Since 2014 I have been splitting my time between Gran Canaria and the UK and so initially found it difficult to maintain a business in either country.
Therefore the logical thing to do was to find a job which used as many of my skills as possible whilst being location independent; I started following Digital Nomad communities and then set myself up as a Virtual Assistant after studying with Hannah Dixon through the Virtual Excellence Academy, using my administration and marketing skills, targeting the industries I was most familiar with.
Initially I worked with Fitness Professionals assisting them with the management, marketing and admin side of their business where they didn’t have the correct skillset, and I realised that I could make a big impact on people’s health and wellbeing by taking the stress out of running a business, allowing them to focus on where their skills shone.
After setting up my original business, I realised I was operating at higher level than an admin assistant, which was the pre-conception many traditional businesses had of a VA, since I had many years of management skills and experience before I started out. I had taken on management, operations and strategy roles within the businesses I was working long term with. Additionally, I had continued with my professional development since launching my remote business as I love learning new things, and wanted to maximise what I could offer a prospective client.
Already having a remote business proved useful during the pandemic, as I had always worked virtually and so was able to continue supporting my client base and had ideas how they could alter their business model based on my experience and industry knowledge. It also made my business lifestyle choices become more acceptable in the wider business world.
As the digital landscape is continually evolving, I ensure I keep up to speed with developments, and have honed my skills in picking up new tools to enable me to work with whatever a client already has in situ, as well as being able to recommend future solutions.
I love to help people, and also realise that as a person’s business expands, often you have to take on tasks that are outside your comfort zone. Eventually the business owner also ends up reaching a plateau in the business growth plans, even after starting to outsource various tasks, since the Business Owner is still trying to manage all the day to day management tasks as well as growth plans; there just isn’t enough hours in the day/week to keep all the plates spinning.
My aim is to enable my clients do what they do best and also to do the actions they should be focusing on for the future of the business, by filling in the gaps in knowledge and experience in systems and processes to take over the day to day management of the business in a cost effective and time efficient manner.