Anyone done freelance admin work?

[curlyLJ]

I have posted in 'work' but not much traffic on there...
I'm looking at possibly getting into freelance admin as I'm not having much luck finding jobs that fit around school.
Has anyone done this successfully? Am looking for hints and tips and any advice you can give. Thanks!

What do you mean by admin? Working from home or spending a few hours at different clients' premises a week?

@cometothinkofit either really. Initially I thought from home, but have seen a couple of posts on websites I've come across (where you can sort of bid for jobs) where it does mention going into the office - only works if local obviously.
I'm not sure how it all works in reality. Looking for someone who's done it to find out if it's worth pursuing and how best to go about it.

Well, for a number of years I did book-keeping for several small local businesses, and I'd go into their offices once or twice a week during school hours. Some I'd visit less often - maybe once a month, or if they had something specific they wanted doing. I'd then invoice each business for hours worked.

Presumably you could do the same with admin. I got most of mine from word of mouth, and a card in the local newsagent's window.

Maybe have a think about the experience you have and the sort of work that you'd be able to do that way, and then tell everybody you know. Someone is bound to know someone who needs some sort of admin. You could also advertise. Loads of very small businesses often don't have time for the day-to-day stuff and get behind. I'm sure there will be people who would need some sort of office assistance.

If you get work you would need to register as self-employed - if you go on the government website there's loads of info about self employment.

Forgot to mention, you may be different but I found it extremely difficult to remain motivated if I worked from home instead of actually going 'out' to work!

Google "virtual assistants" and have a look at the website VACT.co.uk which has a lot of info on it.
It's definitely a growth area and there is work out there particularly if you have a niche.

"admin" is very wide. What exactly are your skills and experience? Most smaller businesses have particular/specific needs, such as book-keeping, quote/invoice creation, database upkeep, mailshots, phone answering, diary management, etc. If you want to set up an "admin" business, you need to be very specific in what you're offering. Most small firms are usually owner managed so they probably need a PA rather than general admin support. Think in terms of offering solutions to problems rather than just "admin" services.