Over the coming months we are delighted to bring you a series of interviews with Tracey Dixon of Amber Cat Admin.  

Tracey is just starting out with her Virtual Assistant business and I’m sure that these posts will be a great help to others thinking of starting out, and that those of us who have been around a little longer will support Tracey with our help and advice.

Please do share your expertise or questions in the comments below.

What prompted you to become a Virtual Assistant?

After spending the last five and a half years as a Team Secretary with a company that started out with integrity and that I was happy working for, I watched it being taken over by its American umbrella company; I felt that it lowered its values to increase its profits.  It introduced a 4-year pay-freeze, whilst it increased working hours and took away the benefits that made you feel that the company appreciated you as an individual.  Soon I felt I was just another number working for a corporate machine, rather than a respected and valued member of a team working for a company that I could respect.  I loved the people I worked with, but no longer respected the company that I worked for.

As my partner watched my self-esteem slowly ebb away as the company became more and more impersonal, he had spotted something online called a Virtual Assistant (VA).  At the time, I didn’t really pay any attention as I wanted to believe that the company would somehow return to the one I’d joined years ago, the one I trusted and respected.  However, when that disillusionment was combined with the risk of a compulsory redundancy, during my “30-days consultation”, I looked deeper into the concept of working as a VA and realised that this was something that really appealed.  I would be my own boss, I could work with companies that I could respect (and be respected by) and it is something that I know that I am fully capable of doing and will excel at!  I just needed to actually “get out there and do it!”  Once I made that decision, I confused a lot of people at the company I was at as I could hardly wait for my redundancy notice to come through!

What has been most helpful to you in setting up your business?

As soon as I received the official notice of redundancy on 24 November 2011, I signed up for a one-to-one training course with Caroline Wylie, owner of Virtually Sorted and founder of the Society of Virtual Assistants.  It was perfect timing for this one-off opportunity and Caroline is lovely to talk to and the information that was included in the course was great.  Most importantly, I think that she also reassured me that this lifestyle was a reality; it is something that many VAs achieve and something that I can achieve too.

I also signed up to intelligentVA’s newsletter, which included tips and tools to help me, both in the set up process and once I’m up and running.  This has introduced me to many tools which I don’t know if I’d have found by myself.

Finally, I think the moral support from my partner has been something I couldn’t have done without.  Not once has he told me to give up and look for a “real job”, and he’s happy to support me while I search for that elusive first client and beyond.  I think he’s just happy to see me motivated and more the person he met, rather than the disillusioned shell that I had become, and to be honest, so am I!

How much research did you do before setting up?

It may only be 8 weeks since my redundancy, but I feel that I’ve crammed about 6-months worth of research into that time.  I’ve worked with Caroline, signed up to newsletters, attended a couple of webinars, signed up to VA forums, asked questions of other VAs and attended the intelligentVA coffee mornings in York to chat in person to some VAs who were actually making a living from their job and loving their career choices.

What steps have you already taken to promote your new business?

I ordered a logo through LogoNerds.com and was delighted with the result.  I’ve now got a geographic (0113 – Leeds) VOIP phone number from voipfone, which enabled me to order my business cards from VistaPrint and complete the contact section of my website.  I then launched my website on 16 Jan 2012 and received my first business cards on the same date.

I am gently promoting Amber Cat Admin through Twitter and Linked In.  I also have a facebook and G+ page, although I will admit I’m maybe not using these to the best of their potential just yet.

I’m starting to look at attending networking events in Leeds, and looking at online networking, especially through Linked In (groups and contacts) and have attended a Forward Ladies’ lunch, which was a lot more relaxed and friendly than I expected networking events to be!  J

I hope to target environmental / sustainable / green / eco companies, as I have a passion for sustainability and trying to “save the world”.  I feel that this is a good starting point for a mutual respect with a client, which can hopefully mature into a great working relationship; I will be looking to try and contact people from these fields of work in the near future.

How did you work out what you were going to charge?

After talking to other VAs, especially Helen Stothard from intelligentVA and Caroline Wylie from the Society of VAs, I realised that I had to make sure I didn’t undersell myself.  I am an independent contractor who is, not only providing a service which will assist the client to ensure their business runs more smoothly and save them time and money, but I am also running my own business and responsible for my own bills, insurance, equipment, software and other costs.  I am not going to “settle” for pennies per hour and undervalue myself just to try and get my first client, because if a client is the sort who cannot recognise that a good VA will add value to their company, then they are unlikely to be the type of client that will respect me for the work I will do.  I have set my value at £25 per hour and have offered a discount for retainer clients who buy monthly batches of 5-10 hours and 10+ hours, to be paid in advance.

What are your plans for the next few months?

My next few months will mainly be spent networking, online and in person, and organising my marketing plan to try and ensure that each contact I make is contacted to ensure they are connected via Linked In and hopefully Twitter, and try and keep in contact with them my business to  hopefully getting my first few retainer clients.  I have also signed up with Lucy Walker Recruitment for short-term temp work, to both get a little bit of income and to get some positive testimonials on Linked In, which I can also put on my website.

Job Centre Plus has also put me in touch with Leeds Chamber of Commerce regarding support for setting up my new business, so I’m looking forward to seeing if that goes anywhere.

What questions do you still have unanswered?

I don’t think that any of the questions I have left actually have answers.  I think they’re all “How long is a piece of string?” type questions, ie. When will I have my first client?  The answer being, I won’t know until I get them – but that’s still OK as they are all part of my journey to being a VA.

What support network do you have?

My personal support network consists mainly of my partner, although friends and family are supportive of my career choice.

My business support networks include Twitter, intelligentVA, the Society of Virtual Assistant Forums, the VAForums and several Groups on Linked In.  I have also joined Forward Ladies, a support and networking group for women into business.

What has been the most exciting aspect of setting up your business so far?

I think it has to have been when my business cards from VistaPrint arrived.  I love my new logo and seeing it in print (recycled card!) was a highlight for me.

What goal would you like to achieve before we catch up with you next month?

I would love to say “I would like to have my first monthly retainer client”, but more realistically, I’d like to have contacted several people within my target market of environmental / sustainable / green / eco companies, have more confidence about how I can adjust the mindset of companies so they can see that I, as a VA, will value to their business, rather than be the expensive resource that they might currently see any freelance contractor to be.

You can connect with Tracey at the following locations:

Linked In: TraceyADixon
Twitter: @TraceyADixon
Facebook: Amber Cat Admin
G+: Amber Cat Admin