by Sarah Bradley, Partner & Executive Virtual Assistant at Help Ahoy.

I set up my VA business in October 2009 and it feels like a lifetime ago.  Just over 2 years since I first started to read Nadine Hill’s Virtual Assistant’s Handbook and what a roller-coaster ride it has been.

What have I learned?  What would I have done differently?  These questions and many others jostle for position in my mind at the moment.  Whilst I don’t want to put anyone off being a Virtual Assistant, I can say right now that it isn’t for everyone.  Yes, you may be the world’s best Secretary/PA/Administrator/Bookkeeper but setting up in business for yourself really is another kettle of fish entirely.

One particularly harsh lesson I learned very early on is that not everyone is happy to see you succeed.   My belief in COLLABORATION rather than COMPETITION saw me through the worst days and I received amazing support and continue to do so to this very day via The Virtual Assistant Support Group and intelligentVA.

Here are 5 nuggets of advice I would pass on to any budding Virtual Assistants out there or anyone starting up in business for the first time:

1. TRAIN FAMILY & FRIENDS - It isn’t simply a case of telling them once that you’re actually working at home all day.  They forget, or worse, don’t really believe you or find it hard to take you seriously!  After all, everyone knows that ‘working from home’ is a euphemism for mucking about on t’internet in your ketchup and dried egg stained Waynetta Slob Tracky Bottoms!  You have to continually remind them tactfully that you’re not available for chats, picking up dry cleaning or looking after their kids because you are WORKING!  Mean business isn’t the same as being a ‘mean’ business person.

2. PROTECT YOUR TIME – time is money and is very elastic.  We’re not talking bouncing cheques type of elasticity (that is a topic for an entirely different blog!).  Time manages to fit everything you want to do but rarely fits the things you don’t like and therefore don’t want to do.  It is too easy to become The Prince or Princess of Procrastination when you are your own boss.  Self discipline is singularly the most difficult thing to master when you’re the boss.  My aim is always to be The Diva of Getting Things Done – not only for my clients but also myself and my family!

3. DON’T WORK FOR FREE – you may come across many budding entrepreneurs desperate for your help who will offer you the promise of future spondoolies when they land their first contract or shares in their company as they genuinely believe they’ll be the Next Big Thing.  Their passion is infectious and it is easy to get drawn into the excitement of being involved in something at ground level.  It is a big gamble.  If you can afford to gamble, then go for it by all means!  My advice is to start off by offering an introductory rate during the first couple of months, but after that you need to respect yourself, your family, your business and your bank manager enough to demand what you’re worth or walk away.  It takes courage to do this.  If you don’t have any courage you need to GET SOME!

4. ETHICAL NETWORKING - Build relationships rather than trying to flog your services to anyone who’ll listen.  People only do business with people they know, like and trust.   One of the best business networking organisations I came into contact with was 4Networking because this is their mantra.  I’ve always felt uncomfortable selling and realised that I do best when I simply chat to people with an honest desire to help.

5. SAVE – For every £1 put around 30% of it away for the Taxman and to try to build up a reserve of dosh to act as a buffer if you’re not able to work due to short illnesses, cover dips in revenue and fund time off for holidays.  It goes without saying that you need to be debt free when you start your business.  I had around 6 months’ salary to fund my early days and it went all too quickly.

And finally…

GOOD LUCK!

About the author:

Sarah Bradley is a wife to a proud Scotsman, mature(ish!) mum to 2 young sons and carer of the one remaining family goldfish called Bob.   She lives happily by the seaside in North East Somerset and has successfully trained her family, friends and neighbours to leave her alone whilst she’s in her home office during the day.  They were very good students and grasped the fact very early on that Sarah works very hard to provide Help Ahoy’s clients with the best in Virtual Assistance and bookkeeping from her well equipped office using the best tools that cloud technology offers.

For more information about Help Ahoy visit their website www.helpahoy.com