tbourner Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 The missus is starting up part time working from home as an RPA (Remote Personal Assistant), so she can do admin work for people who are too busy or need a bit of help every so often without employing full time staff. She's got some business cards made up, but where should we advertise? Any ideas? We're fighting with the likes of virtualassistant.co.uk or whatever it is and all those other companies that do your admin work for you. We can easily undercut all those guys though because currently we've got 0 overheads! If it works out I'll buy her a nicer PC and desk and get some headphones and stuff if phone work features heavily. Any problems we might face? People will want her to sign confidentiality agreements I guess but do we need to get some written up or will they come from their own company? We've never done self employed stuff before so I need to learn about taxes and things as well. Anything important to find out about now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Watch that you aren't forbidden from operating a business from home (check your deeds and more importanly the council's viewpoint - some care about this relatively minor thing, some don't). Beware tax implications as your home becomes a place of work: council tax, business rates, what % of your house is now a workplace... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Good idea - most of our PAs are located off site. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbourner Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 Watch that you aren't forbidden from operating a business from home (check your deeds and more importanly the council's viewpoint - some care about this relatively minor thing, some don't). Beware tax implications as your home becomes a place of work: council tax, business rates, what % of your house is now a workplace... Ooh yeah, and our home insurance will probably change as well. At the moment it's simply my home PC that she'll be using, so nothing officially changing in the house - except that we'll (hopefully) be making money from the spare room! So I may leave phoning around all those things until we actually get going - otherwise I could be paying out more for a business that doesn't actually work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl_S Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Go to your local business start up service. They will give you loads of advice all free most likely. You are so right to think about marketing, it's such a major aspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 What sort of work would a remote PA do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 How spooky - I just got a call from a virtual PA wanting a logo and stationery designing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbourner Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 What sort of work would a remote PA do? Bloke she was in contact with before wanted her to organise all his business contacts, and tell him when they were due to be contacted for follow up appointments and discussions about 'how it was going'. Some were every month, some every 3 months etc. So she'd have to keep a database with alerts coming out of it and then she would let him know so he could ring them. That's one example. I guess people might want her to ring all their contacts and ask if they're happy and/or want repeat business, that kind of thing. Maybe they need someone to type up letters to potential customers and mail them all out. Maybe they could send recorded files to her to type them up as notes or documents for filing. Basically anything that a normal PA does, Zoe can now do thanks to the wonders of the internet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 What sort of work would a remote PA do? Book meetings, book rooms, arrange conference calls, write emails, books flights/hotels, do my holiday/sickness records... I find all sorts of uses for them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Book meetings, book rooms, arrange conference calls, write emails, books flights/hotels, do my holiday/sickness records... I find all sorts of uses for them Interesting. How did the people you use approach your company Mike? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Interesting. How did the people you use approach your company Mike? I'm not sure? Mine came from the business, but we have hired just in the usual way - advertised for a PA. It's a proper job you know!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 What sort of work would a remote PA do? Book meetings, book rooms, arrange conference calls, write emails, books flights/hotels, do my holiday/sickness records... I find all sorts of uses for them Oh shit, I thought that they just switched TV channels for you...!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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