Now is the time to become a VA

Ever wondered that fate could be telling you something!

After spending 20 years in administration on a basic salary, having to juggle work-life with bringing up two children, I had one experience which prompted a major decision.

Having recently emigrated, it was necessary for myself and my husband to find jobs straight away. We were starting over and we needed to get finance to buy our first house in our new country. On arrival, I applied for many jobs and secured a full-time position 3 weeks after we had stepped off the aeroplane. To say over-whelming was an under-statement. We had to find somewhere to live, settle our children into school and both impress new employers. Things were going great and I was managing to do everything extremely well but I found that I was being discriminated against by my employer. I received pressure to work earlier than my normal hours and finish later and was threatened with the sack when I couldn't. I took holidays when the children were on their summer vacation which were agreed by my employer only to have this turned against me at a later date. The final straw came when I was issued with a warning and advised that I should improve on my working hours and not take holidays. I resigned and started researching ways I could work from home and still have a family life. Being a VA is the answer to all my problems. I can work from home around the school run and can choose what assignments to undertake and have as many holidays during vacation care as I wish!

Having set up and managed my husband's plumbing business in the UK, I was familiar with running a business and with 20 years experience in administration I feel confident that I can undertake most assignments.

I am still setting up my business but I am very excited about the prospect and my advice would be to research as much as you can about the industry first. Join as many networks as you can and not rely on only one and join lots of VA associations too as they usually have a database of VAs for clients to search.