The following is a guest post.
Professionals work more productively when they work from a space that has everything they need spaced out around them. From the equipment they need to the people they should talk to if something were to go wrong, when you work from a professional office your work flow is instantly increased and your productivity starts to fly through the roof.
Of course, your success as a virtual assistant doesn’t rest entirely on the environment in which you work. If you’re looking for success as a virtual assistant there are a number of other pointers you must first pay attention to, but once these points have been met you would do well to look into the possibility of moving your main workspace from your home to a shared, professional office, for the following three reasons:
You Can Provide a Greater Range of Services
When you choose to work from a shared space rather than your own home you’ll all of a sudden have the ability to offer both current and new clients a greater range of services while significantly reducing your cost of using the equipment needed to provide these services.
Virtual assistants are unique in that their abilities span a vast range of needs, and often we have clients coming up to us asking whether we can do something for them that we’ve never done before. In the past we would often have had to say no to these requests, but when working from a serviced space you’ll have the ability to provide a wider range of services as you’ll instantly have access to much more equipment that you’re able to use to see to your clients’ needs.
Another benefit to being able to provide a greater range of services is you’re able to bundle your services together, possibly on a retainer, meaning your clients’ have full access to your abilities as and when they need you, with you being able to charge them a higher price for the privilege.
Technical Support is Just Around the Corner
As a virtual assistant, one of the worst things about working from home is having your computer or other necessary equipment break, just while you’re in the middle of completing some important work for a client.
When you work from a shared serviced office space, technical support will always be just around the corner, saving you time, headaches, and frustration – and getting you back on track so you’re able to complete your work by deadline.
Often, you’ll find you can even utilise technical support staff while conversing with a client online (while explaining the reason for your slight delay, for example), as these staff are more than happy to work in the background to see to fixing your problem as quickly as possible.
You Can Request Assistance from Your Fellow Workers
Working as a virtual assistant from home can sometime be a lonely line of work. Though you will interact with your clients online on a regular basis, there’s nothing like having a group of your peers nearby as you work so to help you out when you need a moment of assistance, and to simply shoot the breeze with, enjoying working in each others’ company.
You may even decide to take this one step further and create a mastermind group with some of your fellow workers at the shared office space. The benefits of mastermind groups are numerous, but at it’s core a mastermind group will help you to keep pushing yourself forward with your virtual assistant work, always looking for greater opportunities, and never settling for what you have, outwardly improving both your life, and the lives of your clients.
In conclusion, virtual assistants may work more productively when working from a professional office, as you’re able to provide a greater range of services, technical support staff are just around the corner, and you can ask for regular assistance from your fellow office workers.
Author bio:
Juliet Mann is in digital marketing and works with Regus, the world’s largest global provider of flexible workspaces.