Camille Crichton – poised to take her business to another level

Were it not for the goodness of God, Camille Crichton, founder and owner of Professional Secretarial and Consultancy Services Inc, is certain she would not be in business today.

When she began her small enterprise on May 1, 1989, on the basis of a desire to satisfy a demand for typing services, Crichton did not anticipate the pace of growth of the business.

While still a small enterprise, Crichton tells SEARCHLIGHT she is confident that the mark they have made on the local landscape enabled the public to vote her business best for Secretarial Services in the Best of SVG 2017 awards.

“Based on our high standards and efficiency and how effective we are, I believe we were well [deserving] of it.”

Crichton explains that customer service is important to the culture that she has built at the institution, which is located on the first floor of the Corea’s building, opposite the main offices of Cable and Wireless.

“We love our customers; we don’t believe our customers are doing us a favour.

“Our training is geared at customer service, [we] aim for high standards, [and] ensure the office is organized that when a customer walks in here, they see there is a certain level of professionalism.”

Clients can obtain services ranging from photocopying to visa bookings, minutes taking and reproduction, to training of persons for job placements.

Recounting how she began almost 30 years ago, Crichton explains that following her daily tasks at an accounting firm, persons would ask her to type various documents, which she would do without a charge.

These requests and further inquiries confirmed that there was a niche to be filled; her entrepreneurial spirit rose to the occasion.

However, it took a little while for the birth of Professional Secretarial Services, as the hurdle of securing finances had to be overcome.

Crichton recalls that the first financial institution she approached wasn’t ready to bank on her, even while the project was considered sound; the National Development Foundation, however, demonstrated confidence in the project by extending a loan to help her get started.

Her then employers, a named friend who identified available space and pushed her to begin, as well as the first landlord, who did not accept a rent even while he held the available space open, are among the persons to whom Crichton remains grateful.

“It is important to know where you started,” she observes.

Increasing demand resulted in further expansion of the business to provide consultancy services and requests for skills and other areas of training gave rise to the training institute. Crichton is now “looking to design another programme… to come on stream in primary schools.”

She is pleased that a number of young people, who did not complete their secondary schooling due to early pregnancy, for instance, were able to get another opportunity to improve academically and to learn new skills through the training which the enterprise offered.

Crichton is head of a secretarial staff of five permanent employees, but explains that, due to the consultancy and referral tasks undertaken, up to 20 persons find work through the business.

She, too, is upgrading her professional standing to lead the charge in another chapter at Professional Secretarial and Consultancy Services.

The business can be contacted at telephone number: 456-2822.