Virtual Assistant- does it work?

[sarahmikeharryandrosie]

I have two small children- Ds aged 3 and a DD aged just 7 weeks, i have looked into going back to work and childcare is going to cost so much money-and we need to bring another income in now

So have decided i would like to become a virtual assistant and work from home whilst Ds is at nursery and when DH is home in the evening- I have read all info about it from various websites, but i am looking for people who actually do this or similar roles to tell me their experiences and whether it works, can you get ehough work? etc!!

Hope someone can advise me!

Thanks

Sarah

Sarahmikeharryandrosie, I haven't worked as a virtual assistant but I do work remotely for my work.

For most bosses it doesn't matter where you are physically as long as the work gets done and you are contactable.

Generally I'd say there is business out there if you know how to find it . There it is like with any other self-employed job... some outlay might be necessary for advertising yourself. Also for digital dictation equipment, fax etc.

Good luck!

thanks so much- will lookinto it a little more but an determind to try to make this work for our family!!!

Hi Sarah (I'm assuming your name's Sarah and not Mike!)

Did you get any further looking into the VA idea?

I've considered it a couple of times but also wanted to talk to someone who'd actually made it work! A lot of the VA sites I looked at seemed defunct, and I didn't want to go through the expense of setting up a website only to get no business.

There's also a VA course you can do with the Institute of something-or-other - I started doing their copywriting course last year when on maternity leave with DD1 but quickly came to the conclusion it was a bit of a rip off and didn't really provide me with anything I couldn't have worked out myself.

I reckon it'd be a good little earner if you can get the right contacts - especially in the private sector or maybe for smaller businesses who need support but can't shell out for a full time salary.

Anyway would be interested to hear how you get on - don't worry, I'm not competition - I'm taking a year's maternity leave from the end of this month and quite fancy moving into PR/event organising now!! (mind you, I do change my mind every 2 days at the mo!)

Claire

I'm not a VA so this might not be what you're looking for, but I use one. I run my own business but it's small enough that I don't need someone to help out full-time. The company I use is called 'Cushion the Impact' and there is a small team of them which is great cos it gives me cover if someone is ill on or hols. As well as pure VA work, one of the team comes to my house once a month to help with book-keeping and filing. Maybe you could look at finding that sort of organisation to work for? I guess it might give you a bit more stability and and company, if that's important to you..

I think they're great and given I'm just about to go on maternity leave myself they give me great comfort that things aren't going to fall apart without me.

NG

Thanks NGiaretta you have given me another avanue yo look down- good luck with Babyxxx

Jivegirl- thanks for your post- i was beginnig to think perhaps i was being a bit dense and missing something really simple- but you appear to be in the same boat as me- see it as a good career move but not really sure how to get there!!! not really got anyfurther but am still working on it- will keep you in the loop!!!!

oh and yes i am sarah- not mike lol{grin]