Author: Akiko Design


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.

(more…)

2018 was a good year for LinkedIn. Although it has been around since 2002, it has been steadily growing into one of the most influential social networking sites around, and last year it was as popular as ever among its core audience: business professionals.

Looking ahead to 2019, there are a number of important trends to watch out for with LinkedIn that will help you to get the most out of this important networking platform. Here are three of the most significant.

(more…)

Happy Valentine’s Day! Love is in the air, and we hope that you’re taking the time today to appreciate the things that are most special to you. It could be anything – a loved one, your family, your friends… or even your job!

That’s right – here at Get Ahead VA we’re celebrating this season of love by thinking about why we love our jobs. So, we asked everyone in the Get Ahead VA team to tell us what they love about being a virtual assistant, and this is what they had to say:

(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 telephone answering.

Why do you need telephone answering?

Phone calls can be one of the biggest distractions in the workplace. We all know the feeling of being fully immersed in a project or piece of work, only for a phone call to break our flow and add extra tasks to our to-do list. Business calls can also happen at the most inconvenient times – when you’re travelling, in a meeting, or even (horror of horrors) when you’re at home with your feet up!

If you find yourself bombarded with calls, or you just want a break from the phone while you finish an important piece of work, then a telephone answering service could be just what you need.

(more…)

As the date of Brexit approaches (29th March), and with no clear deal yet on the table, it’s no wonder that there’s a strong feeling of uncertainty in the country. But although it’s impossible to predict the long-term impact of Britain leaving the EU, digital marketers Catalyst have outlined some basic steps all SMEs can take to get through this difficult period.

One solution to your Brexit woes could be to make use of virtual assistants. In uncertain times, the businesses that adapt are most likely to survive, and using VAs could be just the kind of agile, innovative approach your business needs to deal with the turbulence ahead. Here are five reasons why a virtual assistant could help you to get through Brexit.

(more…)