13 Jun Eureka! I can run a business!
I have always been envious of others who work for themselves, I just didn’t realise that I had skills that meant I could have my own business too.
With two children under 10, I am limited to the hours I can work without having to spend a fortune on childcare. As a mother I want to be able to take my children to school and spend time with them however as a woman I like to work. I like to be challenged and I enjoy completing projects and also helping people.
My eureka moment came when I was talking to another mum at the school gates a while ago. She had recently left her job and said she hadn’t got another post to go to but she wasn’t concerned as a friend of hers had set up as a “VA” and with her wealth of PA experience she knew she could do this too. I asked what a lot of people will wonder too, “What is a VA?” She explained that a Virtual Assistant (VA) is a personal assistant, executive assistant and administrator all rolled into one. They are self-employed and offer a range of services to many businesses from their own homes or anywhere with an internet connection. My friend did not become a Virtual Assistant in the end as she found a perfect PA job but she left me thinking… That evening I started to research about the role that a VA plays and as I found out more I came to the realisation that I could do this!! I read everything I could on the internet and bought an ebook called “The Bootstrap VA, The Go Getters Guide to becoming a Virtual Assistant, Getting and Keeping Clients and More” by Lisa Morosky and found a wonderful website The VA Handbook and quickly KDVA came into my mind.
The Go Getters Guide is a very comprehensive account of what you need to know, what equipment you need and how to set up a freelance VA business. It broke every stage down and explained what you needed to do to achieve each section. This book was a great start but I felt I really needed to get real life advice from other VA’s. This is where thevahanbook.com comes in. Jo Munro, the site’s owner, not only delivers a range of paid for courses but she also provides a wealth of free information on her website, through her blogs and via her Facebook page. The Facebook group is an invaluable resource where new or prelaunch VAs can ask experienced VA’s and Jo herself what it is really like to run your own business, what problems you may encounter and how to resolve them. It really is a great source of information.
Firstly I wrote my business plan which outlined what my services would be, my niche, rates, terms and conditions and included a marketing plan. I knew I needed to create a modern professional website to inform potential clients what I could do for them. I bought a domain name, hosting website and installed WordPress. I am very fortunate to know a social marketing guru, Katie Di Stefano. So I employed her services to build my website, and set up all the social media outlets that I needed; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. She recommended an excellent local business called Green Umbrella. I engaged Mark Mundin from Green Umbrella to design my logo and business cards.
So KDVA Kate Denne Virtual Assistant was created…
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