Small Business Q&A: Rani Dabrai

In this week’s Q & A, Kehlan talks with Rani Dabrai of Miss Moneypenny, which provides virtual office services for businesses

Is the name inspired by James Bond?

Yes, it’s exactly that. Because, when I was starting the business I said to myself that this was going to be a support service, a secretarial service for companies. I wanted it to be done in a way that would be the secret support service. We wanted to be part of the organisational prowess of entrepreneurs and businesses. I thought about the name and, of course, Miss Moneypenny is the most famous of all secretaries.

Where does your story begin with this?

I was working in a company that was very admin-heavy some years back. I had an hour and a half commute to and from work every day. So, I put a proposal to the company about working remotely. The proposal included other staff who were in the same boat as me. I put it to the management that they could save money on office sizes, rents, overheads, etc if they allowed people the option to work remotely. However, the company didn’t like the idea. In fact, they were quite against it. I have to admit I had a bit of a sulk for a while over it, but soon realised that if they didn’t like it that somebody else might. So, I started the business at the height of the recession, so the first six months were very difficult. Now, we’re hiring and flying along, helping lots of entrepreneurs with their to-do lists and business organisation.

You started up in the recession, so were you bootstrapping from the beginning?

We had to bootstrap from the beginning, but it forced me to do things in the most efficient way, but also deliver a really good service to go alongside that. They say that businesses which start in a recession retain all the good qualities. I like to think that way about us. So, yes, we bootstrapped in the beginning. However, those efficiencies were passed onto the client so it made us good for them in the end.

What services do you offer?

The first is our telecoms where we offer a telephone service to customers. We will answer the phone with the name of a person’s company, so people believe they’re a big company. The second is the main remit of Miss Moneypenny. That is our admin service where we take on a lot of the paperwork that can build up when running a company. We have a team of virtual assistants who engage with customers and find exactly what they need to know about a specific company. We find out how everything works in their business, how operations are carried out. So, everything from contracts to customer enquiries now flows through us and on then to the client. We aim to free up as much time for the business owner so they can take the business forward and become more successful. It’s a very collaborative process.

What’s next for Miss Moneypenny?

Well, of course, we want to take over the world. Part of that concept is in our name. I’ve been very ambitious from the beginning about where we wanted to take the business. In other countries this isn’t something new like it is here in Ireland. I want the SME market to know that this is a more accessible way of growing their business. We want to be the go-to crowd who can help to ease the pressure on business and get the entrepreneur thinking more about growth than paperwork.