in the Oil & Gas industry. This was the second time this had happened and I decided I did not like the feeling of not being in control of my own destiny and being made to feel like you had no value when you had worked extremely hard to get where you were. I thought it unjust not to have recognition for long hours, lack of time off and having to juggle working life and family life and keep a smile on your face throughout!
3. What was the market situation when you started up? The ICT market place was extremely competitive when PCL Group was incorporated. As you might imagine 28 years ago very few women thought about joining the ranks of their male IT engineer counterparts, and I do remember often walking into functions and seminars and men turning round and their expression being somewhat “why are you not at home with the kitchen sink and the children”, sometimes I wanted to run into a store cupboard and change into a waitress uniform I felt so intimidated. I decided that I had studied to put myself through night-school for a degree and a diploma in management for 4 years and I was as good as anyone of them in the room, so I stuck it out. It was tough and I did sometime relent to the pressure but with “true grit” I bounced back and continued.
4. Do you have a vision for your business and if so, what is it?
To become one of the largest and the best ICT companies in the whole of the UK. A well known brand in towns and cities across and eventually entering International markets.
5. What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome and how did you do it?
When PCL Group was only 2 years old we encountered a “bad debt” for the sum of £179,000.00 through no fault of our own. The company that we were working for quite simply told us they had run out of money. We had two choices, close the business and try and eventually come out of the financial implications that this has on any company or individual or continue trading out of this situation. I decided to trade PCL Group out of the situation. It took us 3 years to come out the other end, no pay-rises for staff, no benefits to the company, you simply have to “tread water” for a long time. Imagine how you would feel when, year after year your accounts show a negative profit! Thankfully we are out of this situation now and going for gold at long last!
6. How did you find the finance to get started?
PCL Group was started from my dining room in our home and with just £100 in cash. I had just been made redundant, I had two children finishing Secondary School sitting exams and was the main bread-winner for the household. Having to pay the mortgage, pay bills and keep the food on the table is a job in itself. I once told a close friend when I first started PCL Group that if I had to eat soup and sandwiches once more I was going to scream!
7. What are your personal qualities that have that have helped you to succeed in business?
Honesty and the ability to keep focused when all around me seems to be in total chaos. I was always good at juggling a number of tasks at the same time, so I think this particular skill set has helped me to get to where I am today. I am a work-horse and sometimes someone has to take out the batteries to give me time to re-charge. I think if you enjoy what you are doing then it is less of a task and it becomes more of a pleasure.
8. How do you keep going when things get tough?
Have a conversation and share a couple of jokes with my engineers and staff. They always give me a shot of reality! We have a great team at PCL Group, all ages and you have to be prepared for the young engineers to tell you something that, really you could do without hearing, especially when they have had a night out. They soon make me realise that life is for living and today’s problems will be resolved by the morning or perhaps the next day, next week, next month, even next year, but they will be resolved!
9. How do you measure success?
I could tell you what the accountants would want to hear which is by the amount of money in the bank but this would not be my view on how I measure success. Success to me means putting in a full days work and earning your corn, ensuring that the rest of the team are happy and content and having a little fun along the way, but never forget business is not a game and the responsibilities should be taken seriously. Work hard, play hard is how I measure myself and the success which PCL Group has achieved in 8 years. I recently attended the Prowess Awards in Birmingham and won Woman in Science, Engineering and Technology for the UK this has to be one of my proudest moments. I suddenly realised that what I do everyday was making a difference. I invited my mother to join me as a guest as she lives in Yorkshire and I live in Aberdeen and we don’t see each other as often as I would like due to work commitments, she cried and told me she was so proud of me, that to me was success with a capital “S”.
10. If you had one piece of advice for a woman starting out in business, what would it be?
If you feel extremely confident that you have the ability to take the rough with the smooth in business then go ahead and do it! I told myself when I first started PCL Group that I would give it “my best shot” and I would like to think that is what I am trying to achieve, 24 hours a day 7 days per week! Only wish I had done it sooner.
Profile of Jeanette Forbes leading woman in a mans world - To learn more about this author, visit Sue Stockdale's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
1. What is your business? PCL Group is a total ICT service provider to the Oil & Gas industry working predominantly in the Offshore, Marine, Commercial and Industrial sectors offering support and maintenance 24/7. We provide IT solutions from conception to completion and even include fibre and CAT5e cabling. None of our work is subcontracted so we have total control and should any problems arise, these become PCL Group problems and we cannot blame other sub-contractors!
2. What prompted you to start up in business?
I was made redundant with the last downturn in the Oil & Gas industry. This was the second time this had happened and I decided I did not like the feeling of not being in control of my own destiny and being made to feel like you had no value when you had worked extremely hard to get where you were. I thought it unjust not to have recognition for long hours, lack of time off and having to juggle working life and family life and keep a smile on your face throughout!
3. What was the market situation when you started up? The ICT market place was extremely competitive when PCL Group was incorporated. As you might imagine 28 years ago very few women thought about joining the ranks of their male IT engineer counterparts, and I do remember often walking into functions and seminars and men turning round and their expression being somewhat “why are you not at home with the kitchen sink and the children”, sometimes I wanted to run into a store cupboard and change into a waitress uniform I felt so intimidated. I decided that I had studied to put myself through night-school for a degree and a diploma in management for 4 years and I was as good as anyone of them in the room, so I stuck it out. It was tough and I did sometime relent to the pressure but with “true grit” I bounced back and continued.
4. Do you have a vision for your business and if so, what is it?
To become one of the largest and the best ICT companies in the whole of the UK. A well known brand in towns and cities across and eventually entering International markets.
5. What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome and how did you do it?
When PCL Group was only 2 years old we encountered a “bad debt” for the sum of £179,000.00 through no fault of our own. The company that we were working for quite simply told us they had run out of money. We had two choices, close the business and try and eventually come out of the financial implications that this has on any company or individual or continue trading out of this situation. I decided to trade PCL Group out of the situation. It took us 3 years to come out the other end, no pay-rises for staff, no benefits to the company, you simply have to “tread water” for a long time. Imagine how you would feel when, year after year your accounts show a negative profit! Thankfully we are out of this situation now and going for gold at long last!
6. How did you find the finance to get started?
PCL Group was started from my dining room in our home and with just £100 in cash. I had just been made redundant, I had two children finishing Secondary School sitting exams and was the main bread-winner for the household. Having to pay the mortgage, pay bills and keep the food on the table is a job in itself. I once told a close friend when I first started PCL Group that if I had to eat soup and sandwiches once more I was going to scream!
7. What are your personal qualities that have that have helped you to succeed in business?
Honesty and the ability to keep focused when all around me seems to be in total chaos. I was always good at juggling a number of tasks at the same time, so I think this particular skill set has helped me to get to where I am today. I am a work-horse and sometimes someone has to take out the batteries to give me time to re-charge. I think if you enjoy what you are doing then it is less of a task and it becomes more of a pleasure.
8. How do you keep going when things get tough?
Have a conversation and share a couple of jokes with my engineers and staff. They always give me a shot of reality! We have a great team at PCL Group, all ages and you have to be prepared for the young engineers to tell you something that, really you could do without hearing, especially when they have had a night out. They soon make me realise that life is for living and today’s problems will be resolved by the morning or perhaps the next day, next week, next month, even next year, but they will be resolved!
9. How do you measure success?
I could tell you what the accountants would want to hear which is by the amount of money in the bank but this would not be my view on how I measure success. Success to me means putting in a full days work and earning your corn, ensuring that the rest of the team are happy and content and having a little fun along the way, but never forget business is not a game and the responsibilities should be taken seriously. Work hard, play hard is how I measure myself and the success which PCL Group has achieved in 8 years. I recently attended the Prowess Awards in Birmingham and won Woman in Science, Engineering and Technology for the UK this has to be one of my proudest moments. I suddenly realised that what I do everyday was making a difference. I invited my mother to join me as a guest as she lives in Yorkshire and I live in Aberdeen and we don’t see each other as often as I would like due to work commitments, she cried and told me she was so proud of me, that to me was success with a capital “S”.
10. If you had one piece of advice for a woman starting out in business, what would it be?
If you feel extremely confident that you have the ability to take the rough with the smooth in business then go ahead and do it! I told myself when I first started PCL Group that I would give it “my best shot” and I would like to think that is what I am trying to achieve, 24 hours a day 7 days per week! Only wish I had done it sooner.
Profile of Jeanette Forbes leading woman in a mans world - To learn more about this author, visit Sue Stockdale's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
|||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Sue's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 |
|
Sue Stockdale Video - Polar adventurer and motivational speaker Sue Stockdale speaking at Millionaire Mind Event in London about building trust in your team on an expedition and setting up systems to make expeditions and business easier.
|
|
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
|
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 Exit Interview Document Article Marketing Radio Campaigns Business Wisdom Social Bookmarking Guide |
|
 | ||
 |
Fortune Hunters
CBC Entrepreneur TV | |
 |
Top 50 Raising Capital Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||