When I get approached by newbie or wannabe VA's, they want to know how to get started, how I got started and if I need help. I think it's great that the VA profession is becoming more widely recognized. If you've read my bio you have an idea how I got here, but to elaborate on that, here's my story.
Like the majority of emails I get from those looking to become a VA, I did my research on work from home jobs and found the Virtual Assistant profession to be a perfect match for my many years of corporate experience as an Administrative and Executive Assistant. And like most of those looking to get into this type of work, I also investigated the alternatives to taking the big leap to Entrepreneur.
Telecommuting seemed the perfect fit. Why not? I loved my job and what I did in the office could easily be done from home. The ideal solution to rushing baby out the door to the sitter every morning and I to work and repeating everything in reverse come 5:00 pm. After presenting my superiors with a formal proposal detailing the specifics of how I would work from home, they agreed it was a fantastic idea. They knew my work ethic and trusted me enough to give me the go-ahead.
Little did I know our office manager had other plans. This was new territory for the company and she wasn't willing to let me go there. The week prior to my telecommuting launch, the office manager vetoed our plans for fear it would cause too much animosity amongst my co-workers. I was crushed!
A few years and another baby later, I knew that launching my VA business was the way to go. Life was busier and I was tired of working on someone else's schedule. Things weren't the same at my place of work and I knew in my heart that changes were impending. During this time I started putting the pieces together for my business in whatever free time I had. I enrolled in a web page workshop and learned enough html to build my first website. I created templates for client agreements, gave my company a name and designed a logo. Progress was slow but sure.
The day I was called into the office and laid off due to a company restructuring, was the opportunity I knew I needed to pursue my entrepreneurial dream full time. From there I enrolled in a very supportive small business start-up program which helped me to finish getting everything set up to launch my business 4 months later in July 2006. When one door closed, I opened another and have never looked back.
If you are considering either working with a VA or starting up your own VA business, I highly recommend it. A VA will provide a different level of assistance to that of a traditional in-house employee. As business owners ourselves, VA's understand the day-to-day challenges and demands of operating a business. VA's and clients work together because they choose to enter mutually beneficial working relationships that often become long term partnerships. It's a win-win! I'll let you in on a little secret, if you do the work, entrepreneurial dreams can and do come true! What's your dream? Do you have a story to share?
As a Business Support Specialist, Jennifer Hazlett provides offsite administrative help from her home based office to business owners with a multitude of office management and technical tasks, giving clients the expertise they need and more time to focus on growing their business. Sign up at Jennifer's website, Alternate Admin http://www.altadmin.ca/ for your complimentary report "101 Ways to Boost Business with a Virtual Assistant".