Working from Home as Virtual P.A

Rossi_2

I am looking for work from home providing secretarial services
I have been searching for a reputable company that can offer such work......no luck and I have now almost given up.

If anyone knows of any companies that may need someone to work on assignments - please let me know

Thanks

barnaby-bear

Rossi wrote: »

I am looking for work from home providing secretarial services
I have been searching for a reputable company that can offer such work......no luck and I have now almost given up.

If anyone knows of any companies that may need someone to work on assignments - please let me know

Thanks

One of the Sunday/Saturday broadsheets had an article on this a few weeks ago - aparently most are outsourced in India - I think this might be the one they talked about because they kept talking about his Girl Friday
https://www.getfriday.com/
I imagine this has an effect on pay. There's a girl floating around EagerLearner who has set up her own business doing this in the UK.

Skint_Catt

My company uses Outsec. Try their website.

dark_angel

just wondering if anyone knew of any where else? i am also looking for work as a virtual secretary/p.a .
Thank you for suggesting them I rang them up & they said they may have jobs in April, was worth a try!
- Sarah

Skint_Catt

Thanks Sarah, I might try that too then nearer the time!

stas4949

Hi everyone

As a 30 odd something mum with 2 kids at school I thought I'd like to set up my own girl friday company.....

I can offer dog walking, pet sitting, cleaning, babysitting, gardening etc. Also I thought it would be good to set up an emergency child care service, you know the sort of thing when you need someone quick to pick up kids from school or look after them when the dog needs to be rushed to the vets etc IYKWIM

Do any of you have any other ideas of things that I could offer to do (not too good at ironing).

Also what sort of insurance should I have? Would I need to train as a childminder?

I can get good references from past employers.....

I was thinking of doing a leaflet drop as I live in a smallish town with a very mixed population so I am hoping I will appeal to a large spectrum. Any one have any ideas as to the wording or maybe a quirky little catchphrase.

Also what sort of prices should I be charging? I was thinking £7.50-£10 ph for dog walking & cleaning, £5 ph babysitting.

I know this is a good idea for my area as there are countless ads up for dog walkers, cleaners etc so I should be able to start of ok.

If we can all get together on this it could be something for mums in other areas to do......

Any ideas or suggestions good or bad are gratefully received

Many thanks in advance.....

smartcat04

If there are lots of people advetising the same kind of services in the same area then it may be worth considering if there is enough work to go round you all.
Personally, I'd leave the childcare issue because it would open up lots of cans of worms re: insuarance,police checks and training. If I couldn't pick my children up from school (imaginary children!) I would ring school and explain the delay, get a friend or relative to go (with schools permission) rather than phoning up a stranger to go whos number I'd seen on a leaflet.
A lot of schools won't release children to an infamiliar face these days.
Please don't take this as critisism as I think your ideas are good and show motivation. Plant watering service or house sitting might fit in with your plan as well.

dobs

what about doing shopping for the elderly as well, like their grocery shopping?Sorry that is all i can think of, you seem to have thought of most things!

OnceBitten

I am not really in a position to comment on your business idea, but I do think it is worth a go. However I do know quite a lot about advertising small businesses and may be able to help in this respect. Most people think that you just let people know ONCE what you are offering and that they either respond or not. This is not the case, advertising is a 'cumulative' affair. The more times people see your services advertised, the more likely they are to respond. You may get nil response to an initial flyer distribution and then get several to the second in the same area, the third attempt is usually the best. People get the idea that you are serious, that you obviously have other customers or you wouldn't still be advertising, they meant to contact you but needed reminders etc etc What I am saying is - if you do it - give it 6 months and treat advertising as your major concern initially and do it as cheaply but as consistently as you can and all in the same area which should be carefully chosen. Also put out at least 1,000 flyers at a time to get a response. Buy 10,000 carefully designed flyers (they are much cheaper per flyer at that quantity) and put them through the same 1,000 doors 10 times or 2000 doors 5 times or 3,000 doors 3.3 times etc each month. It takes time to build up a business but, if it ever is going to work this is the only way to find out. Most people give up far too easily because they know nothing about the cumulative effect of advertising. Best of luck

stas4949

thanks for all your helpful comments.

I will give the kid thing a miss.

The elderly shopping is a really good idea that I hadn't thought about.

Also thank you for the very good advertising advice, I think the flyer option is probably my best option.

thanks again everyone

wornoutmumoftwo

Take a look here: getafreelancer.com

They have all different types of projects advertised and it's free. I have got work from this site and I have been paid, I still use it when I'm not browsing on this forum.

PM me if you need any help