As a Virtual Assistant or independent contractor, it’s up to the individual to find clients.  When I first started A Novel Space, I thought with the small businesses and entrepreneurs out there, finding clients would be hard at first, but get easier over time.  Right?  Not necessarily.

I have discovered that despite my years of experience, many businesses are hesitant to enter the VA world.  I think I knew this somewhere in the back of my mind.  There are probably many reasons for this reluctance, one of which could be the perception that if you are paying someone to work for you, they must do the work in front of you.  In the eyes of some, with a VA, they are the unseen employee whose word you have to take on faith and hope the results are what you expect them to be.

Fortunately, I believe the idea of hiring a virtual assistant is catching on more and more every day.  I recently read an article where a community college was offering a 27-credit virtual assistant certificate.  Excellent.  I believe the more the mainstream corporate world acknowledges this industry, the less we’ll have to explain what a VA is, and more time we can spend demonstrating our skills.

When I first began thinking about being a VA back in 2006, I was still working the typical 9-6 everyday job.  I knew I needed and wanted to make a change, so I looked into starting a home business of some kind.

I suppose I had the same reasons for wanting to work from home as most do: my commute was a major pain.  When I first started with the company, I could get from my garage to the office garage in 25 minutes or less.  By the time I left, the drive took anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes each way.  Sometimes I felt as if I needed a helicopter to get to the office on time.  Also, it was no longer exciting once I got to work.  Usually working for an entertainment public relations firm is fun, interesting, and different everyday.  By the end, everyday seemed almost a carbon copy of the day before.

Anyway, the time had come for a major change.  Finding a way to work out of my home seemed like the best choice for me.  However, in trying to find just the right thing, I kept coming across Work-At-Home businesses and jobs for the stay at home mom.  Many required the applicant to be a mom in order to apply.  I’m not a mom so despite my 16 years of experience, I didn’t qualify for most.  Still others were call center jobs for much less per hour than I was currently earning.  I already handled a busy switchboard amongst my many other duties; I wanted to get away from the phone for a bit.

Finally, I realized I needed to be more specific to achieve my goal.  Eventually after some more searching, I came across the term Virtual Assistance and better yet, a book on the subject.  I bought the book, read it from cover to cover and knew this was it.  Often, since I left my 9-6 job people have asked me ‘Do you think you made the right decision?’  It’s the same question I asked myself when I first left.  Ultimately, the answer is yes.  I had gone as far as I could in my last regular job.  It was time to shake things up.  True it was (and sometime still is) a gamble, but I had to take a chance or always wonder.

Almost 2 years later, I still think it’s the best decision I’ve recently made.

Welcome to the new blog website for A Novel Space.  My goal for this website is to share experiences with those new to the Virtual Assistance industry, as well as, the veterans.  Along the way, I hope we can all learn something that will help our businesses grow.

Let the journey begin.