Get Ahead VA Blog

24
Jan

Write a brief for a website designer

Get Ahead VA is here to help business owners. Our team of virtual assistants (VAs) can take on the jobs you don’t have the time or the skills for, freeing you up to focus on what you’re best at. In order to get the most out of your VA, you will need to provide a good brief, but what should you include? In this series, we look at how to write a useful brief for every kind of job, and this month we’re looking at website design.

Whether you have an old business website that needs updating, or you’re looking to build one from scratch, the team at Get Ahead VA can help. To kick things off, here are some of the key things you should think about when writing a brief for your website designer.

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21
Jan

How to find clients

Get Ahead VA is very proud to have branches across the country, and we’re always on the lookout for ambitious, business-minded people who are interested in opening a new branch in their local area. Our Regional Directors are brimming with good advice about being your own boss. Today, Karen and Allison, co-Directors of our Newcastle office, are here with some advice about finding clients.

So you’ve launched your business, your systems are in place and you’re raring to go – but how do you go about finding clients? When we set up our Get Ahead VA office, we used a number of different strategies to find people to work with. Here are a few of the most effective!

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17
Jan

Get Ahead VA Leeds is 2 years old!

Two years ago this month, Fiona Ibbetson launched Get Ahead VA Leeds. Since then, the Leeds office has gone from strength to strength, and we’re delighted to wish Fiona and her business a happy birthday!

Since she launched, Fiona has helped more than 40 business owners, large and small, from architects to surgeons, accountants to plumbers. She has coordinated projects between her clients and a team of 15 Get Ahead virtual assistants, and delivered great results for her clients. Fiona says: “I love jobs where more than one person is working with a client and we are all playing to our strengths and working as a team. It’s great to know that we are helping other businesses to grow and providing flexible support when they need it.”

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15
Jan

More organisation tips for business owners

Get Ahead VA is very proud to have branches across the country, and we’re always on the lookout for ambitious, business-minded people who are interested in opening a new branch in their local area. Our Regional Directors are brimming with good advice about being your own boss. Today, Kristy and Suzanne, co-Directors of our Berkshire and North Hampshire office, are back to share more of their organisation tips for business owners.

We’ve already shared with you some of the ways we stay organised (see our previous blog post), but we have plenty more where they came from! So without further ado, here are three more things you can do to keep your business running smoothly.

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10
Jan

New decade, new business plan

It’s a new year and a new decade, so what better time to refresh your business plan?

A business plan is a strategic document that describes your business, where it fits within a particular industry, and your goals for the future. A business plan helps you to think clearly about your business and where it is going, and so it’s very important that you update yours regularly.

Of course, strategy can easily fall by the wayside when you’re dealing with the day-to-day running of your business, but the mental reset of a new year is a great excuse to dig out your business plan and make sure it’s up to date. Not sure where to start? Here are three key ways you can refresh your business plan for the year ahead.

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7
Jan

4 New Year’s resolutions you can actually keep

New Year’s resolutions are tricky things: we all know that most don’t last beyond January, and the enthusiasm we feel for them at the start of the year can quickly fade when the day-to-day realities of life set in. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t set them – especially if you’re a business owner.

All good businesses operate on clear goals. Unlike resolutions, we don’t limit ourselves to setting these goals just once a year, and if we fall behind with them we usually extend the deadline rather than abandoning them forever. This is a good approach to take to New Year’s resolutions too, so with that in mind, here are four resolutions to set for your business in 2020 that you can actually keep. They’re achievable, specific and you can keep working on them throughout the year!

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27
Dec

Start the year right with business coaching

You might think that business coaching is the preserve of big companies – but did you know that it can be really useful for small businesses too? No matter the size of your business, you could benefit from the advice a professional coach can give, so this year why not invest in some business coaching and take your business to the next level?

To help you get started, here’s our guide to business coaching – what it is, why you need it and how you can find the right coach for you.

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18
Dec

Kickstart your career in 2020

If you’ve found yourself reflecting on your career over the Christmas break and thought about making a change, you’re not alone. ‘Find a new job’ is one the most popular New Year’s resolutions around, and January is an ideal time to do it, both because the job market kicks back into gear after the holiday lull, and because of the psychological push that comes from a new year and a fresh start.

But how exactly do you go about making a big career change? We’ve listed some of the most important steps you can take on your path to a new career, to get you off to a good start. Here are 4 ways you can kickstart your career in 2020!

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13
Dec

Top tips for using social media over Christmas

Have your business’ social media accounts got a bit neglected in the lead-up to Christmas? Don’t worry, there’s still time to get things back on track – and you certainly should, because social media has an important influence on sales, both online and in store, over the festive season.

According to research published by Curalate, shoppers in the UK are now 79% more likely to find products on social media compared to just two years ago.* The most influential platform is Instagram, and more than 33% of consumers will browse a company’s social media to research the brand and its products before they buy.

So if you want to give your business’ social media a final push before Christmas, here are our top tips to make it fun, festive and engaging for your followers!

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10
Dec

How to run a franchise during December

December can be a tricky month for business owners – Christmas and New Year are fast approaching, but there’s still plenty to do and it can be difficult to stay on top of everything. If you’re struggling to get organised during December, don’t worry. We asked the Get Ahead VA Regional Directors how they run their franchises during the winter months, and put together this list of their top tips!

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