The VA Biz 101 - Topic #6

The Office in Home Office

Topic Objective: In this topic, we’ll discuss what you need to set up your office.

Tools of the Trade

Your office space and equipment aren’t luxuries; you need them to be effective and efficient. You need them to be on you’re A-Game or no one is going to want to play with you!

Your Office
Obviously, you need a quiet space to work, preferably a separate room completely dedicated to your business. If you can set aside a separate room, it should have a secure lock. At the very least, have a locking file cabinet and your computer should be password protected.

Comfortable Desk and Chair
These aren’t frivolous items. If you don’t take care of your body, it will hurt. If you hurt, you can’t think clearly. Not sure what to buy (don’t worry, its tax deductible)? Check out: http://ergonomics.about.com

Computer
Of course, this is at the top of your equipment list. Be sure it is your own computer. This is for your business not for the kids to play games or do homework. Professionalism shines through in many ways. Having a computer dedicated to your business will come through not only in your image with your clients but in your attitude. It will help those naysayers take you seriously - especially if you are one of the naysayers!

Another thing to consider - in order to deduct your computer expenses from your taxes, the IRS will expect that it is only used for business. Go figure!

As I mentioned before, you must keep your computer secure and password protected. Would you give someone confidential business information knowing that it was going to be left around his or her house for anyone to access? No, you wouldn’t and your clients don’t want to either. Of course, they may never know - but what if your home is broken into and someone steals your computer? Oh, and please don’t write your passwords on a sticky note and put it on your monitor. I don’t mean to be insulting but I’ve seen some very smart people do some not-so-smart things!

The stuff that goes with it
I’m not a computer expert and I wholeheartedly recommend you engage the services of a qualified computer consultant. Be sure they are not only familiar with the latest and greatest technology but also with the quirks that go along with home office computer systems. Your house was built to be a home, not an office. There may be some infrastructure issues they need to work around. That being said, there are some must haves I want to address:

•  Broadband internet - no dial up! Your clients don’t want to pay you for the time it takes for a dial up connection to do what DSL or cable can do so much faster. If dial up is your only option, keep this in mind when marketing your business. Work with clients where online tasks and communication is minimal.
•  CD-ROM drive - for Software installs and backups

•  XP or Vista - If you are still running XP be prepared, time will run out, and you will need to move up to Vista. Note: If you are an Apple lover be prepared to jump through some document conversion hoops (non-billable time, by the way) or possibly even lose clients.
• Memory and Hard Drive capacity - check with your Computer Consultant to be sure you have adequate resources. If you have a Broadband Internet connection but your computer doesn’t have the resources to handle it, what’s the point?
• All-in-one machine - One of these days you won’t need a copier, scanner or fax machine but right now you do. Many of your clients will be using your services because they aren’t tech savvy and they don’t want to be. They want you to be. They will need to fax stuff and need you to make copies. One day we may be a paperless society but we aren’t there yet!
• Shredder - and since we aren’t paperless and since you will be handling confidential information, be sure you have a shredder! This is as much for your protection as it is your client’s.
• Backup systems - Yep, I said systems - plural!

1. You can back up vital files on your hard drive to a CD (via your Control Panel if you are using Windows). This is very helpful if your hard drive crashes. But what if, heaven forbid someone steals your computer or there is a fire or…?
2. Backup online! There are several good, secure online systems. Personally, I recommend Mozy. I had a near miss last year. Luckily, there were signs my hard drive was ready to retire and move to Florida. If I hadn’t had those clues and you don’t always, I could have lost my business. I don’t want to seem melodramatic but if I had lost my client’s data, I would have lost their trust. I could have lost everything; including the home my office is in.
3. Redundant systems may seem, well, redundant. But consider this: do you really want to risk your business and your livelihood in the event that something happens to your client’s vital work?

No, I didn’t think so!

• Business Telephone Line - Have a separate phone line in your business name, Skype has some great packages. The IRS is going to have a bit of a problem with you deducting your phone expenses if the line is also your home line. Your clients aren’t going to be too happy if your kids answer the phone.
• Phone headset - It’s a must! You need to have your hands free to make notes and access information.
• Voicemail - Be sure to have a professional greeting for your outgoing voice mail message. This isn’t the place to show off your cute kids.Your voicemail isn’t just for your convenience when you are out of the office. It is also a necessary time management tool. Unless you are answering live inbound calls for a client (which I would discourage you from doing), John Doe doesn’t want you answering Mary Smith’s call when you are entering in his expenses for the previous month.
• Business Address - Invest in a Post Office Box. In this day of technology, you might not use it much but you will need it occasionally. You don’t want to publish your home address if you can avoid it.
• Calendar/Task Management - Microsoft Outlook and Google have great systems but avoid the trap of having separate calendars for business and personal tasks. It’s an invitation for chaos. Set reminders for appointments, block time for checking your voicemail and email, and batch tasks. Be sure to schedule management and marketing time. It’s easy to put this stuff off but don’t! You may not be able to directly bill this time to your clients but good organization makes you more effective during your billable time, which makes for very happy clients. Of course, if you don’t do your marketing, there won’t be any clients and if you don’t do your billing, there won’t be any revenue!

• Stretch - Every hour you sit at your desk! Trust me; you’ll save a lot of trips to the chiropractor in 20 years. It is also important to give your brain a break! Of all the stretching “routines” I’ve had over the years, I like this one the best - http://ergonomics.about.com/od/treatmentprevention/ss/essentstretches.htm

Systems
It may seem like you need to spend a lot of time setting up these systems but they will pay off down the road when you can do more work in less time with less stress. Transferrable skills are not enough to be a successful VA; you need to run a highly organized and efficient business.

Remember those 5 P’s - Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance? 1 hour of effective planning will save you four hours.

Communication
There’s a line from a movie “What we have here is a failure to communicate” - and it’s a deal breaker. Nothing will lose you clients faster than poor communication.
Remember the common sense thing? Good communication does not mean you need to take calls while you are at the Grocery Store or having a Mocha with your girlfriends.
It does mean respond in a timely manner, even if just to say, “I need to get that information and I’ll get back to you.” And then do it. Clients need to know they have been heard.

Connecting with your client - One of the biggest challenges with working virtually is building a relationship with your client. There is a fine line between impersonal business and too much information. Human Beings are social animals and we want to have a certain level of personal relationship mixed in with the business relationship. This level is different for everyone, though. People love to talk about themselves so follow their lead. Bond with them, but don’t bring them home for dinner - literally or virtually.

Your paper trail - You need to keep careful records but putting notes in client files on your computer isn’t always easy or efficient when you are on the phone. Keep a notebook by your phone to record pertinent information. I like to use steno pads for this. On the left side, record the date, time and the client. On the right, record the details of the conversation in bullet points. When the call is over, email your client a summary of the call. This will not only confirm the facts with your client but it will also give you a paper trail. You can keep the email in your clients email folder as a permanent record.
Even though you will then have a virtual record of the call, save your notebooks. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone back to clarify my notes.

Email Management - Use folders to keep emails organized. I suggest one for each client with subfolders as necessary. You might use project folders or pending and completed. This will depend upon the nature of the work you do for the client and what is most convenient and efficient for you. When a client becomes a past client, move their folder to a “past clients” folder so it’s not “in the way” but you still have the emails.
I also recommend you set rules so that emails automatically go into the appropriate folder when they are received.

Instant Messenger - Avoid it like the plague. Period. But…You may have clients who are having trouble making the transition from an in-house employee to a virtual independent contractor. They are used to just “yelling down the hall” when they need something and Instant Messenger is their virtual replacement. If you have a client who insists on using IM and you choose to work with them, be absolutely sure you set clear boundaries and expectations. You must let them know that you are also working for other clients and will respond as soon as possible. Use your status message so they know what to expect. I always used “Please leave a message and I will respond as quickly as I can. Then I would treat it like my email and respond when I checked my email.
For many clients they just want to send you a quick message and it’s a bit simpler than email. Then they know they have told you and they can cross that off their To Do List. Be sure to archive conversations just as you do your email.

Skills and Abilities
Now that we’ve set up your office and your systems, let’s take a look at you. What are the skills and abilities you need to have in order to be a successful Virtual Assistant?
Abilities are things that come naturally to you. Some can be learned skills but they may be harder for you to do well. For example, I am not by nature a detail-oriented person. I’m a forest kind of person but I have had to force myself to also look at the trees in order to be a successful VA.

Vital abilities and sometimes learned skills

• Good spoken and written communication - some of this is natural ability and some is learned skill.
• Attention to detail - as I said before, if it’s not natural, then you have to develop finely tuned skills and this only makes your systems more important!
• Organized - if you aren’t naturally organized, think of this like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Make it fun!
• Do you like to help and play a support role? - This may seem a bit of a contradiction; after all, you are an independent, entrepreneurial spirit. You don’t want to be someone’s employee. But you are also providing a service and the hallmark of any good service provider, from doctor to gardener, from janitor to lawyer, is that they want to help. If you aren’t passionate about helping others solve the problems they have brought to you then this isn’t the business for you. But we talked about that in the beginning so I trust you are passionate about service and that’s why you’re are still here. But I just thought I should check!

Ok, so those are the abilities you need so let’s talk about your skills:

Skills
You must be computer savvy. No, I don’t mean you need to know the difference between a Mother Board and a Sound Card but you must be proficient in the tools that computers allow you to have. And be comfortable exploring and using them. You can’t be worried that every time you press a key they system will blow up!

Most clients use the tools listed below and if you know them, you will be able to pick up others easily. Your clients don’t expect to pay you to learn how to insert a hyperlink in Word or add a formula to an Excel spreadsheet. If they ask you to do something you don’t know how to do, figure it out. But, don’t charge them for the time to learn it.

As with any rule, there are exceptions. If a client wants you to do something that is unique to their business and you aren’t likely to ever do it for another client then charge them for the time to learn it. You probably won’t find this with standard software systems but you may have a client who wants you to use a little known program or proprietary system. In this case, they should be paying you for the time to learn it for them.

• Microsoft Office - You should be at least an intermediate level user with all Microsoft Office products. You should also know your way around the help systems.
• Internet - know your way around both Internet Explorer and Firefox. I finally made the transition to Firefox, I fought it for a long time. I’m glad I did, though - I like it better! XP/Vista - The more proficient you are with your operating system, the less time you will spend doing unbillable “management” tasks like “disk cleanup” and scheduling your backups.
• Virus Protection software and Anti-spyware - you not only want to protect your business but your clients need to know their information is safe with you.
• Google - get to know Google’s online tools. Google Docs is an excellent tool that will help you share documents with your clients. You can even use it as an alternative to Microsoft Office Suite. Oh yea, it’s free too!

There are a lot of programs out there that are common and your clients may want you to use. Some are free and some have free trials - take advantage of them! Be willing to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty!

• Other common software programs - explore ACT!, Salesforce.com, Zoho, Constant Contact and QuickBooks. Familiarity with these products will also allow you to offer your clients solutions if they come to you with something they need done but don’t know how to do it
• Virtual communication tools - Be comfortable with handling Conference Calls (check out FreeConferenceCall.com), online meetings, remote log in programs (logmein.com has a free version) and file sharing (see Google Docs).
• Virtual Faxing - Even with the move to paperless, sometimes a hard copy is all that is available. Having virtual fax (eFax is probably the most popular) capability to receive hard copy from your clients will also save you paper, ink and storage space.
• PDF’s - you must be very familiar with handling .pdf files. At the very least, you need to have Adobe Reader but there may be times when you will need to create your own .pdf files. There are a number of programs available and even some opensource solutions.
• Base Camp is an excellent project management system - simple, interactive, collaborative and a great “value-added” solution to provide your clients.
• WordPress is the industry standard in blogging software. It is easy to use, and free. Many clients may want you to set up or maintain their blog so a good working knowledge of WordPress is essential (and know the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org).
• Check out DocStoc.com - an amazing collaborative collection of documents for every situation. Save $ by having your attorney review it instead of write it. And it’s a great resource to share with your clients!

Don’t let all of this overwhelm you. Chances are that you already have much of this in place and only need to tweak your systems a bit. Reread this article and make a list of everything you have. Make a second list of things that need some work. For example, if you have Excel abut haven’t used it much check out training .com and improve your skills. Now make a third list of everything that you need to do from scratch. For example, set up your business phone system. Now prioritize your lists and just go through them one-step at a time and you’ll have it done before you know it!

How do you eat an elephant (assuming that you want to  )?

One bite at a time! 

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