Web URL: http://www.harrisadmin.com
Years in Business: 2010
Type of Business: Upper-Level Administrative Support
Works: 98% virtually
LinkedIn
Twitter ID: @timeinyourday
Ruth: Welcome to the blog, Linda. It’s great to have you here and learn more about your business. What happens at Harris Administrative Services and who do you serve?
Linda: Harris Administrative Services, LLC, offers upper-level administrative support to local small business owners who have been in business for 3-5 years who may have employees but no administrative support. My target market is the construction industry focusing on the trades (such as flooring, electrical, HVAC, etc.); not General Contractors. I believe in using technology whenever possible – sometimes this includes a mix of technology and the business owner’s comfort zone in developing systems and procedures unique to them. My services range from drafting manuals (employee, safety) to reading specifications and drawings to determine scope of work, from creating contracts (from attorney-approved templates) to creating and sending out work orders. Additional, Harris Administrative Services assists with bookkeeping, presentations, webinars/workshops, and other support.
Ruth: Would you share what led you to consider a virtual profession and how you got started?
Linda: While I was an independent contractor for a construction trade I realized that most of what I did could be done at my home though the business owner wanted someone in their office. Even when I wasn’t in the office from 9-6, Monday-Friday (with some Saturdays thrown in), I was still on call 24/7. At the end of that work, I decided to take a look at where I had been.
In 1981 I was married and moved to Richmond, Virginia. At my husband’s request, I applied for a position as a legal secretary (I had no legal experience) for an attorney who also owned a small law publishing company. I also provided secretarial support for the other two attorneys who shared the office space. Almost nine years later, I began working part-time (three days a week) after the birth of our first daughter. This continued for several years and the attorney eventually moved his office to his home and stopped doing the law publishing aspect of his business. [At that point, it had been years since he came into the office to work.]
I found a part-time job as a bookkeeper for a chiropractor and from that point forward, I just moved from job to job so to speak. The Chiropractor closed their office, but her husband was a co-owner in a family-owned property management company. Their computer crashed and all their records had to be re-entered into a new computer. So I was hired to do that project. While I was working on that project, I began making recommendations on how to streamline their office. So they retained me as a consultant for their business. They merged with a local real estate company (who also did property management) and one of the conditions of the merger was that the company had to keep me on as a consultant. After a year or so, the real estate company decided that they wanted me to split my time between property management and their in-house maintenance department (which also handled major renovations of investment and/or rental property).
It was at this point that I also began doing some work for a business owner who had started their own company in the construction industry. I later got my real estate license and went to work for another real estate company and continued doing work with the other company. I then let my real estate license lapse because I was spending 50+ hours a week working with the other company. So when we parted ways, I decided to take a look at what I wanted to do.
After doing research, I found the Virtual Assistant industry and it had been around for a few years. The more research I did, the more I thought that this was something that I could do. I wrote my business plan and opened my business on July 29, 2010. After several months, I changed the focus of my business to the trades within the construction industry, since I enjoy the challenges that they face. Not all of my clients are in the construction industry as some of them are “grand-fathered in” so to speak.
Ruth: Where have you found your support and encouragement along the way?
Linda: I will have to state that I joined VAnetworking.com and IVAA a few months after I started my business. Both of these organizations have had a wealth of knowledge and information that helped me get where I am today. From participating in VAjot at VAnetworking and Coffee Chats at IVAA to taking the many workshops and webinars offered by each of these organizations, all have contributed to helping me develop my business model.
Picking one or two networking groups to participate in on a regular basis has also helped my business grow. While this is something that is out of my comfort zone, I found that this was important for my business to grow. By getting to know other business owners, I find that I am being referred by them to others.
I have also taken advantage of workshops/webinars by the Small Business Administration (SBA), SCORE and others regarding business ownership and other topics of interest of my business.
Ruth: What advice do you have for others considering becoming a virtual assistant?
Linda: That having a successful business does not happen overnight. You need to have a lot of patience and be willing to put in the hard work to get your business up and running. It also helps to focus on offering certain services and having a target market. If I had not written my business plan, I would not have known some of the obstacles that I would face and what I needed to be willing to do for my business. While the business plan didn’t tell me all of the obstacles that I had along the way it did give me a foundation for my business. While I did go back and review my business plan more in the first year to make sure that I was still on track I did make changes to it as I “fined-tuned” my business model. This made it easier for me to make sure that I stayed on track with my goals and objectives.
Everyone’s heard that “location is everything.” My advice would be research, research and more research. You can start with the internet but also go to your local library and check out books about starting a business. If you are located in the United States, the Small Business Administration and SCORE can also provide you with resources about starting a business.
I also added a few books to my library The 2-Second Commute by Christine Durst and Michael Haaren, The Commonsense Virtual Assistant by Joel D. Canfield and Sue L. Canfield, Virtual Assistant The Series: Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA by Diana Ennen and Kelly Poelker, and The Virtual Assistant’s Guide to Marketing by Michelle Jamison.
Find people that are highly-regarded in the industry and ask for their recommendations. They may be able to give additional insight or information about where to go for more information that could benefit your business.
Don’t forget about joining VA organizations such as VAnetworking.com and IVAA. Take advantage of what they have to offer, don’t sit on the sidelines and expect someone to hand it to you. Virtual Assistants are willing to give you information but you have to be willing to do the work it will not be handed to you on a “silver platter” so to speak. If there is a local VA group that meets on a regular basis, find out how you could attend one of their meetings. Here you will get to talk with other VAs and see how they are “doing it”.
Ruth: Great tips! Any last thoughts you’d like to share?
Linda: I consider myself fortunate to have found an industry where I can do what I enjoy doing. I have set up my business model to reflect how I want to work with my clients. What works for me may not work for someone else. I also do not accept every business owner as a client, but I love working with those that become clients.
Most virtual assistants do not get clients in their first few months, much less their first year. So if you are thinking that this is an easy way to make money, stop and find a job. This will not be for you.
In the beginning, my husband considered my business to be a hobby and not a “real job”. He said that I needed to go out and “get a real job”. Now he is not saying that because he knows that what I do for my clients is important to their business. He even encourages me to go to networking events that I have scheduled on the calendar particularly on those days that I really just don’t want to go. He’s there to give me a gentle push (or shove, whatever’s needed) to remind me that I made that commitment. Over the last two years, I have travelled more and done more with my family than I have in the previous years. Granted “my office” has travelled with me and my clients sometimes jokingly ask me “which office am I in” but I have not regretted making the decision to start this business.
Ruth: You’ve created the perfect business model for your lifestyle, Linda. It’s been a treat talking with you. Thanks so much.
Construction industry tradesmen, I hope you’ll seek out Linda at her website because she truly gets your industry and knows how to provide this specialized support.