Dawson Radford founder Jo Dawson tells us why the ‘genuine helpfulness of local people’ in Sheffield City Region has supported her in starting her ‘professional, straight-talking, fun’ firm
I was inspired to start my business by…
A need to provide my clients with the level of service they deserved. I was seeing an increased disparity between the service which could be offered, and the need to drive profits, against how my clients actually wanted to be treated. I decided the only way to control this was to set up my own practice to provide that service.
My favourite thing about running my business is…
Being able to make decisions. Don’t get me wrong, it can sometimes be lonely being the sole decision maker – but the ability to make a decision there and then, without months of partner or director meetings vastly outweighs that. If we need to do something, we think about it, and then implement.
The three words that best describe my business are…
Professional, straight-talking, fun.
Sheffield City Region is a great place to start a business because…
Of the number of organisations available to offer help and advice. I remember sitting down with someone from the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub and being amazed not only by the knowledge they had, but the number or organisations they could signpost me to.
Sheffield City Region is a great place to grow a business because…
Of the genuine helpfulness of local people. Being born and raised in Sheffield, this didn’t come as too much as a surprise, but other people’s willingness to help and see other people get on is something I will always be grateful for. People going out of their way to help others will never get old.
The best advice I ever got was…
Never ask anyone to do anything you’re not willing to do yourself.
The worst advice I ever got was…
Don’t set up a new business, don’t employ staff, don’t get your own premises – the list goes on!
The organisations that have supported me and my business include…
Our clients. Our clients are our best advertisers, and them taking the time to recommend and refer to us is a great source of new business for us. Plus, it reassures me that we’re doing something right.
The main challenges facing my industry/sector are…
In my experience, a lack of lawyers! This might seem odd, but trying to find good lawyers who want to work in Sheffield remains a challenge, particularly for smaller firms like us. The best people are those who either grew up or went to university here, but on a recent recruitment drive I still had a real difficulty finding people with the expertise I wanted. I have therefore decided to grow my own.
In 5 years’ time I expect my business to…
Be well recognised as a specialist corporate/commercial law firm. We will be well-known for the high level of service we provide, and the good work we do, both in the Sheffield region and beyond. Clients will want to come to us, and we will recruit and retain good quality lawyers.
