Hi everyone

As you may or may not know I am very close to starting my own VA business.

What I am aiming to discover in this post is what first steps I should take, as well as things I should avoid doing as I start my fledgling business. A kind of one-stop-place to find does and don'ts when taking your first shaky steps as a VA and a business owner.

I am looking for tips and suggestions about things you wish you had known when you first started your own business.

For instance, how important did you find preparing a business plan? I am not looking for funding from the banks but I figure working on a business plan will help me focus on exactly what I am going to be doing.

Also at what point should I be taking on the services of an accountant or financial advisor? I have little or know knowledge of the financial requirements of running my own business from home. I am wondering whether having an accountant from day one will allow me to save more money than they would cost. I know things can get pretty complex (and scary) when dealing with the tax man so I guess a professional on the payroll would be a sound investment.

I am in the UK so replies from UK VAs would be greatly appreciated but info from anyone kind enough to offer advice, suggestions and tips would be more than welcome.

I am so excited at the prospect of doing some work I could really excel at as well as being my own boss working from home I want to give my fledgling business every possible chance of succeeding. So I would love to learn from the mistakes of others as well as making my own.

Thanks guys.
Colin

Colin,

I cannot comment on the benefits of an accountant as I am from the US and not familiar with UK financials.

You should have a business plan, if for nothing else, to provide direction as you get yourself up and running. It does not have to be extensive but thorough enough to help you with decision making.

I would also suggest that before you register your business name be sure that the domain you want for it is available and purchase it to reserve it. Nothing is worse than registering a name and then not being able to find a domain for it.

Best of luck to you.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

Hi Colin,

At the bottom of this link there is a "Master To Do List" that you can download for free. I found it invaluable! I downloaded it about a year ago & my copy is now a marked up, tea stained, visual tribute of how much I accomplished on my journey to launch.

Master To Do List

There are also a lot of threads on this site that have a 'road map' to starting your biz.

I met with an accountant about three months prior to my launch. I had worked with him before in a previous job & the first consultation was free. By perusing VAF, I had a list of questions for him, so it was a more productive meeting. I also asked him for a referral for a business attorney & I am very pleased with the gentleman he recommended. Both have ended up being good networking contacts.

Good luck as you continue on your path!

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Lezly Harrison
Laserdog Productions - Code that Doesn't Bite

How can I not respond to this post? O.k., here goes:

I am looking for tips and suggestions about things you wish you had known when you first started your own business.

First, find the 'master list' in the document library. This will give you a good starting point for dotting your i's and crossing your t's. This didn't exist when I started and boy, am I jealous!

For instance, how important did you find preparing a business plan? I am not looking for funding from the banks but I figure working on a business plan will help me focus on exactly what I am going to be doing.

I built a business plan for my personal focus - lots of the VAs will tell you that your 'business plan' can just be a notebook with goals, and how to achieve them listed in it. Search 'business plan' on the forum for some excellent threads on this!

Also at what point should I be taking on the services of an accountant or financial advisor? I have little or know knowledge of the financial requirements of running my own business from home. I am wondering whether having an accountant from day one will allow me to save more money than they would cost.

You CAN do this yourself (for the most part) at the beginning. Check the archives over the next few days for the chat I did last Monday to be posted with some of the basics you need to know. Although tax 'stuff' will be different in the UK than the US, tracking your business finances should be identical. You can also PM me for more info...

I know things can get pretty complex (and scary) when dealing with the tax man so I guess a professional on the payroll would be a sound investment.

I always recommend working with a CPA for year-end tax issues since they specialize in this knowledge. Again, I don't know about UK taxes but the US ones are pretty complex and practically a full-time job in and of themselves.

I am so excited at the prospect of doing some work I could really excel at as well as being my own boss working from home I want to give my fledgling business every possible chance of succeeding. So I would love to learn from the mistakes of others as well as making my own.

Definitely keep on the forum. Lots of sound advice here! You'll do great!

__________________
Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Originally Posted by dognose

Hi Colin, At the bottom of this link there is a "Master To Do List" that you can download for free. I found it invaluable! I downloaded it about a year ago & my copy is now a marked up, tea stained, visual tribute of how much I accomplished on my journey to launch. Master To Do List There are also a lot of threads on this site that have a 'road map' to starting your biz. I met with an accountant about three months prior to my launch. I had worked with him before in a previous job & the first consultation was free. By perusing VAF, I had a list of questions for him, so it was a more productive meeting. I also asked him for a referral for a business attorney & I am very pleased with the gentleman he recommended. Both have ended up being good networking contacts. Good luck as you continue on your path!

WOW! That master to do list is superb. So much info and pointers in the right directions. Many thanks for that one.

Thanks to Dognose and Goddess. Both wonderful posts which I ave taken on board and digested.

Also, I already have my domain name bought and paid for.

Thanks so much chaps - you really have helped so much.

Anyone else? Please keep these nuggets of experience coming.

"Chaps" - I love it!

Glad you liked the list!

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Lezly Harrison
Laserdog Productions - Code that Doesn't Bite

Love the master to do list! Thanks for all the good pointers for Colin; I'm going to take some of those pointers too!

Colin,
I did a series of blog posts in December that I called the VA Survival Series which touched on a lot of things that I've learned as I've built my virtual assistance business. It's more along the lines of the day to day running of your business rather than the start up, but it could give you some insight as you pull things together.

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~Tina Marie Hilton of Clerical Advantage
& author of the VA Survival Guide & Workbook

Originally Posted by Clerical Advantage

Colin, I did a series of blog posts in December that I called the VA Survival Series which touched on a lot of things that I've learned as I've built my virtual assistance business. It's more along the lines of the day to day running of your business rather than the start up, but it could give you some insight as you pull things together.

Good grief you have a wonderful site there! I have bookmarked it in its entirety as I plan to visit tonight with a cup of coffee and work my way through it. The VA survival Series shall be my first port of call but I plan to have a good look around as there seems to be a crazy amount of pure gold within the information on your site.

I was unsure how much a blog can benefit a business but from the quality of info on your site and the professionalism alone I would hire you.

Great job, thanks for the pointers.

P.s. @dognose, yes I do seem to call everyone a chap, it is not assigned a particular gendre in my mind so don't take offence that I am inferring you are either sex, its just the way I type. I may also call everyone on here 'guys' but that I also mean that in the loosest sense of the word. Goodness knows I would hate to alienate the female population of this forum otherwise I may find myself resigned to a single thread of my own creation entitled, "I have no friends how about you?"

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Colin
Kezcol Solutions

Thanks for such a wonderful compliment on my site. It's always been my goal to provide truly helpful information for small businesses and of course virtual assistants, so your words truly made me smile. And if you come across anything there that you want to know more about, feel free to contact me.

Oh...and having originally come from the state of Maine, I'm used to being called 'you guys'.

Originally Posted by kezcol

Good grief you have a wonderful site there! I have bookmarked it in its entirety as I plan to visit tonight with a cup of coffee and work my way through it. The VA survival Series shall be my first port of call but I plan to have a good look around as there seems to be a crazy amount of pure gold within the information on your site. I was unsure how much a blog can benefit a business but from the quality of info on your site and the professionalism alone I would hire you. Great job, thanks for the pointers. P.s. @dognose, yes I do seem to call everyone a chap, it is not assigned a particular gendre in my mind so don't take offence that I am inferring you are either sex, its just the way I type. I may also call everyone on here 'guys' but that I also mean that in the loosest sense of the word. Goodness knows I would hate to alienate the female population of this forum otherwise I may find myself resigned to a single thread of my own creation entitled, "I have no friends how about you?"

__________________
~Tina Marie Hilton of Clerical Advantage
& author of the VA Survival Guide & Workbook

Colin said:

Originally Posted by kezcol

P.s. @dognose, yes I do seem to call everyone a chap, it is not assigned a particular gendre in my mind so don't take offence that I am inferring you are either sex, its just the way I type. I may also call everyone on here 'guys' but that I also mean that in the loosest sense of the word. Goodness knows I would hate to alienate the female population of this forum otherwise I may find myself resigned to a single thread of my own creation entitled, "I have no friends how about you?"

Hey, Colin, no problem. Personally, I loved the 'chaps' comment! It adds a nice international flair.

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Lezly Harrison
Laserdog Productions - Code that Doesn't Bite

Colin, thanks for "learning from other's mistakes!" I find that I am truly learning from other's experiences here on VAF. I really appreciate the Master List, it's organization, her easy to manuever and professionally laid out web site, and blessedly, its reminder to have a back up VA and to put emergency preparedness plans in place. I had not thought about those very important measures at all! I cannot state it emphatically enough...but let me try to do so...

The excellent knowledge base that is VAF: ROCKS!

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JoAnn, Virtually...Your Office!
http://virtuallyyouroffice.biz

The March issue of TVE will have an article called "Pitfalls to avoid as a VA" which is a must-read! This should help as well!

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Fantastic suggestion with the Master To-do List! Within that document there was another document suggested; 'Pricing to Income Goals Excel Worksheet" by Karri Flatila and this can now be found at http://www.snapwebmarketing.com/Pric...come-Goals.xls Fantastic! I am new in the industry (about 3 months) and have already done alot on the list, but this is extemely helpful and informative! Great thread!!