After working for the same company for 13 years and then being overlooked for a well-deserved promotion, Jo Lewis decided she’d had enough. Working overtime with very little praise and appreciation, Jo had no time to spend with her friends or family, she was exhausted and her self esteem was really low. So she decided to change things.
After being made redundant, Fay Blakey wanted enjoyable, flexible part-time work so she could spend more time with her young son. She didn’t want to commute any more and she also wanted hours that would fit around school So she started looking into setting up her own Virtual Assistant business so she could have the life she wanted.
After being made redundant, Laura Coyle didn’t want to go back to working for someone else and she wanted a working life that would reduce her stress levels and fit around her three young children. She didn’t want to waste her redundancy money so she decided to use it to set up her own Virtual Assistant business.
After going on maternity leave from her job in HR, Sophie Khaksari wanted to establish a flexible working life that would fit around her young daughter. Sophie loved her job but felt she wouldn’t be able to provide the service she was used to providing and be the mother she wanted to be. So she decided to set up her own VA business instead.
After leaving her job to start a family, Sadie Finch wanted something for herself. She wanted to dedicate every moment to being the best Mum she could, but because she also wanted to be more than just ‘Mummy’ to her two small boys, she decided to set up her own Virtual Assistant business so she could have the best of both worlds.
Emma Conway-Hyde wanted more from her life. She had become disillusioned with working in an office environment, was finding the commute hard, office politics harder and had become very unhappy. Emma couldn’t bear the thought of being in the same situation in 30 years’ time so she decided to set up her own Virtual Assistant business instead.
Although Jan Baber loved her job, she wanted to find out what her full potential was and if she could actually reach it. Jan knew that she was never going to make the sort of money she wanted by working for somebody else, and because she also wanted more quality time at home as well as more money, Jan decided to set up her own Virtual Assistant business.
I’ve said it before but Gmail is just invaluable for VAs. One reason is that they have a whole section called Labs where you can find useful add-ons to make your inbox a lean, mean productivity machine. Some are simply handy, some are just for fun and others are absolute lifesavers that will make you bow down and worship at the alter of Google!
When you set up a website you need to buy the domain name and then find a place to have the website hosted. You can buy the name from anywhere (I use Go Daddy) and then you’ll need a place to keep the site. Think of your domain name as the name of your shop and hosting as your landlord – they’re the person who makes sure your shop stays open!
Much of the world is currently going through a period of economic and political uncertainty, but you needn’t worry if you work for yourself. Freelancers actually have more options when it comes to being in a strong financial position, having choices and creating a successful future for themselves whatever happens to world economics.
