4/14/2019

Spring Clean Your Business

Spring is in the air and I’m itching to have a spring clean and re-focus my priorities!

If you too are thinking of taking advantage of the new season to clear a path and re-energise your small business, here are a few tips to get you going:

Paperwork

This is usually the thing that gets left until last but block out a day to get that mountain of paperwork under control.

Make sure everything is scanned, filed correctly or shredded if no longer needed so you aren’t constantly looking at a forest of documents - it will make a huge difference knowing everything is where it should be, and that you are on top of your paperwork.

Reconciliation

Have you been neglecting those slightly awkward reconciliation transactions because you haven’t got the time to investigate it properly? Can’t find the receipts to get that last one ticked off, “it’s in my bag somewhere”? Get down to it and get your reconciliation done, not only will this give you a sense of achievement in clearing down your transactions, it will help with your accounts reporting also – two for the price of one!

Electronic Filing

Knowing that everything is where it’s supposed to be not only gives you a sense of satisfaction, but it can save hours of your time when you don’t have to search about for that one important document.

If your Dropbox, Google Drive or the like is looking a little like a dumping ground for PDFs and JPEGs with file names like “P0AOFN15631.png”, spend a few hours sorting through your files, renaming and refiling so you always know where to look to find that all important contract or design.

Profit & Loss Reports

This time of year, as it coincides with the start of the new Financial Year, is a great opportunity to have an in depth look at where your hard-earned money is being spent.

Looking at your P&L reports and reviewing each of the accounts on it can throw up real insight into where you could shave a few £’s off certain areas (stationery is my weakness), invest in others and stop wasting money all together on other accounts.

New Technology

If you are using systems and technology that are a bit outdated, spend a bit of time researching new ways your processes and tasks can be done – we live in amazing times, do you want to organise your team’s holidays, shifts and personal documents on one, easy to use platform? Someone’s got an app for that. Do you want to communicate with your teams online, create teams within those teams, assign projects and tasks and report on the overall project progress? Someone’s got an app for that – and sometimes, these apps and software is free!

Peruse the web and have a look at all the new and exciting software available to you to get your business running smoother than a bar of Galaxy chocolate (one of my other weaknesses)!

Review your Social Media Accounts

Just like your software, your Social Media accounts need a refresh every now and then.

Block out some time and a local Eventbrite workshop to get a handle on the new social media marketing trends, spruce up your images, re-write your LinkedIn profile to celebrate all your recent achievements, update your hashtag lists, create Instagram Storyboards, update the videos on your website, connect with your networking contacts or even create a Pinterest board for your business (it’s much more of a search engine than you would think).

Phew, after all of that you should be finished just in time for a summer holiday!

I hope this post has been helpful and insightful and I wish you all a productive week!

See you soon!

Naomi | VIRTUALESQUE

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Photo by Alisa Anton on Unsplash

Tips For Working From Home

Working from home can be a dream – roll out of bed, switch on the laptop, grab a coffee, eat all the snacks, drink all the soda and roll back into bed at midnight…hmmm...maybe not so much. But working from home can be the dream you wished for if you have a few tricks to keep you on track and these are my top 6 to get you going:

Plan your week

Seems obvious, but planning your week, including any errands and appointments, in advance can help you see what your schedule is looking like that week and can help you plan in the chunks of time you can dedicate to your projects. Spend a Sunday evening planning out your goals and tasks for the week ahead – it helps if you have a beautiful planner and some luscious highlighters…just saying…

Start work early

Ugh. I am 100% not a morning person, let alone an early morning person but I know I just don’t have enough time in the day to get everything I want done so getting up early and getting an hour or two in before the day really starts makes me feel way more productive after a long day (though if you’re anything like me, invest in a good coffee machine….no you have a caffeine dependency).

Create a dedicated work space

Having a dedicated work space does wonders for your mental wellbeing when you work from home – at the end of the day, you can close the door and physically and mentally separate yourself from work-you and get back to you off-duty-you. Having your work space in your living room, or worse, your bedroom, encourages you to constantly have work at the front of your mind which when you are trying to sleep or relax with your family is not conducive to a good work-life balance. I would strongly suggest carving out a tiny space somewhere in your home, anywhere you can find a free bit of unused carpet space and set up shop there.

Set strict work hours, and stick to them

When you run your own business, you’re working hard to fulfil your dreams and the dreams of your family. I got so focused on invoices and emails that I felt guilt all the time – if I was working, I felt guilty about neglecting my peeps, if I was spending time with my family and friends, I felt guilty about not working. It got to a point where I was carrying around this massive boulder of guilt all the time. Something had to give, and so I decided to self-impose working hours. I get up early, work throughout the day and at 7pm, I shut everything down and that is my time to relax, unwind and enjoy being with the people I love most.

Take breaks

Sometimes I get so focussed on and enthused about a project that I haven’t realised I’ve spent all day at my desk and haven’t eaten anything. It’s important to make sure you take regular breaks, just like you would if you were at an office, not just for your health, but having short breaks have been known to increase productivity. Make sure you take a walk at lunch time, or grab a coffee (or your preferred poison) or walk around the block, breathe in that fresh(ish) air to re-engage the brain.

Don’t overwork yourself

The peaceful mind, peaceful life blog has a wonderful quote “Friendly reminder that doing your best does not mean working yourself to the point of a mental breakdown”.

Just because you work at home and run your own business, doesn’t mean you should have to work yourself to the point of exhaustion – that’s not helping you or your business. You are allowed breaks, you are allowed holidays, you are allowed weekends off – you are the boss, you need to look after you so you can look after your business. Don’t be a workaholic and let life pass you by while you are busy trying to build a new life – enjoy the one you have too.

I hope this post has been helpful and insightful and I wish you all a productive week!

Speak to you soon!

Naomi | VIRTUALESQUE

Photo by Ella Jardim on Unsplash

This week I want to talk about the supremely useful webinars that the HMRC provide.

I have joined several of the live webinars and have found every single one of them to be like a mini training session directly from the HMRC, and I have learnt so much from them - they are now an invaluable resource to me and I don’t know what I would do without them.

The webinars are conducted live on lots of different topics ranging from help and support for VAT, the Construction Industry Scheme and being self-employed.

If you can’t make a live session, no need to panic as you can always view pre-recorded versions on their website. I try to make sure I book a slot convenient to me every couple of weeks to check out any new and relevant webinars. I found the following webinars particularly useful, click the links below to check them out:

· Statutory pay

· The Construction Industry Scheme

· What to do if you’re self-employed

· Introduction to VAT

· How to complete your VAT return

· VAT on motoring expenses

I don’t find the HMRC website particularly user friendly however, the webinars they organise are bite sized for easy brain digestion, but long enough to help you fully understand the principles and the presenters are always friendly and helpful. I try to take a few notes on each one so as I have a stock of handy reference notes, I can refer to easily (though I do take notes for EVERYTHING).

A bonus for the live sessions is that you can ask questions as you go and get a response from an advisor. It’s a fantastic resource that I would recommend to any business, no matter the size.

To sign up for business support and education emails from HMRC on their website at the link below, this is where you can also find their list of pre-recorded webinars and information about the dates for the next live ones: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-webinars-email-alerts-and-videos

I hope this post has been helpful and insightful and I wish you all productive week!

Speak to you soon!

Naomi | VIRTUALESQUE

Image by Ivory Mix;
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I hope you’ve been enjoying the wonderful spring weather this week!

This week I want to list off a few of the ways working with an Administrative Consultant can help you in your business, just in case you’ve recently come across me and my business:

By allowing an Administrative Consultant to handle all of the day to day admin tasks, it allows you to double your time & impact on your business focusing on those important, revenue generating tasks which ultimately means more money is coming into your business.

Working with an Administrative Consultant provides you with more resource, it’s not just you by yourself anymore.

You now have another brain you can tap into for a wealth of skills, knowledge and experience.

Administrative Consultants work with other business owners, and we can usually spot when you are impeding your own progress, we all do it, it happens. But when it does, we can help you plan ways in which we can help you clear the way!

You will have more energy, focus, less stress, more streamlined systems and process which leads to a business that is much easier to run, and who doesn’t want that!

Most importantly, if you don’t like doing a task, you will put it off, creating a backlog which strangles business.

This is just a brief list of some of the more important ways in which Administrative Consultants can support your business. If any of these points sound familiar to you, don’t hesitate to drop me a line to have a chat about how Virtualesque can benefit your business.

Speak to you soon!

Naomi | VIRTUALESQUE

Photo by STIL on Unsplash

Before we get going let me introduce myself and my business. . .

About Me & Virtualesque

An Administrative Professional for over 10 years, I created Virtualesque in August 2017 to provide businesses with ongoing, collaborative, virtual administration support to achieve office efficiency and harmony.

Virtualesque combines my love of organisation, stationery and my desire to help others, I believe systems and processes are the key to a successful business and I have worked hard to create and develop ways in which teams can achieve business administration utopias!

Having worked at  two renewable energy companies, most notable the Your Group of companies which has won multiple business awards, I like to focus on cloud-based systems and reducing waste as much as possible, so the idea of virtual working was a no-brainer for me.

I am obsessed with advancing my personal and professional development by undertaking as many CPD, short courses, training sessions and workshops as I can manage! I love being able to take the skills and knowledge gained from these events and transfer them to new ways to benefit my clients.

Now, onto the business. . .Virtualesque can help you with a full suite of virtual administrative tasks, which reduces the need for on-site employees and frees up your time to do the things you really want to do in your business.

Brief examples of a support package could include:

Creating meeting agendas, typing up meeting minutes, organising event documentation & scheduling meetings, project administration, process employee time sheets, process supplier invoices & statements and process simple payroll submissions. The creation of business processes, set up of network folders and organise your documents into the new structure. First point of contact HR administration assistance, for example recording holiday requests and absences.

I can provide event and CPD schedules, booking them on your behalf and updating your calendar so you can continue your own personal and professional development.

Off duty, you can usually find me at the mall lusting after ALL the stock at my local stationery stores or snuggled up on the sofa whipping up a knitted hat or with my nose firmly in a book. But my absolute favorite thing to do is getting my feet in the ocean and lazing in the sunshine on a Cornish beach with my loved ones.

So, what is an Administrative Consultant?

An Administrative Consultant is the term appropriate for someone who specialises in administrative support and, with their skills, knowledge and expertise can advise you on how to implement best-practice administrative systems, business processes, tools and resources specific to your business needs. Administrative Consultants work collaboratively, on an ongoing basis with their clients to provide a service package of top-notch support where it is needed most.

How does you differ from a Virtual Assistant?

“So, is that not just a Virtual Assistant?” No, most definitely not.

The term ‘Assistant’ is a term of employment which from the get-go, is perceived as someone who does anything and everything which is not what we offer. You wouldn’t call an Accountant, Lawyer or IT Consultant your assistant, would you? No, of course you wouldn’t, they are experienced professionals in their industry and you address them and recognise them as such, Administrative Consultants are no different. We have specifically chosen this title to set ourselves apart from ‘Virtual Assistants’ and the associations and perceptions of an employment relationship. As Administrative Consultants, we are not your assistant or your employee, we are your trusted professional service partner, solopreneur, business owner and expert in the administration industry.

Purpose of this blog

I am starting this blog to not only help educate readers on the difference between a professional Administrative Consultant and ‘VA’s, but to provide useful tips, how-to’s and fun ways in which we can all create better business processes, working environments and achieve that forever coveted ‘work-life balance’ - along with the odd stationery haul!

I hope you enjoy reading and if you think Virtualesque may be able to assist your own business, please do not hesitate to get in touch and you can follow me on the social media platforms at the top!

See you soon!

Naomi | VIRTUALESQUE

Photo by Ivory Mix
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THE VIRTUALESQUE BLOG

4/14/2019

Spring Clean Your Business

Paperwork

Reconciliation

Electronic Filing

Profit & Loss Reports

New Technology

Review your Social Media Accounts

4/01/2019

Tips For Working From Home

HMRC Webinars

Benefits of Working With an Administrative Consultant

What is an Administrative Consultant?

About Me & Virtualesque

So, what is an Administrative Consultant?

How does you differ from a Virtual Assistant?

Purpose of this blog