I’m starting a series on VA stories – those VAs who have been around for awhile and how and why they got into the industry. The first is a long-term member of ACS and that is Melissa Williscroft. Melissa has been a member of the ACS Network since 2009. Below she shares her story.
Starting my virtual administration business was the best decision that I ever made.
My son was 18 months old and the pressure was on for me to return to work. I was staring down the barrel of having to return to full time work and put my child into long day-care, something that really wasn’t sitting well with me.
I did some research into possible business ventures and stumbled across the concept of virtual assistants – with my strong background in administration, including many years as both a personal assistant and legal secretary, this was the perfect choice for me. And so MJS Virtual Business Support was born in early 2009.
Running my own business gives me the ability to be independent, have a fantastic work/life balance and not miss any of my children’s important milestones. I now have three beautiful children plus a husband that works very long hours, and my business fits in perfectly with our lives – I’m able to schedule my day to fit in school runs and events, and because I’m not locked into a strict 9-5 office routine, I can work flexibly to best suit my client’s needs.
I found the first 12 months in business were the hardest – after working for large companies for many years, running my own business was a very steep learning curve. From learning the many new skills required to run a business, having to ‘put myself out there’ to gain new clients and wondering whether it was all going to come together into a successful business or if I should just give up and go back to my full-time job. I’m so glad I persevered!
Now, nearly 7 years later, my business is booming, I have three children, a great work/life balance, a fantastic client list, the ability to pick and choose which clients I take on and, most importantly, I am doing something that I love.
I now offer a fairly broad range of services – from the usual Virtual PA services (including email and diary management, document formatting, travel arrangements etc) as well as Virtual Legal Assistant services, audio transcription, social media and creating and maintaining WordPress websites.
To get in touch with Melissa:
MELISSA WILLISCROFT
MJS Virtual Business Support
Prospect Tas, Aust. | M: 0418 583 354
mjsvirtual.com.au
Victoria Featherby says
Thanks for sharing Melissa,
I am new to the VA world and have been working on my business for about two months now. It is harder than I thought it would be and have thought more than a couple of times of giving up and getting a job. But with hubby working long hours (he is a chef) and not having family around to help looking after my six month old baby boy it is a little challenging.
Reading your story today has given me that little push I needed to believe in myself and persevere – so thank you for that. I will keep going and giving myself a little more time!
Victoria
Melissa Williscroft says
Believe in yourself Victoria – you can do this! I found the hardest part was landing those first few clients. Once you secure those, you’ll feel more confident, hopefully be able to get some powerful testimonials for your website and never underestimate the power of the word-of-mouth referral! Once I landed those first couple of clients I found things just snowballed and I haven’t looked back since. Stick with it 🙂
Christine says
Great to read, Melissa!
I too have been reliant on a consistent paying position but now with having a 10 month old have been exploring possibilities to stay at home. With an office and equine background, I hope to focus on equine businesses as my niche and was rapt to secure one such client recently through A Clayton’s Secretary.
Now to build upon this over time!