Why I’m my Perfect Client

The first rule of business is ‘find a problem, be the solution’.

When I first launched as a Virtual Assistant, I had thought there was a gap in the market for small business support. I had experienced first-hand how bigger cities had geared up to support small business and invested in building communities and industries around them, and I knew that this was missing from much of the country. However, I didn’t actually KNOW just how big of a need it was before I became a small business myself.

The Problem

As a small business owner, particularly in the early stages, it’s difficult to commit to taking on permanent staff, even part time. Income fluctuates, as does work, and expenditure is high due to initial costs such as machinery, materials and marketing.

Not to mention that if you do decide to take on a team member you want them to be capable of everything as it will be only you and them running the show.

I found myself in this exact situation. As I began to grow my business and bring on more clients, I found myself falling behind on the activities that kept my business running as I was needing to focus my time on client work. At the end of the month, I would find a huge list of expenses I’d need to record, my blog posts and social media posts became super sporadic (if at all) and my diary was starting to get unmanageable. The worse of it all, as I grew more, I began to get conflicting client priorities. The outcome of all of this? Work took over my life and I was working later and longer hours.

The Solution

Surprisingly simple, but at the time hard to come by, someone who would work as and when I needed them. There would be months where I would have more work than others and I needed someone who could simply take on one or two tasks for me.

Fortunately for my clients, that’s exactly what I did for them and their businesses. But it wasn’t until I was in their situation that I realised just how important it was to have this service available.

If you’ve read my blogs before, you’ll know that after 6 months of trading I was turning clients away which led me to launch a License in January 2019. The License meant that others could become a Virtual Assistant under the umbrella of The Contemporary PA, and this was a game changer for me. I could now hire a Virtual Assistant when I needed to which allowed me to take back control of my business and my work. I have to say it took me a while to get use to the idea. Letting go of the control and trusting someone else to do it for me was a huge challenge, but although I hate to admit it, often they do it better and without them, I wouldn’t have been able to grow my business as quickly as I have, if at all.

What’s more, by being in the situation that most our clients find themselves in, we’ve been able to develop our services to make sure we add value where it’s needed and make sure we’re truly accessible for small businesses and start-ups. So, if you find yourself needing an extra pair of hands on the odd occasion, we are here!