Are you a business owner on the lookout for new podcast recommendations? If so, have we got a list for you! We’ve talked before about how great podcasts can be, so today we’re here to share with you some of our favourite podcasts for business owners and women in business, as recommended by our team of virtual assistants.
(more…)Author: Akiko Design
LinkedIn is a hugely important networking platform for business owners. By the end of 2018, the site was closing in on 600 million users,* so if you own a business and want to make connections with other professionals, this is certainly the place to be.
However, there are a few common mistakes you might be making on your LinkedIn profile that could be instantly off-putting to potential contacts. With that in mind, here are 5 things you should remove from your LinkedIn profile today to give it an instant boost.
(more…)Get Ahead VA offers a wide range of business and marketing services. In our Service Spotlight, we take a closer look at one of these and show you how our virtual assistants can help you and your business. This month, we’re looking at PR.
What is PR?
PR stands for ‘public relations’, and it covers all the activities your business does to spread information, build relationships and present a positive image of itself to the world. In practice, this means communicating with the media, building a reputation through social media or organic marketing campaigns, managing internal communications, and running damage control if something goes wrong.
(more…)Did you know that the first Friday in April is National Walk to Work Day? This is a day which encourages anybody who can to leave their car at home, skip the bus and go to work on foot instead. The day is designed to raise awareness about the often sedentary nature of modern working life, and encourage everybody to adopt a healthy new habit.
Walking by itself is hugely beneficial, but there are also things you can do to be productive while you’re pounding the pavement. So if you’re thinking of trying it out, here are some of our tips for making the most of your walk to work.
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Get Ahead VA is very proud to have branches across the country,
and the Regional Directors that run them are brimming with good advice about
being your own boss. Today Fiona, who runs the Leeds
branch, is here to share her top tips for managing your time as a business
owner.
Time management is an important skill for any business owner, and I have to use it a lot as a Get Ahead VA Regional Director. That means I’ve learned a few things about organising my time effectively, so here’s some of my best advice if you’re thinking of starting up a business too.
(more…)Mother’s Day is just around the corner (Sunday 31st March), and to celebrate we thought we’d ask some of our VAs what it’s like to be a mum and run a business.
At Get Ahead VA, we offer our virtual assistants a flexible approach to working, so that they are able to provide a professional service to our clients, whilst also fitting their work around other commitments, such as family. As a result, many of our VAs are also parents, and they’re brimming with good advice about managing life and business side by side!
If you’re a parent who’s interested in starting a business, here’s are some tips from our VAs to get you started.
(more…)The end of the financial year is just around the corner, and with it come some changes that the government is making to VAT returns for businesses – an initiative called ‘Making Tax Digital’.
If you’re not sure whether or how the changes will affect your business, don’t worry. Here’s what you need to know to prepare for this new way of managing your business’ taxes.
(more…)Get Ahead VA offers a wide range of business and marketing services. In our Service Spotlight, we take a closer look at one of these and show you how our virtual assistants can help you and your business. This month, with the end of the financial year coming up (5th April), we’re looking at accounting.
Why do you need accounting help?
For many business owners, the worst part of running a business is managing the accounts. In a survey of 508 small business owners conducted by TD Bank, nearly half of the respondents named bookkeeping as their least favourite part of running a business.*
(more…)Today is International Women’s Day, an annual celebration of women’s rights, designed to raise awareness of women’s issues and continue the push towards a more fair and equal global society. This year’s theme is #BalanceforBetter, a rallying cry for gender balance around the world, including in businesses and boardrooms.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, we thought we’d share with you some invaluable advice from some of the world’s most influential businesswomen, to guide and inspire you in your own business!
(more…)Earlier this month was National Sickie Day, an awareness day which started from the claim that more people call into work sick on the first Monday in February than at any other time of the year. Whether or not that’s true, sickies are a real phenomenon, and they can be especially tricky to deal with if you run a small business.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, 2017 saw the lowest average number of sick days taken on record, at only 4.1 days for the year.1However, the cost to employers increased, from £455 per employee for days lost to sickness in 2016, to £570 in 2017.2While paid sick leave is obviously an important right for workers, sickies (i.e. sick days taken when the person isn’t really sick) can have a negative impact, especially on small business owners.
So what should you do if one of your employees pulls a sickie? Here are some tips that will help you to handle it in the right way.
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