Virtually There – 10 months on
I cannot believe Virtually There is 10 months old, where has the time gone?! It seems like a lifetime ago that I was sitting in a bustling office surrounded by so many people (albeit fabulous people). I would go in, do what I was paid to do day in and day out, never growing and fulfilling my potential. Well that was soon to change…
June (mum) made the decision to leave work earlier last year in May to start Virtually There. Working together with a brilliant Virtual Assistant trainer – Amanda Johnson from VACT, June has done all the groundwork helping us to setup a successful business. August saw me leave my full-time employed position to partner my mum in this incredible adventure.
I had a glorious picture in my head - I would work for 5 hours a day, spend more time with my beloved pony and restore the balance in my life. I soon came down to earth with a bang! As a new start-up, our business is all consuming and I was trying to do everything in my power to ensure that the idea in our heads became a reality.
The IOM Government ‘Micro Business Scheme’ for small start-ups gave us a solid grounding in good business practice and with the help or our mentor we qualified for a grant. Upskilling is key to being a good VA and brushing up on digital marketing was top of my list. The course provided by the Department of Economic Development introduced me to Jessica Brown, a local marketing guru with South African roots. Her enthusiasm and willingness to share her knowledge guaranteed a great learning experience and if you get the opportunity to attend one of her courses, do it!
Once the basics were in place, company registered, website up, emails out, business cards printed and time tracking software purchased, a very important component was missing – clients!
A lesson we learnt very early is the importance of networking, networking and more networking. People will work with you if they know, like and trust you and remember – make a good first impression. I have worked with numerous friends and colleagues over the years and it’s amazing how old relationships can grow into something very special in the future.
Reaching out to someone in need without looking for financial gain, has benefited us incredibly too. By offering to help a wonderful friend’s mum with her cake business we were given a phenomenal lead that introduced us to one of our biggest clients.
We have secured several clients since starting Virtually There, the Island is a wonderful place to network and word of mouth is guaranteed to open doors. Another of our clients came from a previous place of work, doors opened and I absolutely love working with him all these years on. He very nicely described me as a ‘plug’ when a client asked him what my role was. What he meant was wherever there is a need, I am his 'go to' for support until the issue has been overcome. I loved that description, it shows my diversity.
We attended ISLEXPO the week before last which left us both feeling fired up and loving our new lives as entrepreneurs. Congratulations to the organisers, the event was extremely well done. Filled with inspiring speakers, fantastic networking opportunities and the food was a highlight too. Our Island's food experts are coming into their own, it is so brilliant to see.
We continue to learn each day and as owners of our own business that will never ever stop. Every day is certainly a school day for us and we love it.
We pride ourselves on our close relationships with our clients and the energy we put into everything that we do. If positive energy is what your business needs please get in touch with us, we would love to help you achieve your goals.
