Virtual Assistant advice/ Working for TimeEtc

[welliemum64]

I'm going to be made redundant this year after 30+ years. I have experience of admin, marketing and travel/event organisation. So I was thinking of setting up my own business as a Virtual Assistant. As I've done my current job for such a long time I'd like to bring my skills up to date. But I've also looked at Time Etc who take on freelancers and pay them per hour. Does anyone have any experience of this company or have set up on their own as a VA? Any experiences you can share would be appreciated.

I'm also interested in this, so would like to follow, but it's a bit too early for me to be sure as I'm at risk of redundancy but still applying for alternative roles with my employer.

If I end up taking VR I'd probably be leaving in the summer, so with August off I'd be starting in Sept. I'd probably supplement with other work from home, but the other work might be pin money, at least to start with.

Pros of signing up with eg TimeEtc: more prospects of regular work
Cons - have to be accepted first and required to sing to their tune

Pros of setting up your own company - you'd be your own boss, so free to set your own systems
Cons - it might take ages for clients to find out about you, income slow or tiny/non-existent to start with, or demand could snowball and be too much for one person, also hard to take any time off as clients expect you to always be available... Not using all skills, eg Excel, if clients just want a diary management service.