Working from home works for bosses

Monday, December 3rd 2007, 4:00 AM

I am a telecommuting convert.

Before this year, I spent nearly 12 years working for a large corporation where I was trained to believe people who worked from home could never get the job done. I believed that, if I couldn't see my staff, chances were the work was not getting done. Real work meant time in the office.

My first experience disproving this theory was a revelation. It came on a day a few years ago when I was feeling so ill I couldn't make it to work. Since I'm not the kind of person who can happily sit back with a box of tissues and cold medicine in front of a television, I grabbed my BlackBerry and laptop and decided to catch up on e-mails. I got more work done in my pajamas that day than I had all week.

I've since moved on in my career, creating a startup venture called Carolyn & Co. My business partner and I began by working from our home offices. As the company grew, so did our demands. We needed staff, but didn't have office space. We found ourselves hiring people willing to work from home.

I'll admit: The whole scenario made me nervous. Very nervous.

What a lesson I learned. Not only was the work getting done in a timely matter, the results were impressive. We were able to negotiate contracts, make decisions, plan, create, implement - efficiently and seamlessly - without sharing one square foot of office space.

I don't believe telecommuting is for everyone. Some industries and positions aren't well-suited for it. And there are those employees who simply lack the discipline and organization to effectively work from home.

But it works well for many, especially people with kids. As important as it is to have face time in the office, it's more important to have face time at home.

When I work from home, I see my 5- and 7-year-old off on the bus in the morning, then get right to work. I take a lunch break at noon with my 5-year-old when she gets off the bus, and then it's back to business.

Work is still work, but life is a little easier when you have more flexibility to balance your career with all your other priorities.

For employers, there are adjustments to be made to accommodate telecommuters. But there are enough advantages to make it worth it.

For starters: There's a whole pool of barely tapped talent out there; people with great skill and experience who simply can't or won't work in a traditional job or office setting. Being open to telecommuting naturally enhances the desirability of any employer with jobs to fill.

In return for giving them greater flexibility with their job, employees who telecommute tend to be highly motivated and loyal, gracing bosses with a lower rate of job turnover. Also, many telecommuters want to work part-time, decreasing the cost of their benefits. And telecommuters cut back on office space overhead.

Employees and employers need to think it through, but I'm now a true believer that, when it works, it works for everyone involved.

Your Money columnist Carolyn Kepcher, author of the best-selling business book, "Carolyn 101," is the former "Apprentice" star who thrived working for one of America's toughest bosses. She's now CEO of Carolyn & Co. (carolynandco.com), an enterprise created by and for career women.

Read the entire article HERE

The Next 20 Years

Although the excerpt from the following article was about the Accounting Profession, there was some interesting information about Virtual Assistants:

Today, Crosley has an administrative assistant working from home in Denver whom she has never met. Hiring and communication was done by telephone and online, a foreshadowing of the future, according to Crosley. "I think that we'll have total virtual workplaces and what I will call electronic-based relationships," she said. "As this new generation comes onboard, they are used to electronic-based relationships, and because we have such scarce resources, it will just kind of be the norm."

That vision also rings true for Bob Gaby, CPA, CITP and principal of Arxis Technology Inc., in Simi Valley, Calif. Gaby said that he sees meetings being held via video conference, and traditional in-person client engagements will be only for the "technology-impaired."

The new generation will also be working in a totally paperless office, Gaby predicted. "Working with and storing paper documents will be a foreign concept to young accountants, like vinyl records and eight-track tapes," he said.

And so will the traditional time-and-billing system, according to both Crosley and Gary Boomer, chief executive officer of Boomer Consulting in Manhattan, Kan., and long-time Accounting Today columnist. Billable hours will be reserved for cost-accounting purposes, rather than pricing, Crosley said.

"I think we will be working towards a results-based economy, out of an efforts-based economy," Boomer said, adding that firms will become team-based, with people being employed for their unique abilities. "Pricing will become for value, rather than based upon cost plus a profit."

Read the FULL ARTICLE HERE

The Virtual Assistant Profession is only getting bigger!

Why Blog At All?

More quickly than most anyone imagined, blogging is growing up. From the blogosphere's anarchistic roots, a professional cadre is emerging that is creating an industry whose top-performing businesses now earn serious money. The industry is expanding at warp speed. Blog-based media could just be poised to elbow aside traditional print and broadcast outlets to become one of the dominant sources of news, information and opinion, many observers believe...

The blogging world has tremendous strengths - original voices, provocative opinions, imagination and intimate knowledge of a variety of subjects. But it is also an industry struggling to mature, many observers argue. They say blogging companies must overcome the industry's reputation as a sort of digital Wild West where anything goes, and confront such questions as conflicts of interest, product hype, bias and low standards of accuracy...'

Read the Entire Article HERE

Focus on Your Business

I am still promoting the IDEA of a Virtual Assistant most because it is still a new profession. Word is getting out and more and more people are catching on.

Newswire Today had this to say about the industry:

More and more of these business owners are wasting their time ON their business and not growing their business. [Italics Mine] For most, they do not require a full-time employee to assist them. A viable outsourcing solution is the answer! They can partner with a Virtual Assistant.

The concept of Virtual Assistance is still new to the Raleigh, NC and surrounding areas, but with continuous efforts to educate the public here and nationwide, it will soon be a household name. It is a rapidly growing industry, leveraging the small business owner and entrepreneur to have a competitive internet presence because they choose to utilize the resources of a Virtual Assistant.

A Virtual Assistant or VA is an independent contractor and service provider, specializing in providing remote support, working with clients on an ongoing, collaborative relationship. A VA works from his/her own office and uses today’s technology to deliver their services and effectively communicate with their clients (defined by the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce). Because they are subcontractors, they pay their own taxes; use their own equipment therefore eliminating the cost of hiring a full-time employee. VA’s work with bright, successful individuals with a vision…authors, sales executives, high level executives, consultants, coaches, entrepreneurs…anyone who wants to achieve a well balanced life with more free time to concentrate on their own success—their own business.

Find the full story HERE.

My Website

I have been working on my website, K4VirtualAssistant.  I think I have finally gotten it working properly.  Only time will tell.

Next, it is my intention to attempt to add this blog to my site.  Maybe that will work.  I will keep everyone posted about my attempts to do this.

Keep watching this site for updates.

Eight Positive Things About VAs

1. A VA is not an employee of your company.
   
2. VAs are small business owners themselves.
   
3. VAs are an integral part of your business.
   
4. VAs pride themselves on becoming a part of your company interested in helping your small business succeed. If you are successful, then your VA is successful.
   
5. VAs get to know you personally, want to know your customers and assist you in maintaining close contact with your customer base.
   
6. VAs perform Information Processing, Internet Research, Bill Paying services, Mail and Email services, Event Planning, and assist in making travel arrangements.
   
7. VAs perform every administrative job you can think of and they will even give you some suggestions about additional services they can perform that never occurred to you.
   
8. Your VA can organize your calendar, your papers, your life.
   
9. 
   

VA Training Program is NOT What it Seems

From a fellow VA, found here. I have to admit, I agree with her!

Well, I was going to take a nice, leisurely afternoon - visit my forums, do some posting, enjoy the serenity and peaceful day. WOW, was I mistaken!

I was on a VA forum (the VACOC) and I’ve just found out about a new “training” program designed to “help” the VA industry. Now look, I am all for training. I try to take teleseminars and marketing classes, I subscribe to newsletters and ezines, I belong to forums where I can learn and grow. But when I see promotion materials that show a woman with eight arms pouring coffee, typing, answering the phone, and so on (you get the picture) and the caption reads, “The Problem with Most Assistants, and Why It’s Not Their Fault,” I have to say I take offense. Here are just a few themes I found in this program that I feel demeans and demotes the VA industry:
#1 - I am not an employee - so why would you have one message to different industries with different ways of working and different thought patterns. I am not an employee nor am I an intern. I do not have bosses or employers. I am a business owner.

#2 - I am not embarrassed by a potential client asking if I can provide a service that I don’t provide. I cannot be “all things to all people” nor do I want to. When I am talking with a potential client, I explain the services I offer. If there’s not something I offer, I can give them names of VAs who do offer that service.

#3 - I don’t get “trained” by my clients (and that isn’t an offensive statement). When I partner with a client, they expect me to be well-versed in certain tasks. After all, that’s why we are working together - to take some of their burden so they can concentrate on growing their business. I know what I am doing or I don’t take on the task. If I see a need that many of my clients are looking for, and I feel it is an area I would enjoy providing, I take the initiative to search out training in that area. No one sends me to “school.”

#4 - The whole tone of this “training” program is condescending, not only to VAs, but to all administrative assistants. I have over 25 years of experience in administrative assistance, executive assistance, legal assistance, and now virtual assistance. I have trained, learned, worked hard and become an expert in my field. I find the wording in this training program to demean and debase what an assistant is and does. I am proud of what I’ve accomplished and am continuing to accomplish.

There is much more I could say, but - my point here is that I feel assistants, virtual and otherwise, have been done a huge injustice by this “university” program. I for one will not be a part of this.

I urge everyone to look carefully before you join any training program. There are many programs on the Internet that promise to make you an expert for a fee. Read carefully, be wary, be cautious. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!

Beginning

This blog will attempt to explore my attempts become a money-making individual from the Internet. K4 Virtual Assistant was begun as an entity six months ago (March 2007) and so far has generated $0 in revenue. I have decided to take a more definitive approach and make this work.

My first step is, creating a website. Then, google adwords is the next approach. I haven't done that yet, but it is my next step.

More as things develop.

What is a VA Really Worth?

This blog is about my industry--a Virtual Assistant. I am not new to this profession, but I am new to being an independent contractor.

Have had a couple of people contact me recently and they want a VA for the same price they would spend to hire a girl right out of high school. I am a little shocked to hear that. I will not accept a job at minimum wage or a little above.

I told one potential client, "You are paying for experience and you are paying someone to show up on a regular basis. A professional VA will not be late, call out sick because their date with their boyfriend ran overlong, will not take off early just to go the beach, ignore deadlines. What you are paying for is a person who will do the job they are hired for and only charge you for the time they are working."

She replied, "But to pay you that much for something I can do myself..."

I told her, "Of course you can do it yourself, but hiring a VA will free up your time to do more important things, leaving the mundane administration work to your VA. You will have more time to run your business."

She said, "I can get a girl right out of high school to do my typing."

I responded with, "Yes, you can, but you don't get years of experience to go along with that girl. VAs do more than just type. We can handle just about all of your office needs, including answering the phone."

She replied with, "Good point." I still haven't convinced her to pay the extra money for a VA. We shall see.

New Findings from the SBA

I have recently found some interesting facts from the SBA regarding small businesses:

• Small businesses are 52 percent home-based and 2 percent franchises.
• Of the 23 million nonfarm businesses in 2002, women owned 6.5 million businesses. These firms generated $940.8 billion in revenues, employed 7.1 million workers and had $173.7 billion in payroll.