Start Up VAs
5 Work From Home Hacks That Will Boost Productivity
The work-from-home workforce is growing year after year. And considering that 91% of employees say they feel more productive when they work remotely, there’s good reason to believe that trend will continue. As businesses adjust to investing in remote employees, they’ll create more opportunities for virtual assistants. Of course, working from home does not come…
Read MoreSocial Media Strategy Document for Virtual Assistants
This one is a little gem of a document for guiding you through the social media jungle… Basically it contains a list of questions to establish where you are now with your social media presence, a few leading enquiries to find out where you want to get to, and some ideas on what to do.…
Read MoreChoose the best virtual assistant course
Virtual Assistant Training – what to look for If you’re a newbie VA, one of the first things you’ll look at is finding the best virtual assistant course or some virtual assistant training. I am probably going to get very nasty emails about this post – I know there are going to be good friends…
Read MoreEssential Virtual Assistant Software
We haven’t compiled a list of essential virtual assistant software for a while – mostly because the same ones pop up frequently: MS Office, Express Scribe, etc. Shockingly, the last time we did it was 2014! A lot has changed! Companies merge. They will move from a free to a paid model and restrict access…
Read MoreWebsite Cookies: Me want cookies!
Website Cookies: So we’ve just about got everyone up to date with ICO’s GDPR guidance… and along comes an update on their cookie guidance. (I’ll admit – I grimaced!). https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2019/07/blog-cookies-what-does-good-look-like/ Not least because we had to make some changes to our own cookie notices! Effectively the new cookie rules are: People visiting your website have…
Read MoreHow many secretarial skills do you use in your VA business?
Had an interesting chat recently with Rosemary Parr who runs Scottish PA Network – we were chatting about the different skillsets VAs and PAs have…and that’s why the transition can sometimes be difficult. I thought it might be useful to run a poll: Certainly on the SVA Forum there’s some debate about what is unique…
Read MoreSole Trader vs Limited Company
“Should I be a sole trader or a limited company as a virtual assistant?” We get asked this a lot from start-up virtual assistants or those thinking of becoming a virtual assistant. Certainly the vast majority of VAs are sole traders (81% of UK VAs are sole traders*). But then the majority of VAs are…
Read MoreVAT Registration – for VAs!
It is very unlikely that you will have to register for VAT, at least initially, as a virtual assistant. You only have to register if: Your turnover (the amount you invoice your clients) for the previous 12 months is more than £85,000, the threshold at the time of writing, OR You expect to go over…
Read MoreDo I need an office address as a virtual assistant?
We had a few people recently asking why they need their full mailing address as part of the SVA Approved process… There’s quite a few legal obligations which mean you MUST have a contact mailing address on your website: Why virtual assistants NEED a proper mailing address https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesses – so if you are selling products/services…
Read MoreTackling Late Payments
The Small Business Commissioner, Paul Uppal, has been tasked with tackling late payments for small businesses… We all know the pain of juggling cashflow because a client has been late to pay. The knock on effect means you can’t pay your own suppliers – or maybe it means you are late paying household bills? Getting…
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