My Journey to becoming a Virtual Assistant, starting my own LLC, and stumbling into the world of entrepreneurship.
And begun it has! My adventure really started in late summer 2020. Now, 2020 was a weird, weird year for everyone, but this story is about me. I was in the midst of a custody battle and divorce, and I was trying to figure out how I was going to keep doing everything. Multiple doctor's appointments throughout the week, taking care of my son, and also finding a job that had the flexibility to accommodate all of that. The answer seemed pretty simple to me…I couldn't. Period. The End. But, that wasn't an option, so I needed to find a solution.
I know what I am good at and what I love to do, so I started there. I love office work (weird I know), organizing anything and everything, and helping other people get and stay organized. I had tried working online in the past as a freelancer, and well let's just say, it wasn't really my thing. I couldn't handle never knowing if it was a scam, not having constant work, and not being in control. Which lets face it, control is the biggest point there. I had felt like my life was spiraling out of control for so long that I just wanted to take my control back. So I did.
I did not plan every single detail down to the most minuscule thing, nope, I did not. I jumped head-first into a brand new life (trust me it changed everything). I enrolled in an online course for virtual assistance. Side note: I know how to do my job very well, but I strongly believe in continuing education and most importantly, working solely and completely online was new to me and I am not exactly the most tech savvy person to grace this Earth. Check out this Virtual Assistant Workbook from Amazon to aid in your VA education. Ok back to the story.
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I enrolled in an online course for virtual assistance. I started immediately and I was really working through courses very quickly. But alas, it soon became clear that I would not be finishing this course anytime in the near future, and I was quickly depleting my funds. Now this is usually when logical people sit down, come up with a budget, a plan, and maybe get a part time job to facilitate going to school. But no no no, not me, I promptly started a website for a business that I did not…umm…start…yet.
Here's the thing, I also had never set up a website in my life! So I quickly looked up a good “build-your-own” website platform (I used WordPress), and I got to work. I fumbled my way through setting up a, eh, passable website. I was pretty proud of myself too! It was by no means perfect (and I have since completely rebuilt it), but it was mine and it worked for the time being.
Sooo, I finished my website, paid my money, created my logo, and paid for my branding. Then I took a big, satisfied breath and sat back with a cheshire cat grin and said…now what? And THAT was when I finally sat down and made a plan. I did some research (ok a lot of research), called my favorite business people, and figured out how to make my “business” into an actual legal business. Thus began the whirlwind of applying for my LLC, getting my business license (which I overlooked at first…oops), setting up employment security accounts, and all the other stuff that comes with making it legitimate. In the long run (it was only about a month, but it felt like a long run) it was totally worth it. The peace of mind that comes from knowing my business is completely legal and ready to grow at a moments notice, was worth the agonizing time it took to set it all up. By the way, I am only slightly exaggerating the torment creating my company was.
I am someone who likes to keep very busy, and I always want to be doing something. I get enormous amounts of satisfaction when I accomplish something that I feel is important and is a goal of mine. So for me, this experience, even though I am just starting, has been so extremely rewarding.
I grew up in a huge family (I am number 8 out of 9 kids) and almost all of them have their own businesses or are involved in the family business. Going into business was always something I not only wanted to do, but I feel like I was destined to do it. It seemed it was always fated that one day I would own my own business. I just never knew what type of business it would be (some years it was a coffee shop, or bookstore, or horse training). Ultimately, I feel very confident that the direction I chose to go in is the right one for me. Regardless of the type of businesses I have worked for in the past, my favorite things to do and the tasks that I excelled in were always on the administrative, operations, and writing side of the business. I love to be creative with writing and marketing, but I also love the structure and the rigidity of administrative work. Those two things might seem contradictory, but to me it creates balance to sustain a harmonious work environment (even if that environment is your dining room, I mean, home office).
Like the title of this post indicates, this is just the beginning of this adventure for me. Stay tuned for more on my oh-so-interesting foray into the crazy, wild world of entrepreneurship, working remotely, and balance Mom Life simultaneously. This might be a little more than just an adventure, but I think I can handle it…hopefully.
