The 2inspire Network was inspired by Caroline Wylie recently who started her business because she "wanted to wear jeans to work"! With a fantastic business journey and superb network Carol is truly an inspiration.
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| Caroline Wylie |
Please tell us what
is a typical business day for you?
Virtual Assistants or VAs complete administrative
tasks remotely for their clients. They
are a remote secretary, a freelance worker and typically work with several
different clients at a time, charging only for the time they work on that
client's materials.
My day usually starts with a cup of tea at 9am by
checking work and sending it back to clients for our 10am deadline - that might
be audio typing, social media updates or formatting PowerPoint presentations. For
a VA, I'm quite old fashioned as I like to mark my day out on paper, noting who
we have available, what projects we're working on and the day to day tasks I
need to complete. The day tends to
quieten down after the deadline, with clients tending to send work in towards
the end of the day as they work on their projects and realise they need some
help. I might do some of my own business
admin in that time, pop out for a walk, check social media updates etc. It's a good job to combine with other family
commitments such as the nursery run or domestic tasks as it is usually done
from home.
And then as new work comes in, we allocate a
virtual assistant to work on it, make sure we understand the task and what is
required and then it's a race to hit our next working day deadline.
I save Fridays for
www.societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk admin - this is a free resource for UK
based VAs to help them set up and stay in business. I started it because so many aspiring virtual
assistants got in touch with me every time I did any PR for the business -
there just wasn't the information available for them back then.
What made you start
the business and how did you get started?
The short answer: I wanted to wear jeans to the
office. (That first year in business, I
wore my suit more frequently than in any other part of my working life as I
networked, went for business planning sessions and found new clients. I can now happily say the suit is consigned
to the back of the wardrobe and rarely gets worn!)
The more complicated reasoning behind starting the
business was that I wanted more control over my working environment - working
for a company doesn't offer any of the protection that it once did, my job now
is far more secure than being an employee who can be made redundant. Not wearing a suit was symptomatic of the
lack of control you have as an employee - I wanted to have a really fast
computer, a nice desk, be able to turn down clients who I found morally
questionable, and to work with fantastic people.
The idea of being a virtual assistant first came to
me when my dad was talking about an office building he owned and maybe turning
it into an internet cafe. At the time in
2003, most people had the internet but very few had the knowledge of how to get
their computer to work to its full potential with email marketing, mail merges
and remote working. I went to a Business
Gateway exhibition, met PSYBT and never really looked back as they guided me
through the whole process.
What would you say
has been your greatest accomplishment in the business world to date?
I am immensely proud when we do the UK Virtual
Assistant survey each year and we get people telling us how helpful
www.societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk has been in helping them set up their
business.
I'm also fortunate to still be in business nearly
10 years after starting - so many people go back to having a job as it's an
easier option than running your own business and the responsibility that
incurs. The perks are definitely that
you can work flexibly and it's interesting and challenging.
My favourite award was from "The Naughty Table
of Virtual Assistants" and they gave me a little trophy which says
"Caroline Wylie - Most Ethical and Respected VA of the Year 2011" -
they sent me a small presentation video and I did shed a little tear at this
thoughtful and sweet gift.
What
has been your biggest challenge in business so far?
In my own business, getting enough good
virtual assistants - the good ones invariably get too busy with their own work to
continue being subcontractors and it's very difficult to find good staff. Our fail rate for our tests sits around
90%. We need to keep the quality high in
order to make sure we're delighting our clients.
Threats to the industry are that
clients have a bad experience with rogue or inexperienced VAs - perhaps they
don't have proper data back up or are working from an insecure email address or
aren't suitably experienced to carry out the work. Clients having a bad
experience with a VA reflects badly on the industry as a whole.
Surprisingly, the offshore assistants
aren't a major threat, as they can't compete with what a UK VA will offer -
it's a bit like comparing car buyers - someone who is in the market for a top
of the range brand new Mercedes won't be looking in Exchange And Mart and
expecting to pay £200!
What
are your future plans for the business?
SVA will be continuing to do the UK VA
Survey (a vital resource for new VAs writing their business plan), we'll be
involved with the VA Conference next year, and there will be more hints and
tips for VAs on the blog.
If you
had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
I don't think I would change much - the
business has evolved as the technology has become available and we've kept up
with it. I would probably advise
outsourcing earlier, but it was important to know how to do all the things I
was asking the outsourcers to do so I could check them and ensure standards
were consistent.
Why
is it so important to inspire young women in particular to follow their dreams?
I think women are less risk averse than
men in general - starting your own business is seen as being risky and
complicated but it needn't be. We need more people starting up on their own to
boost the UK economy, small business is our backbone. Red tape puts so many
people off hiring or expanding their business, using a VA is a way to
circumvent that without risk.
What
advice would you give to somebody who wants to start a business in your
industry?
Most of the information you need is
available for free, so be careful about spending a lot of money or courses or
books without doing some thorough research first. I know lots of virtual assistants who have
worked with an old computer and with minimal start up costs bootstrapping until
they have built their dream into a thriving business.
You need a fair chunk of time to set up
properly, I always recommend having at least 20 hours a week to work on the
business and some of that time should be within traditional office hours.
Quite a lot of mums believe they can be
a VA save money by taking their kids out of childcare - this is a myth, less
than 4% of the industry has kids with no form of childcare. You will need that nursery place!
Tell everyone you know what you are
doing - mostly you'll find your first client in amongst your friends or family
since they already know and trust you.
What
or who inspires you in business and why?
I love my job - each day brings new
challenges and it's exciting to be involved with different industries and
clients each day.
What is
your favourite inspirational quote?
"Done is better than perfect" - which
seems an odd one but I can be a bit of a perfectionist and invariably you will
have to tweak systems or processes as you grow and therefore it's more
important to get the ball rolling than attempt perfection on a first try.
Caroline Bio:
Caroline Wylie worked in marketing before escaping the rat
race in 2004 to launch her VA business. The lack of resources for UK assistants
prompted her to found the Society of Virtual Assistants in 2005 including a
forum, Approved VA Scheme and various templates for UK VAs. She is the UK
representative of the worldwide VA accreditation www.VACertified.com, has
previously judged the Outstanding VA of the Year Awards and has organised
Global VA Week and the UK VA Survey for the last few years. As a VA who runs a
“real business which pays the mortgage” rather than a lifestyle business, she’s
keen to promote the professionalism of virtual assistants and the value they
add to their clients’ businesses.
www.societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk
Email:
info@societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk
Twitter: @socityofvas
