THE STORY OF MY BEST DAY LIFE
Hello! My name is Katie and I am SOOO happy you have landed on my site. I’m an Entrepreneur, Dog Lover, Nature Lover and Blessed Mom. I have been running my successful Virtual Assistant business, Effective Virtual Assistance LLC, since 2008.
Where (and WHY) it all began.
My venture into building my home business started the day I received that fateful call that I was being laid off during the third round of company downsizing. I was devastated. I had been happily working for this company for seven years. I can still feel the mix of emotions as I picked up my three-month old from daycare and and tried to explain to the center director why I was pulling his registration just two weeks after his first day.
I broke down right there.
Panic was setting in. What was I going to do?
I had two young boys and a husband that worked crazy unpredictable hours. I needed something close to home with flexible hours. I spent the next two weeks job hunting and researching work-from-home job opportunities, and I kept coming back to the concept of a virtual assistant.
So, I bought a book on becoming a virtual assistant (there weren’t many to choose from back then), joined networking groups and asked questions in forums. Could I really start my own business?
The more I read, the more I was convinced that my ten-year corporate background in executive assistant roles was a perfect transition into starting a Virtual Assistant Business.
Preparing to start a home-based business
I spent a full month and many late nights after my kids when to bed, researching, collecting ideas, writing my business plan and deciding what documents, forms and templates I needed for my business operations. I actually made a pretty large investment to join a networking group that gave me access to tons of documents and templates. When I dug into what I received, most of them I knew I would never use, some gave me an idea of what I might need, and none had the professional look that I wanted for representing my business.
Looking back now, I know I didn’t have a lot of options for finding resources for this career that was not well-known at the time, but I definitely spent too much $$ for what I was able to use.
ALEX SMITH
STARTING FROM SQUARE ONE
Creating Professional Virtual Assistant Business Forms
So after reviewing the packet of materials I received with my membership, I decided I would have to create my own forms and documents. I wanted them to be simple but professional. My ultimate goal was to have a core set of essential documents for my operational processes that would need minimal, if any, adjustments. These forms needed to be straight-forward, replicable and scalable for growth.
When I was in the corporate world for ten years, I ended up being the “go-to” person for documenting processes and procedures at two of the companies I worked for. It started as a self-appointed role because being somewhat fanatical about organization it drove me crazy that there wasn’t one all-inclusive document for reference when it came to processes and policies within my business unit. I am organized by nature, and outlining a process is actually something I enjoy. When I take on a new client and we have our first call to discuss the tasks I will manage, I get SUPER excited to take my notes and put them into an organized document. That is the document I will then use to add the steps, logins, important dates etc. as I learn the role. I’m a documentation GEEK.
In the first two years as I learned from my experiences working with clients, I tweaked and adjusted not only the format and style of the forms, but also what forms I actually needed to run my business. Nothing more, nothing less. I firmly believe it is best to simplify and to not overwhelm yourself with forms and templates. I aligned my business documents with my business processes, and as my business grew, I only had to make minor adjustments. The end result has been to have more time to focus on building my business and actually doing client work that brings in the money!
After a few years, I found myself at a point where I was offering advice to other women interested in starting a virtual assistant business. I realized I had a unique opportunity to help other aspiring virtual assistants start their businesses with a solid foundation by sharing what I had learned, and by offering the documents I had created. AND…I could do all of this at affordable prices. I don’t believe it should cost several hundred dollars to gain access to professional and customizable business forms.
So that’s my story! I hope that you find something that will help you build and grow your virtual assistant startup in the products that I offer!
Whatever your reason, I am so happy you are here!
I’m excited to share what I have learned as a virtual assistant and home business entrepreneur for more than a decade.