I first stumbled upon Virtual Assistance in August of 2006. I had just given birth to my third child, my daughter Matilda and started my business four weeks before she was born. Until I found the term Virtual Assistance, I had no idea there was this entire industry out there waiting for me, but as soon as I found it I became excited. So excited I wanted to learn more about it. How to get started? What technology do I need? Is it something I can even do
‘So people actually work from home huh’ was the response from my husband. And with his support I started my research.
Ask any newbie and they’ll tell you, ours is one of the most giving and nurturing industries out there in Internet land. Especially considering what normally happens when you have women working together (lots and lots of nastiness and/or competitiveness). I was so humbled to see veteran VAs sharing their knowledge and supporting the newbie’s in their quest to start their own businesses. For me, it was the deal clincher. I too wanted to be a Virtual Assistant when I grew up.
So with two young children and a newborn, my plan was to grow and market my business slowly but Internet land had other ideas for me. I soon became so busy that I decided to become a Multi-VA, started to build my team and I won the Janet Jordan Achievement Award for 2008. So why am I telling you all this? Well as a Virtual Assistant who lives in Australia and has no plans on moving countries, I had to interpret the information my poor brain had to assimilate. I had to ‘Aussiefy’ it. (Sorry to all the writers reading this – I made up my own word there)
Kylie’s tips for International VAs:
- Be aware that the rules and regulations are different between countries, states and local government areas. A lot of the advice on starting a business, registering a domain name didn’t apply to me because of where I lived. I still had to go out and research where to start on my own.
- Join forums in your own country as well as overseas. Who knows, maybe there is a get-together in your area that you are missing out on.
- Be aware of the differences in spelling, grammar and the meaning of words. For a long time there I was really careful about how and what I said in the webinars I attended. I wanted the communication channel to be as clear as possible so that there couldn’t be any miscommunication. I don’t anymore and even teach those who want to learn, how to speak ‘Aussie’. Crikey!
- Work your time-zone to your advantage. I have a Project Manager who is quite literally my right arm. She is able to log remotely into my server and is administrator on most of my accounts. We usually have a Skype chat (can’t really call it a meeting because of the other things we talk about) each day around 10pm my time to do a recap of anything that came up and what I absolutely need her to do or delegate that day for me. I wake up and the work is in my inbox for quality checking and sending to the client.
- Don’t just glance over your Professional Indemnity insurance policy (Errors and Omissions Insurance). Read it thoroughly. My policy doesn’t cover me for clients located in the United States but it does for all other countries. To increase my cover I need to pay an additional $3,000 AUD. As I don’t have clients in the US, this currently isn’t a problem for me and so I haven’t paid the additional fee.
With all the information I have assimilated in the last two and a half years, my business has grown beyond my wildest expectations. Part of my business plan is to now give back to my industry so the upcoming newbie’s receive the support and knowledge that I did. And it never surprises me to find newbie VAs from Australia, unaware of the VA industry in their country.
The Internet has truly made our industry a global one where teams are made across continents; clients are served by VAs in different time zones and the industry continues to grow day by day.
First published in IVAACast – the official VA Newsletter of the International Virtual Assistants Association!
