Month: May 2017

Here at Get Ahead VA we are privileged to work with a wide variety of clients ranging from surgeons to software companies, photographers to physiotherapists and financial consultants to fashion designers.  All of our clients are motivated and driven, with clear plans for future growth.  They recognise the value of outsourcing, passing onto others tasks that either they lack skills in, or tasks that drain their valuable time.

Here’s 60 seconds with one of our clients Taylor Clarke, an organisation effectiveness and development consultancy who were looking to develop new clients, reposition their service portfolio and open up new markets for their services.

What situation was your business in when you came to Get Ahead VA?

The oil and gas sector had been a major source of business for us, but times were changing.  Development budgets were being squeezed as the price of oil dropped.  We needed to put more emphasis on developing other channels for our business to balance our risk and provide a strong basis for future growth.

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Here at Get Ahead VA our team includes experts in a wide variety of fields.  From Accounting to Admin, Hootsuite to Holiday cover, Email Marketing to Excel, our VAs can add value to many aspects of your business.  In this Expert Showcase series our team deliver some of this expertise to you, with ‘How to’ guides to help you get the best bang for your buck in your business.

In this guide one of our PR & Marketing specialists Caroline talks about how you can write a persuasive and compelling awards entry to help you grow your business through PR:

“Awards can be a fantastic way of boosting the profile of your business – both locally and online.  Simply being nominated for an award is an accolade in itself, and being selected as a finalist or even winning an award provides fantastic fuel for your PR and social media.  Every step of the awards process is an opportunity to talk positively about your business and about the third-party recognition you have gained.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT AWARDS (more…)

Franchising can be a great way to grow your business.  It can enable you to expand your geographical reach as well as your penetration of key markets.  It is a well-known model used all over the world by smaller companies as well as larger scale multinationals such as McDonald’s, Clarks shoes, Interlink Express and Toni & Guy. 

Franchising is also a fast-growing industry, with the latest bfa/Natwest Franchise survey revealing an industry worth £15.1bn in the UK, three times the size that it was 20 years ago.  44,200 franchise outlets employ 621,000 people, an increase of 70% over the last 10 years.

What is franchising?

Business format franchising is the granting of a license by one person (the franchisor) to another (the franchisee), which entitles the franchisee to own and operate their own business under the brand, systems and proven business model of the franchisor.” British Franchise Association

A variety of different industries lend themselves to a franchising model, but it isn’t for everyone.  Managing a group of franchisees is completely different to running your business – and one can certainly distract from the other if not handled properly.  If you think franchising might be right for your business, then here are our five top tips to ensure your franchising journey is a success:

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