I am an entrepreneur at heart. I dream at night of business ideas and I have since I was a teenager. But thinking about it is one thing and doing it is a whole different story. I am a mover and shaker and this is my story.
I began doing direct sales as a consultant in November 2007. This was my way to get out of the home and to get my feet wet as a business owner. I loved being the sole decision maker for my business or so I thought. I loved the idea of owning my own business. Over time I found some restrictions to the rules that the company I sold for had regarding advertising, participation of events, etc. were difficult for me. Some of them made sense and some of them felt too restricting to me. After a while I began to not love being in direct sales. It is a hard business to be especially if you live in a small community like I do.
One day I was having a conversation with a colleague in my networking group. There was discussion about how business was going for them and how they really need professional office support services. I started to think that maybe the 15 years experience would help them and others. Before I could react to this idea another networking colleague came to me and with a similar story. This is when a light began to go off in my head. I could help these people manage their businesses! This is how the idea for Small Office Services was born. My colleagues need me and my expertise.
I have had the opportunity to work for many years in many different places. My favorite jobs were with the temporary office agencies. I liked the challenge of newness and having constant change. To me it is stimulating to have something new come up often. When I took a non-temporary position eventually I would get bored with the job because the challenge was no longer there once I settled into the position and organized things to work routinely. I like a challenge and being a Virtual Assistant is that challenge.
Ten years ago I thought that a Virtual Assistant business was for me but at that time I also felt that the Berkshires weren’t ready for it. Over time I have had the opportunity to meet people I feel are now open to using modern technology to manage their businesses and I am up for the challenge of meeting that need. I never do things half way.
I have been pursuing my degree for many years now. I love school and educating myself and keeping my skills topnotch. It has always been important even when I wasn’t working to keep my skills sharp and my brain stimulated with new and different things.
So what does it take to start a Virtual Assistant business? Not much really. Choosing a name was difficult and my family and friends all made awesome suggestions. I went to my town hall and bought a business license. I already had a complete home office so I upgraded some of my equipment and purchased some computer software I didn’t already own. I bought liability insurance and bonded my company. I joined the Berkshire Chamber and became more involved with networking. Bought some supplies, built a website and …. TADA…. opened my business.
One of the things that bug me is my family and friends that think I have all this free time. I really don’t. I work all day long, attend night classes at BCC three nights a week and network in between. I may have more free time right now then I normally would because I don’t have an established large client base but the few clients that I do have and the few that I am trying to sign up are important and both my clients and my children come first. In between I am working on my business plan and my marketing plan which are both important.
