I honestly thought I would never be a business owner, didn’t think it was for me.

I liked getting up every day and being an ’employee’ earning my salary and walking out the door and not having to worry about much until I came back into the office.

But as I am about to enter my 4th year in business and have just recently renewed by business name, I have been reflecting on my path to date and those changes.

The biggest change was probably the fact that I was already working a casual job doing 10 hours per week, generally a couple of hours a day. I realised that I wanted to start getting back into the workforce (now that the mini-me’s are getting bigger and more independent). However working this casual job that I loved, meant that trying to find other work that could fit in with these hours PLUS the school run, my options were limited.

It was a friend who suggested that I should start my own business so I investigated and thought long and hard (not really) and realised that joining the Virtual Assistant (VA) industry would mean:

• Flexibility to work the hours that I wanted when it suited me
• Feel like I was contributing and helping others using my skillsets
• Still be available when/if the kids need me eg: sick days off school, after school activities and so forth

So like some things that I occasionally do, I jumped right on in.

I started with finding my business name and registering it, commenced a website build, got a logo and business cards sorted and started researching what’s involved with running a business.

I also started attending networking meetings in my local area. Then of course, landed my first client and then the next one and so forth!

Things I’ve learned along the way:

• There is a definite mindset change needed from employee to business owner
• Learning when to say NO (and that it is OK to!)
• Wanting to set up everything right from the beginning so insurance, client agreements etc were put in place
• That I really am capable of doing this! I mean who doesn’t suffer imposter syndrome or self-doubt?

My achievements to date include:

• Being at the point where I can outsource certain aspects of my own business which enables me to focus on what I love doing (numbers ARE NOT my thing!)
• Making the decision to go fulltime in my business this year (2020) and that has really opened up more opportunities – trust me there was lots of going back and forwards in my mind on this but it was always my goal to be fulltime running my business
• Celebrating 3 years in business and about to begin my 4th year!
• My clients – serving them and getting tasks done so they can focus on the key areas of their business and growing their business

At the moment I am thinking and planning about where I want my business to be and how I can continue to best serve my clients – this is all part of the planning process an employee generally doesn’t have to think about.

And honestly, 2020 has been tough for everyone, however I’m looking forward to what 2021 may throw at us!

How did your entrepreneurial journey start? Post a comment below and let me know!

Until next time!
Jo