By Business & Finance 
Lisa Raftery, COO, Tenderscout
Lisa Raftery, COO, Tenderscout takes on the Business & Finance 60-second interview challenge.
Q. What was your first job? My first job was working in the family shoe business in Ballina in Mayo. It was a rite of passage for our family – we were all introduced to the world of retail once we started secondary school and our school holidays were spent rushing in and out bringing shoe boxes out to customers! It has given me a grounding in the basics of business – how to respond to customers, how to work with other people, how to bring your best to work – timeless lessons that are as relevant today in all types of business. Q. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date? Apart from my family, I’m really proud of what we are doing at TenderScout. The company has been empowering other businesses to have the confidence to compete for large contracts in Ireland, UK, Europe and the States. By working with our customers on the right tender for them, we are transforming their business. Through working hand in hand with our customers, we can help scale the company and catapult them on a journey of growth. This is hugely rewarding and exciting! Q. In three words or fewer, how do you define success? I think it’s difficult to define success as it can mean different things to different people but for me, you are only successful if you have worked hard to achieve something that is meaningful. Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? I’ve always taken something from every role I’ve ever been in and I’ve worked with some really inspiring leaders and mentors along the way. It’s my dad who has offered me the advice that is most timeless: listen to your customer, understand what they need, then work hard to deliver on that. Q. How do you motivate yourself and your staff? For me, having a shared purpose and goal can be an incredibly strong motivating factor in delivering success. Obviously, people are motivated by different things but I think why the team at TenderScout works so well, is because we all really believe in and want our customers to win new business. Working together toward this goal is a really exciting place to be right now! Q. If you could step into the shoes of one business person for the day, who would it be and why? I’m a fan of her music but an even bigger fan of her business ethic – Beyonce! I think she surrounds herself with really good people, she responds really well to her customers and fans, she is fearless and pushes boundaries in music and art. She continually improves and innovates along the way, she has meaning and stands for something that is broader than music, and I think she is a really strong and positive role model. I love the fact that she is unapologetically ambitious and works really hard at being the best in the market. I’d also literally like to step in her shoes as her wardrobe is extraordinary! Q. How do you relax? With three young daughters, relaxation doesn’t really come into it! But spending time with the girls at the weekend is a great way to be reminded about the important things. Getting to Burrow Beach in Sutton to play in the sand, or cycling around St. Anne’s park really removes the work stresses and nourishes the soul. Q. What’s your motto? Bring your best to work and believe in what you are doing. Q. What are your aspirations for the future of your business? Right now, we are at a really exciting turning point at TenderScout. We recently secured some funding from Enterprise Ireland and other investors so we are working on launching the next phase of our business success platform. This system will offer our clients a whole host of enhanced services – an on-line marketplace of experienced bid consultants, a suite of competitive data that can help determine how you progress with a tender and a technology that can guide you through the process. We are hiring more staff in our Dublin office and are going through a complete rebrand at the moment to enable us to launch in UK and the US in Q1 2019. My hope is that all our plans are delivered seamlessly while we continue to support our clients to win more business!
For me, having a shared purpose and goal can be an incredibly strong motivating factor in delivering success.
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