I’d just like to ask you a quick question… what happens to your business when you get sick? Do you have a team of rockstars that look after everything for you or are you still doing everything yourself? If you have a team, can you rely on them to get their work done and keep your business running?

At the end of August I was knocked down with a cold but with a home-based business, a family and a sick little girl I persevered and kept going. Surprisingly the next week I was better and back to full steam. The following week the cold came back for a week but left the week after. This coming and going of a seemingly mild cold happened for 4 weeks and finished up being a rockin’ chest infection that kept me down for 3.5 weeks. I woke to drink some water, visit the bathroom, take my medication and then go back to sleep. I was useless to my family and to my business. My poor long suffering husband had to pick up the slack and take time off work just to look after me. It was a horrid time for us as a family but as a business owner I coped. Why? Because I have rockstars on my team.

Now I’m not saying everything was perfect and that everyone (clients and team members) were completely happy, but the business kept going and it still brought in money. I’ve spent the time on my systems and I have great team members who know exactly what they need to do for me. This is what made it easier for me to recover from a chest infection that ordinarily would have sent me to the hospital.

Getting sick should be part of your contingency plan and if you work by yourself consider what being really sick would do to your business. How would this down time effect client satisfaction? Who would look after your role for you while you take that much needed time off? How would using a Virtual Assistant on your team help alleviate your stress while you’re off sick and how can they help you generally within your business any other time?

Start thinking about your contingency plan and assess the risk of your business failing simply due to you being sick. Take the time now to figure out how everything will work without you BEFORE you get sick or need the time off. I promise, you’ll thank me for it!

The phone’s ringing, emails are flooding in, repair-man at the front door, full workload for today and the kids are going stir crazy. Sounds like just another day in the Short household but what makes today different is that we are on the second last day of a two week vacation break for Easter and we have survived… just!

In Australia we have four school terms of 11 weeks each which gives the kids a total of 12 weeks’ of holiday/vacation breaks. There are two in between each term and six over Christmas. I have three kids aged 11, 8 and nearly 5 so keeping them entertained these days is a lot different to when they were smaller.

In the past I was able to split my day into ‘during nap time’ and ‘awake time’. I would work really hard during the nap time (and at night) and be with the kids while they were awake. Now that they are older this strategy no longer works much to my dismay. Since going to school my kids have lost the ability to keep themselves entertained and the school holidays require more planning on my part to ensure we all survive it. So here are some tips I’ve found have helped me:

• Organise working play-dates with other mums who work from home. It’s my theory that the more kids you have in the house the easier it is for them to keep themselves entertained for more than 5 seconds. Yes there will be fights but if you give them some basic rules, you should find that they will sort themselves out. While they’re playing, you and your friend can get some work done.
• Email your clients to let them know the dates of the school/vacation holidays. Not all clients will remember that its school holidays and they’re usually very understanding once you explain what is going on, you just need to give them advance notice.
• Bribe your kids. Who would have thought bribery would work!! “Kids, I have a really important call to make, if you’re really quiet you can have 30 minutes on the Xbox” – works every time.
• Find a subcontractor to help. Having a backup person means you can take some of the pressure off yourself and still meet client deadlines.
• Enrol your kid’s in a free vacation care program. Look around in your area for some free kids programs. Some will give you the option of part time attendance while others will require your child to attend the full program.
• Work out a schedule with your kids and then stick to it. I usually try to only work during the morning (8am to 12pm) stop for lunch before deciding on an activity to take the kids along to during the afternoon. Some things we’ve done together include; going to the movies, going to the park, going for a bike ride or a walk, visiting friends/relatives or doing an activity together at home. I let the kids know what kind of behaviour is required of them while I work and what their reward/bribe will be for the day. Works beautifully!

The key here is to employ some planning before the vacation break hits you hard. Both your clients and your kids will thank you for it.

Originally published in the April 2011 IVAACast – The newsletter of the International Virtual Assistant Association. To subscribe click here

It’s the sort of thing that usually creeps up on me with no warning, the dreaded school holidays. We finally get into our groove and we are getting through the week really well only to have things change on me again. This year however is different. Not only are we in a different city and state, but I’m not sick (I’m getting over a virus instead)! In previous years I’d work so hard that come school holidays I’d get struck down with some virus and wouldn’t be able to enjoy the extra time with my kids. This year is different.

Now that we are relatively settled into our new home/school/job/home office I’ve decided to be a bit proactive in trying to survive the school holidays. Here are my strategies:

• Keep bedtime routines the same – bit of a no brainer but you’ll thank me later.
• Set up working playdates – this is where you set a day to visit with friends who also work from home for a playdate with a difference. Instead of sitting around drinking coffee and eating Tim Tams (which is still ok to do if you want to), bring your laptop and get some additional work done instead. For some reason, the more kids there are in a house the easier it is to look after them and I think it’s because they’re playing with other peeps different to their siblings. A change of scenery doesn’t hurt the creative juices either.
• Take the time to retrain your kids at the beginning of the school holidays – this means explaining that when you are on the phone or working not to interrupt unless there is blood. My kids are 9, nearly 6 and 3 and out of the three the youngest can remember the rules the best. Particularly the whole no talking to mum while mum’s on the phone or skype phone rule.
• Give them something to look forward to – This weekend we are going to see the Star Wars exhibit at Scienceworks and the kids (including the big hairy one) can’t wait. It gives me bribing power and something to dangle in front of them when they are being a bit naughty.

I’m sure there are loads more you can do to survive the school holidays so lets hear them. These are the strategies I’m using to survive these school holidays and so far so good. Tomorrow we’re off to visit Lucie and her kids and my kids were looking forward to it so much they went to bed without a peep. Got to love bribery!

Ask around in your online or offline community and chances are you know someone who started their business to be at home with their kids. Some of them may have even started their business while on maternity leave only to be told that they were ‘stark raving mad’. We all know how hard it is to start a new business, to write that business plan, to pay for our licences and to find that first client. But how many of us truly understand how having children and working from home will affect our businesses to the extent that it does?

I started my business 34 weeks pregnant with my third child while building our new home and studying at university for a degree in education full time. My boys were 6 and 3 and I’d been having a difficult pregnancy.  And yes, I was told that I was stark raving mad to even think about a business. My husband was extremely supportive but most of my extended family was very negative and frowned upon working when raising a family. All I knew was that my studies were less and less fulfilling as time went by. All I knew was that to be a great mum, I needed something besides child rearing. All I knew was that I wanted something more.

I applied for a job 33 weeks pregnant, started the following week working from home as a subcontractor and that’s when my entrepreneurial spirit showed itself. I stumbled upon the term Virtual Assistant and my head just about exploded with the information that was so readily available. But nothing really prepared me for working from home with small children.

Yes there were the articles about how to manage one’s time, how to work alongside your child and how to set up a play office so they could play and be with you. But nothing prepared me for what ultimately happened. I gave birth to a beautiful girl who was very sick. Instead of taking a few days off (pfft, what do people know, I can ‘pop’ out this baby and be back at the computer in no time) we had a short stay in the NICU and didn’t leave hospital for two weeks. I had systems in place, my mum became my assistant and looked after my one and only client but even then, I wasn’t prepared.

No one tells you about breastfeeding while typing one handed and talking with a client on Skype. No one tells you about how segmented your day will become. No one tells you that you’re supposed to sleep at night. And there’s no one to keep a close eye on you for post-natal depression (post partum).

The first thing you’ll need to discover is what type of schedule works best for you and then to not feel guilty about it. If you’re a morning person that’s great and if you’re a night person, that’s great too. Figure out what part of the day you are the most productive, map it against your family’s needs and try to stick to it.

The next thing is to understand that it’s ok to have nanna naps, even if there are no kids at home. If you need 10 minutes or 30 minutes to recharge, do it! It’s part and parcel of taking care of yourself so you don’t fall apart. I personally am a night person but my husband is a morning person so he gets up to the kids in the morning, feeds them, dresses them all before leaving to go to work. But I’m the one who gets up to the kids in the middle of the night and puts miss M back to bed 4 times between 1am and 4am.

Set up a default schedule where you block in everyone’s commitments including your own. Colour-code the schedule for each person in the family. One thing I have noticed with two children in school now is how busy we are. They don’t do a lot of after school activities but remembering which child has library day and which child has ICT (information communication technology – fancy pants term for information technology) is a lot easier now with the family schedule on the wall.

Create a support circle of business mums. They don’t necessarily have to be in the same industry as you or even have children the same age as yours, you just need to surround yourself with people who understand what it is like to be a mum in business for herself. Family members won’t understand and your partner may not understand. You’ll receive all sorts of advice from all corners and I promise it will all conflict with what you are trying to do. Having your circle of cheerleaders’ means you have people to share your highs and lows with.

Try to understand that running a business with a newborn is vastly different to running a business with a 9 year old or even a 19 year old. Your child has needs, wants and desires that changes, as they get older. My billing record is at an all time high that dates back to when miss M was less than 6 months old. Why? She slept a lot so I was able to put in the extra time. I was also post-natal at the time. Recognise what your family needs from you and be prepared as best you can for when it changes.

Each child is different. What works for me won’t work for you. I don’t have a play area in my office because I can’t handle the mess. I need a clear and tidy workspace to be able to work and kids are made to be messy. So we have a separate playroom for them to be messy to their heart’s content. All three of my kids are pretty independent and so I can snatch 10 or 20 minutes to make a phone call. But there are days when I can’t do that, so I don’t. We go outside instead. Listen to your kids and you’ll soon figure out what you need to do.

Trust in yourself. We all do a great job with our kids AND our businesses. While owning a thriving business and raising children is no easy thing to do, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Don’t think that one size fits all. Find the solutions that suit you and your family and you’ll notice the difference it makes to your business immediately. Your children are only young once so make the most of it.

About Kylie Short:
Kylie Short, owner of Tilda Virtual Services specialises in providing Internet Marketing Support, Administrative Support, Hosting and Website Design to coaches, consultants and small business owners working from home. Visit her website at http://www.tildavirtual.com.au

I started my business May 2006 and in 2007 I attended my first work related conference. Money was tight at that time and I was fortunate to have been offered a scholarship to attend the Business Mums Conference. Otherwise I would never have been able to attend. We lived interstate and the accommodation for two adults and one baby was a squeeze on the family budget.

I came away from that conference with a renewed sense of self, I knew what I needed to do to take my business to the next level and I knew that I had the support of the rest of the network while I did it. The first thing I did when we got home was fire my main (and first) client because we were stuck in the employer/employee mindset and I knew it would be an uphill battle for either of us to change. We parted ways on the best of terms and I don’t regret working with them at all.

From there my business grew a lot quicker than expected and I became a multi-VA business owner.

I attended the conference again last year and fired some more clients, renewed my love of my business and hit the ground running again as soon as I got home. This time I came to Melbourne on my own (two flights just to get there) and I had a great time networking with new and old members. I also got to meet my mentor Kathie Thomas and listen to her speak.

It was last year that I decided to sponsor another member because I was able to and I also wanted to see another member get the same opportunity that I received. Who knows where my business would be if I didn’t attend that first conference??

This year I’ve sponsored another ticket the the conference for the full two days. If you’re a business mum (and that doesn’t mean that you have to still have children at home or even your child/ren have been born) or you would like to be a business mum, fill in the form below and tell me why you should have my spare ticket. I’m also speaking at this year’s conference which is very exciting for me!

This competition is now closed, thanks to all those who entered. I’ll be announcing the winners very soon.

For the last two years I have been using a Palm Treo and that’s when my love affair with the Smart Phone began. It held all my contact details for both personal and business use, my calendar and it synced with my Exchange server automatically.

Gone were the days of carrying around a clunky day planner.

Gone were the days of double booked appointments.

Gone were the days of carrying everything in my bag for ‘just in case’.

So when my contract ended I decided to go with a Blackberry Bold and wasn’t it all nice and shiny. It does everything the Palm Treo does but it has a better keyboard among other things. I was definitely in love.

But after only a month we started to have issues. We started to have a difference of opinion. My Bold decided that it had had enough of being a smart phone and wanted a career change. It wanted to be a ‘normal’ mobile phone. Pfft!!!

I’m sorry Bold but uncaught exception errors are just not going to cut it and even ‘normal’ mobile phones still allow texting and profile changes.

Seriously Bold, I’ve tried updating your software and backing you up but still the issues persist. Today is the last day you and I will have together. You are going in for repairs and so help me, if you come back faulty, I’m going to drag out my trusty Palm Treo and use it until something better, something more shiny (that works!) comes along.

This year for the first time, I’ll be presenting at the Business Mums Conference on Sensational Systems in your Business.

Each year that I’ve attended the conference I managed to take something different away from it. I learn and grow so much as a business owner and as a Virtual Assistant that for 2008 and 2009 I have paid for a ticket to sponsor someone to go to the conference. I’m a big believer in training and development and the Business Mums Conference is always marked on my training plan for each year.

Stop by the website and register for your ticket today. I’d love to see you there!

This year I’ve decided that it’s my year to set up my systems, once and for all. When I first began to build my team, I knew that I needed to write them down but due to lack of time and lack of planning on my behalf, it never happened. Big mistake.

Without systems, it made completing internal and client tasks difficult. We were wasting time and were inefficient. Not a good thing for a service provider.

Once I had my aha moment, I started the process by purchasing the “Systems of a Successful VA” ebook by Kristi Pavlik. I’ve written procedures before but seeing how Kristi has set up her procedures within her business makes a whole lot of sense. She also includes templates to help you get started.

I then signed up for an account with Lovely Charts to begin charting how information flows within my business.

It’s been a slow process but my goal is to have ALL my processes documented for both my business and for the tasks completed for our clients by the end of June 2009.

So how about it, are you going to join me and document all your processes by the end of June 2009?

To celebrate the second anniversary of Tilda Virtual Services, I decided to run a special birthday promotion. For all you ‘ole timers’ out there who have been in the business longer than I, you can stop chuckling now. It was my first time and as usual I saw it as a learning experience.

1. Make sure you actually tell people you are running the promotion
2. Remind people to actually purchase on a regular basis up until the promotion ends
3. Be prepared for more takers

So what was the promotion? It was for 10 hours prepaid to be used within 12 months for $350 AUD. That was a whopping saving of $90.

I of course sent out cards to all existing and past clients thanking them for their patronage and then as an after thought why not offer a discount for my 10 hour prepaid package and inserted a coupon. This was super successful in that I received a gift from one client (thanks Melissa!) and kudos from the rest. They recognised the achievement and took time out of their day to ring and say congratulations. We also had a few clients take up the offer.

I then thought “hmm, I didn’t really promote this, why not send an email out to my newsletter list??” and had more people take up the offer. Now I don’t profess to be an expert in marketing nor do I pretend to know all there is about marketing but I learnt from this experience. PROMOTE THYSELF!

Because it is still May 31 somewhere in the world I am going to offer the promotion to my loyal blog readers. If you’d love to work with a Virtual Assistant who is a perfectionist, self professed nerd and a classic over achiever, then click here. If not…. thanks for reading and tell a friend instead!

These days our lives all seem to be about what we do or don’t buy, what we wear, what we do for a living and how we raise our kids.

Donna-Marie over at Small Business Diva talks about how we are all so busy working to be happy that we  don’t stop and enjoy being happy. Her quote sums it up neatly and made me think about if and when I actually stop what I’m doing to enjoy being happy. So today, that is exactly what I decided to do.

First thing code monkey and I did was to play our Ninendo Wii pretty much all morning with our three kids. Stopped to eat and now we are outside playing basket ball, riding bikes and enjoying what could be the last of our nice warm afternoons in the Autumn sun. (Shush, yes I’m on the computer too). The point is, we are enjoying being happy.