Definition of  a Virtual Assistant:

 A Virtual Assistant is a person who works for many clients, providing office administration tasks, communicates with clients via telephone, email, skype.

We may never meet our clients face to face. A person who works independently from his/her own virtual office.

An office administration person, with at least 10 years worth of office experience as a PA/Secretary or Office Manager.

A person who can work alone.

A person with exceptional time management and prioritisation skills.

Someone who can run an office and liaise with clients on an ongoing basis.

Someone with a bit of management experience, can learn quickly and who is at ease with software.

We have to be pro-active and assertive.

Virtual Assistants are Business Owners, who run their own companies, do their own marketing, networking, bookkeeping, accounting, debt collecting etc. 

To be or not to be a Virtual Assistant: Written by Alison Fourie

 

Not everyone can become a Virtual Assistant; it is not as easy as you think.

You need to have good background knowledge of how an office runs. You need experience in Office Administration, Secretarial and Transcription if you are going to offer these as a service. A bit of management and book keeping experience will also assist you. As a VA you are not just doing the work of a VA you are also running a company. Therefore you need to make sure that marketing and networking is also part of the job.

Attitude also plays a huge role in whether you will succeed or drown’d. You have to be able to multitask, be able to prioritise, deal with clients on an ongoing basis, be friendly, and have excellent time management skills, networking, marketing, client liaison and debt collecting skills. You have to have the right personality to do this type of job. You need self discipline, you need to have it in you, to get up every morning and physically go and work at your computer, as you are doing a job and running a company/business. In the beginning it is so important to put in the extra hours, it will pay off in the long run. You have to be disciplined to be able to sit for long hours all day by yourself working. I never get lonely within my job, I am simply too busy. Being a VA or Transcriptionist is not about sitting there doing the work, there is a whole lot of administration involved and this is what running a business is about, and being a VA you are running a business/company you are  not a freelancer or an independent contractor.

The VA concept is taking off in leaps and bounds within South Africa at the moment; there is still lots of work out there for everyone. The word is spreading and more and more clients are moving towards VAs and are learning about our concept. So there is work available but to get that work ‘you have to do the work to get the work’, it is as simple as that, the work will not just fall into your lap. You have to get out there and get your company seen in the corporate world and this means networking, marketing and advertising.

Today becoming a Virtual Assistant is a safer option for a women; you work from a virtual office, therefore cutting out the risks of travelling to work re high jacking, car breakdowns, traffic etc. Being your own Boss means you can schedule your work around yourself but once you get busy you can no longer do that. Being a VA can become a hectic full time job. If you are thinking of moving out of the secretarial arena, becoming a Virtual Assistant could be the position for you, if you would like to work from a virtual location. It could be the next step to take.

 

There are benefits, drawbacks and rewards working as a Virtual Assistant:

 

Benefits:

• We work from the safety of our own virtual offices.
• We can even work in your pyjamas, dress casual.
• With crime, it is safer working in our own office than travelling to and fro to work every day.
• The benefits of not travelling to work every day, we can get to our offices in less than 5 minutes.
• We have the benefit of being home when our children arrive home from school; we schedule our time and work around this.
• We are here when our children need us when they are sick.
• If we need to run out quickly we can schedule our work around this.
• If we do overtime, we do not have to travel home late with the risk of getting high jacked on the road; we are already home in safety.
• We can now communicate worldwide with other Vas via skype and messenger therefore we no longer feel alone in our virtual office. We have the free tools available via the internet to communicate.
• We set our own working hours.
• We enjoy a relationship with our clients as we liaise with each other as equals, our clients are not our Boss but equals.

 

Drawbacks:

• We pay for our own software and computer equipment, fax machines, scanners etc.
• We have to buy our own stationery supplies.
• We need to be on our husband’s medical aid or purchase our own medical aid, pension schemes.
• Finding good computer support when our computers crash or we need computer assistance.

 

Rewards:

• I feel every time I take on a new client that is a reward I am doing my marketing right.
• When I have finished a task and the client says a simple thank you, I know I have completed that task to the client’s specifications, this is a reward I am doing it right.
• When a client returns time and time again, that is a good reward. A client will not come back if you do not provide a Quality Client Service.
• When a potential client contacts me from my website, it is rewarding for me to know my website is working at drawing in potential clients.
• It is rewarding when I help a new Virtual Assistant start up her business giving her advice and support, when she get her first client then I know, she knows, what she is doing, that is rewarding to share my knowledge with her to get her to that point.

 

One of the most rewarding jobs in the world must be that of a Virtual Assistant.

 

Virtual Assistants can assist clients with a variety of office tasks:

Typing/Word processing

Business Presentation

Company websites, update/maintain, content

Client newsletters

Office administration

Company documentation

Company accounting

Telephone management

Client liaison

Transcription/Dictaphone services, Legal, General or Medical

Internet research

Diary management

Project administration

HR administration

Email, faxing

Etc.

Virtual Assistant Services contact Alison, Cell: +270828713452, office: +270117685028, skype: amftyping, email:  amftyping@mweb.co.za