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My husband and I have recently shifted to the country from suburban life.  It’s still a suburb of Melbourne but an outer suburb amongst the hills and bushland. It’s beautiful and we look forward to many years here as we head towards retirement and grand-parenthood.

While I do run a virtual online business of my own, I find it’s still important to maintain contact with local business operators. There are just some things that need to be done on a local basis.  And it’s a great way to get to know the locals and let them know I exist too.

I woke up in the morning realising I hadn’t yet seen a local newspaper so when I went to the post office on my daily trek to the shopping area I noticed some shops had the local paper stuck under their doors. On enquiry I found out where I could get a copy and brought it home to check through the classifieds. (I find it strange thinking about the local paper on the very day it’s become available)

A short time later I had 3 appointments set for the day for a home handyman to do some carpentry, for someone else to come and cut up fallen branches and clear the area at the back of our property and for yet another to regularly mow our very large lawns.

It’s important to support the local business community whenever possible.

Tags: Business Operations, Self-employed, Work From Home by Kathie Thomas
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I have a sister going through a life challenge at the moment and I was thinking back to a time when I thought that my life was coming to an end too – not physically, but emotionally.  I didn’t know where I was headed.  I want to share with you the thoughts I shared with my sister, in the hope that it might encourage some of you too.

Late 1993/early 1994 before I began my business I worked for a pig of a man named George. He  had no respect for women.  I was engaged to be his Personal Assistant, set up his new office, help buy furniture and equipment and establish the business. He’d been flown over from another state by ‘daddy’ to establish an Eastern seaboard branch of their family business.

My thoughts were I would get 2 years experience in small business before branching out on my own but a few short months with George stripped me of all my confidence and I thought my abilities too. He was rude, demanding, lied, and was horrible. I’d drive into the car garage beneath the office building holding my breath till I could see if his car was there and then start breathing again when it wasn’t.  He’d accuse me of losing papers that I would find on his desk in a tray where I’d put them – he never apologised.  I was often in tears.

His wife was obviously terrified of him and I asked her one day why she put up with him. She was scared he would hear me – we only had a glass wall between our offices.  I ended up going to the doctor because I had all sorts of health problems and in the end the doc said to me ‘put up with it, or leave the job’.  So I decided to leave but when I went to give my notice the following day George told me that it wasn’t working out and he’d give me time to find another job. I told him fine, I’m leaving at the end of the week, I’ve got another job.  He was totally surprised. My new job?  My business.  I decided it was now or never and I’m glad I did.  I still wasn’t sure what or how it was going to happen but I decided that I didn’t want to find another job – I had to make my business work.

5 months later I bumped into a lady in an office downstairs from George’s and she asked me what we used to do all day?  I asked her why and she says there’s always yelling and screaming and George had gone through 5 more secretaries after me.  And here I was thinking that I’d not given it enough time to settle. He’d gone through 5 secretaries in 5 months – the amount of time I’d stuck it out with him. Do you think that lifted my spirits?

Use this time as a recovery time and a time for really exploring what you want to do with your life. What are your passions and dreams? What turns on a hot button for you? Is there something you’ve always wanted to do since you were a kid (doesn’t matter if there isn’t but it’s worth going back there to explore).

What I am doing today I have wanted to do all my life.  I didn’t know what exactly or how, but I always knew I wanted to run a business of my own.  I always knew I wanted control and didn’t want to have to answer to others.  I always knew I wanted to write. I just didn’t know what about, when or how. But it’s all come together.

Allow yourself to explore, dream, think, dare – let yourself and your mind go to places you haven’t allowed yourself for a long time.  You may find passions there to reignite and from that, new dreams and aspirations.  You may find you will gain new strength and courage and be able to  move forward and look forward to things again.

If you are going through ’stuff’ right now and can’t see a future or can’t see a light at the end of your tunnel, then take heart. We all go through it and I do mean ‘through it’. There is an end where the light comes back on, the tunnel ends and you can start to see a hope and a future again.

Sometimes it’s those dark tunnels that really help us to turn corners in our lives and even though we don’t feel it at the time, it is often a time of real learning – about ourselves and about others.

I pray and hope that you will be encouraged to spend time thinking and exploring so you can move forward again – and I would love to hear about it!

lack of confidence, dark tunnel, self-confidence, life challenge

Tags: Author's Thoughts, Women in Business, Work From Home by Kathie Thomas
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“Your Home Business” profiles home based businesses that have been in operation long-term. It came out just this week.  Published by Switzer Media & Publishing, I was approached a couple of months ago asking for an interview as I’d been in business for almost 15 years, from a homebased office. I was delighted. Any opportunity to promote the Virtual Assistant industry is always welcome.  And I love that the VA industry has allowed me to work at home now for almost 15 years (in March) so I could be present for our family as they grew up.   A decision I’m always glad I made.

Below is the front cover and my article starts on page 56.  The magazine is available around the country by various newsagents.  They also have an educational website called BizThinkTank worth visiting.

Tags: Author's Thoughts, Business Operations, Self-employed, Work From Home by Kathie Thomas
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In light of our recent family troubles I want to highlight some things that I do and which you may need to think about as a business owner/operator for times when emergencies arise and you are unable to be present in your own business.

Some years ago, when my husband and I started going on overseas trips, I developed some systems to ensure I could hand over the running of daily activities in my business.

• I set up a new ‘business’ phone line so that business calls came only on that number and not my home number.  And yet for 10 years previous I’d only used my home number.  With the new number it meant I could simply divert my business calls to one of my Virtual Assistant team members and she wouldn’t be receiving personal calls as well – those could be diverted to my mobile number if necessary or we simply left a voicemail message saying we weren’t available for a period of time.
• After hearing a professional speaker talk about the use of his mobile (cell) phone I stopped giving out my mobile number to anyone who isn’t family or a close friend and diverted my business line to my mobile phone only when necessary.  This meant that my business didn’t have to follow me wherever I went.  And because 98% of my work is carried out in my own office (I rarely do on site work these days) it’s not necessary for people to call me on my mobile phone but I recognise this might not be a suitable step for all business owner/operators.
• I have an email address that is used specifically for job requests for clients and this is automatically forwarded to one or more team members to handle when I’m away from my office for periods of time.
• I have an emergency phone list of clients and contacts stuck on the wall by my computer so that if my husband or another family member have to call anyone on my behalf, they don’t have to go hunting for that information. The sheet is updated periodically.
• I also have a simple email list set up so I can email all my clients at once notifying them of unavailable time coming up so I can organise backup support for them in my absence.  Planned trips usually mean 1-2 month’s notice to my clients but of course, in emergencies, it’s usually at short notice – but at least they’re not left in the dark and they’re given a contact name of a team member to look after them.
• I’ve also developed more than one income stream through my business so I’m not wholly dependent on client work to financially support my needs. Which means I could realistically have a bit of time off without worrying too much.  Mind you, it is important to plan and put away funds when you know you are going to take leave but if something unplanned came up, finances won’t necessarily be at the top of the list in your mind.

If you are planning leave timing it across two months, i.e. a week or two at the end of one month and a week or two at the beginning of another will allow you opportunity to still bring something in for each month.  I’ve done this in the past, but of course, when unexpected things come up, you cannot plan the timing.

These are just some simple things I’ve done to ease the ‘load’ of what needs to be actioned whenever I have to be absent from my business for a period of time.  What about you? What ‘emergency’ systems have you put in place?

systems, planning, emergencies, taking leave, planned leave

Tags: Business Operations, Self-employed, Work From Home by Kathie Thomas
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