Category: Regional Directors

Virtual PA services have revolutionised business support. One of our most popular services, we believe using a remote PA is a cost-effective, efficient solution. However, we also know that it can be hard to break away from the traditional idea of an employed PA. That’s why we’ve put together our top reasons why working with a virtual PA is as good – or better – than the traditional model. Read on to find out more.

1. A close working relationship

Recent tech advances have changed the way we communicate with colleagues. In addition, working from home some or all of the time has become the norm, meaning we’re often in a different location from our team members. What we learn from this is that it’s completely possible to have a great working relationship with someone even when your desks aren’t side by side.

Get Ahead helps the working relationship get off to a good start too. Our regional directors (your first point of contact) will spend time getting to know you and how you work. With this information, they’ll choose someone to support you who has the right personality match and who’ll thrive in the environment you’ve created. This will help your new working relationship develop all the closeness of the traditional version.

2. Advances in communication technology

Your virtual PA can work with you as smoothly as if you worked in the same office, thanks to platforms like Zoom, WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams. Faster internet speeds make real-time interactions easier too.

3. Changes in the PA role

The role of the PA continues to evolve. Advances in tech clearly help this evolution (see above) but there are social factors at work too. With many businesses having a flatter hierarchy than they used to, PAs are less of an extension of the boss, and more of a responsible team member. This means that the modern PA role is easier to do remotely than its former incarnation. It’s time to let go of the old-fashioned image and see the situation as it is in the 2020s.

4. UK-based support

If you choose virtual PA services from Get Ahead, your new assistant will be based in the UK. This means you’ll be in the same time zone, making it easier to coordinate tasks, diaries and meetings. Most of our virtual experts have English as a first language, so you won’t encounter the language barrier you might if you used an offshore solution.  

5. A cost-effective solution

The bottom line is nearly always costs. When you use virtual PA services, you only pay for work completed. This means that if your business only needs support for a few hours each week, that’s all you have to pay for. There are also no recruitment costs, pension contributions, sick pay or holiday pay – you don’t even have to provide coffee!

Virtual PA services from Get Ahead

If you think your business could benefit from virtual PA services, we’d love to hear from you. Your local regional director will take time to find out how you work, so they can match you with the best business support expert for your needs. And if you’d like to see how this works in practice, read our case study here.

We are delighted to open a new regional office in West London. Louisa Summerfield will be running the West London region, helping businesses from Windsor to Wimbledon to get ahead.

After graduating with a degree in Law, Louisa worked as a corporate solicitor. She soon discovered a passion for business and went on to launch a global fashion brand, specialising in fashion for women in wheelchairs. In 2012, Louisa discovered Get Ahead online and began working part-time with the flexible outsourcing agency, alongside building her fashion business.

In 2017, natural entrepreneur Louisa spotted an opportunity to bring several domestic services, including dog walking and cleaning, into one customer-friendly online solution. Working with a technical team, she developed a unique app that used GPS to match local people with a range of home services, including cleaning, dog walking, handymen, and dinner party assistance. Chores and Paws became a massive success in London, connecting local service providers with local clients.

After six years of developing the business, Louisa felt ready for the next challenge. She completed the sale of her award-winning company and decided it was time for something new.

“Having started several businesses from scratch, I know how exciting and rewarding it can be, but also how tough it can be. This time, I wanted to find a role that offered all the support of working for a business but the freedom to do things my own way.  Becoming a regional partner with Get Ahead was the obvious choice. I know Rebecca and the business incredibly well. I have seen first-hand how well she supports her Regional Directors, who are spread across England. Rebecca genuinely cares about her team and wants them to succeed.”

Over the next few months, Louisa looks forward to utilising her extensive local business network to raise awareness of our services. “Having been a small business owner, I completely relate to the frustrations and challenges of running your own company,” Louisa added. “I can instantly see what support business owners need and pinpoint the help that will make the biggest difference, whether that’s social media support, business development, accounting or other services. I love seeing businesses succeed and helping them on their journey.”

Our founder Rebecca Newenham is delighted Louisa has decided to become a regional partner and open the West London office. “Louisa has a proven track record of growing successful businesses,” Rebecca said. “Coupled with her deep understanding of our business and the value of outsourcing, I know she will flourish as a Regional Director. I look forward to supporting her over the coming months as she welcomes new clients on board. With offices in Berkshire, Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, East Midlands, Essex, Harrogate, Leeds, North Hampshire, Oxford, Southampton, Suffolk, Surrey, Winchester and York, we are well-placed to support growing businesses.”

Feeling overwhelmed is increasingly common. Modern life (and sometimes social media) can have us worrying that we’re expected to be dynamic business owners, committed parents, interesting members of society and willing volunteers all at the same time. But the truth is, there are only so many hours in the day. No one can do everything. 

The worst thing about feeling overwhelmed as a business owner is that we can’t see the wood for the trees. But that’s where Get Ahead comes in. Of course, we’re there for people who phone us up and ask us for straightforward social media management. But we also love it when business owners come to us to say they know they need help but they don’t know where to start. When this happens, our regional directors draw on their own knowledge and experience, as well as the expertise within our team, to help a business owner find a way through.

In this blog, we talk to Sarah Yandell, one of our regional directors, about how to manage feeling overwhelmed and how Get Ahead can help.

Why do business owners feel overwhelmed?

Sarah: Running a business is hard work! No matter how experienced you are, there will always be responsibilities you love and others you struggle with. 

Another problem with running a business is that you don’t get paid holiday, sick leave or compassionate leave – I’ve met people who are trying to keep going when it’s really time to take a break. These pressures can leave you feeling overwhelmed. 

If you’re really overwhelmed, you might not be thinking very rationally and it can be difficult to get your priorities in order. 

What to do if you’re feeling overwhelmed as a business owner

Sarah: Be strong and take a break. It can be really hard to do when you’ve got an ever-lengthening list of jobs, but remember that you’ll work more effectively if you recharge your batteries. Often, stepping away from work can give you the sense of proportion you need. It can help you see where the problem really lies; it can also help you work out “what will make the boat go faster.”

Talking to someone can also help. Depending on the structure of your business, you might be able to talk to colleagues. And if you work alone, talk to a friend – a different perspective can be very refreshing. Remember, talking about difficulties and asking for help is a strength, not a weakness. You might be surprised at where the help comes from too. 

Often, talking to someone can help you find your priorities. Once you’ve found them, don’t try to fix everything all at once. If you’re overwhelmed at work and you’ve got other commitments too, focus your efforts on the most important thing first. For example, you can’t move offices, employ new staff and experiment with a new social media channel when your invoicing system isn’t effective. Put everything else aside and get on top of the invoicing first!  

How does Get Ahead support business owners who feel overwhelmed?

Sarah: When a business owner client comes to me because they’re feeling overwhelmed, my first instinct is to help. I ran a variety of businesses before I joined Get Ahead and I know from experience that it’s not always easy. When I meet a client for the first time, I always start with an informal chat. This is because trust is so important if we’re going to get you through this crisis and running your business effectively – locking you straight into a contract is unlikely to help your stress levels. 

Once we feel we can work together, I listen to you describe your business, the challenges you’re facing and how you feel about them, and start to put together a proposal. Like you, I’m not an expert in every area of running a business, so I also ask Get Ahead’s team of virtual experts to help me identify the best solution for your needs. 

It’s worth noting that the proposal is very flexible. I often start by offering a basic service like diary management, and you can add to that over time if you want to. And if we start off providing a service that you later don’t feel you need, you can simply switch it off. I manage the relationship with the virtual experts, so you don’t have to worry about an awkward conversation if you feel it’s time to bring the support to an end. 

Resources to help you when you’re feeling overwhelmed as a business owner

Sarah is our regional director for Suffolk and Essex, but her supportive approach is what you can expect from any of our team. Get Ahead are here to support business owners in any way we can – here are our top resources to help you when you’re feeling overwhelmed:

Case study: personal branding coach in Yorkshire

Take our mini-quiz to help you decide what to outsource

Follow our tips to protect yourself from burnout

What to look for when you’re choosing a franchise? You might well be making a sideways or even forward step on your career. Perhaps you’ve worked your way up in the corporate world and now you’d like to work for yourself (not by yourself!) and gain more flexibility. Maybe you see a franchise as an opportunity to extend your management and leadership skills. 

At Get Ahead, we value the input of all our franchisees and do what we can to help them grow. Buying a franchise should be a positive career step and we want to help you move forward. Let’s take a closer look.

Why is it important to invest in our franchisees? 

Franchisor Rebecca Newenham is a self-confessed people person. She loves meeting new people and learning what makes them tick. This translates into a great generosity of spirit that’s been the driving force behind Get Ahead from its foundation more than a decade ago.

But there’s solid business acumen behind this approach too. Rebecca knows that investing in her franchisees means that they can do a better job. As franchisees grow as people and managers, they bring in more business and enhance the Get Ahead brand and its reputation. 

What does “investment in potential” look like at Get Ahead? 

Rebecca is a great champion of all the franchisees. She firmly believes that flexible working is an opportunity, not a compromise, and is keen to open this up to others. 

Franchisees start by receiving a full induction, tailored to their needs and experience. For example, if you come from a marketing background but feel less confident about finance, you’ll receive finance training but we won’t make you sit through (!) marketing basics. 

Once you’re up and running, you’ll benefit from regular monthly calls with the other franchisees, whom we call regional directors. This is a great way to celebrate successes, raise issues, share best practice and offload if you need to. You’ll also have a regular check-in with Rebecca – a two-way meeting where you can both discuss progress and ask questions. 

Get Ahead’s model allows you to run your regional office the way you want to. Our established franchisees have a variety of approaches, often starting with the methods they know best before branching out and trying something new. 

This flexible, tailored approach is possible because we genuinely believe in the power of people. Unlike other franchises, we don’t have targets.

Before she franchised her business, Rebecca worked as the Get Ahead regional director for Surrey (now part of our South East super-hub). This means that she knows exactly what’s involved in being a regional director. She knows what it is to be in that role and to further her career – a benefit she’d love to pass on to you too.

What to look for when you’re choosing a franchise?

If you think buying a Get Ahead franchise could be your next career move, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us today to book a no-obligation call with Rebecca Newenham.

If you’re researching franchises and considering Get Ahead, you might have noticed that we’re a really supportive team. Helping each other out and not competing for clients is an important characteristic of a Get Ahead franchise, and one that’s only possible because our franchisees pull together. At Get Ahead, you get out what you put in.

Let’s take a closer look.

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What does “choose your own hours” look like for a Get Ahead franchisee?
All the support and none of the targets

Get Ahead’s regional directors have the freedom to work as much or as little as they like. This because, unlike other franchises, they are not given targets.

When Rebecca Newenham first founded Get Ahead, she wanted it to be flexible so that regional directors and team members could have work life balance the freedom to adjust their priorities if needed. That is why she doesn’t set targets – she just gives loads of support instead, exactly the right kind of motivation for the business to grow.

A scalable business model

One of the reasons Get Ahead regional directors can work flexibly is that the work is scalable. Each RD is a team manager for their local team of virtual experts. The virtual experts deliver the work for the clients, whether that’s social media management, admin, marketing or something else.

The franchisee does not need to deliver work themselves – instead, they can spend their time connecting clients with team members or building their networks. They can push themselves and become a local business support hub, accepting every job because they know they can outsource it to the team. Or they can limit their client base, maybe to manage their own workload or because there’s something happening at home which has to take priority.

What could choosing your own hours mean for you?
The best of both worlds

Choosing your own hours means the best of both worlds. You can lead your team and run a thriving business, working for yourself but not by yourself. But you can also have a happy family life, with the flexibility for hobbies and lunch dates. Our franchisees find ill partners and school snow days less stressful to deal with too!

Work life balance

When work and life are truly balanced, they should each be important and each fulfil you. A true balance is difficult to find, but we believe our flexible model comes very close.

A healthy attitude to work

Bags of stress and fifty-hour weeks are bad for us. So is measuring our worth only by how hard we work. Fortunately, choosing your own hours means you can nurture a healthier attitude. You’ll have time to exercise both body and mind. You’ll have time to spend with the people who bring out the best in you. You’ll have time to be a hand-on parent instead of being the one who’s always late for school pick up.
With more balance and less stress in your life, you should be able to keep things in proportion. We’ve seen this translate into working more effectively, and having fewer parental meltdowns too.

Become a Get Ahead franchisee

Rebecca founded Get Ahead to provide flexible support for business owners…and flexible opportunities for team managers like you. If you’re looking for a better work/life balance, we could be your next career move. Contact Rebecca to find out more.

Networking is a key part of the franchisee role when you join Get Ahead. It’s an important way of finding new leads and building lasting working relationships.

In this blog, we look at why networking is such an important part of the franchisee role. We also share our tips for successful networking. Let’s take a closer look.

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We are very proud of the flexible opportunity we offer our franchisees. Everyone works better after they’ve taken a break, whether it’s a fortnight’s holiday abroad or lunch with a good friend.

When you join the Get Ahead family, you are free to work in the way that suits you. However, if you’re used to nine-to-five, managing your own hours and your own holidays can seem daunting. Fortunately, our franchise model works means you can take holiday without your business grinding to a halt.

Here are five ways to manage holidays when you’re a Get Ahead franchisee:

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You know you’re about to make your next career move and you know you want to be your own boss. Perhaps it’s time for more freedom, or perhaps you’d like more flexibility and balance in your life. If this sounds like you, you might be trying to work out whether you’d rather set up on your own, or you’d rather buy a franchise of an established business. 

Let’s take a closer look.

Should I run my own business?

Running your own business is exciting, challenging and rewarding. Successful entrepreneurs have a great business idea and the drive to make it succeed.

When you run your own business, there are many benefits:

  1. You are answerable to no one (except your clients!).
  2. It’s as much freedom as you can have and still be at work.
  3. You can choose how to spend any profits.
  4. You can shape your business as you see fit, and take it in whichever direction you feel it will succeed.
  5. You can create your own business ethos – if you want to see something done differently, you have the freedom to implement it.

But there are downsides as well:

  1. Starting a business from scratch is hard work with a lot of demands on your time.
  2. You need at least basic knowledge of finance, admin, client care, data management, marketing and more.
  3. You might not see any profits for a few years.
  4. The buck stops with you and there is a lot of responsibility.
  5. It can get lonely – you might miss having a colleague who can provide some objectivity.

Should I buy a franchise?

If you’re not sure whether or not starting your own business is the right step for you, you might consider buying a franchise instead. A franchise can provide a lot of the freedom of running your own business, but without the pressure of working alone to deliver your own ideas.

There are many benefits to buying a franchise:

  1. Enjoy the freedom to work for yourself
  2. Take advantage of existing brand and reputation
  3. Join a family of supportive franchisees
  4. Continue on your career path, managing your team and making many of your own business decisions.
  5. Benefit from centralised resources like marketing material, training courses and software.

However, buying a franchise isn’t for everyone.

  1. The business model and ethos are driven by the franchise owner. Fortunately, ours is tried and tested!
  2. The role of a franchisee is to lead, not to do – if you like rolling your sleeves up, you might prefer your own business where you can deliver your core work yourself.
  3. You’ll make regular payments to the franchise owner, in addition to the upfront purchase – this covers the cost of centralised resources.
  4. Some franchises (not Get Ahead!) set compulsory targets for franchisees.
  5. Some other franchises (again, not Get Ahead!) impose limits on how and where you work, preventing you from scaling your franchise.  

When we decided to franchise Get Ahead, we identified some of the problems of franchising and set out to address them. That’s why our franchisees aren’t under pressure from performance targets, do receive regular training and, above all, benefit from our scalable business model so they can push themselves and their franchise as far as they like.

Buy a Get Ahead franchise

Whatever you decide your next step should be, it’s got to be right for you. And if do decide to buy a franchise, we hope you’ll choose Get Ahead! Our site is full of resources to help you make your decision. You could also follow our social channels and find out more about our ethos. You can even book in a call with franchisor Rebecca Newenham – why not have a chat and get your questions answered before you take the plunge?

If you’ve decided to buy a franchise instead of running your own business, this might be because you’d like to be part of a team. One of Get Ahead’s great strengths is our team of regional directors, who in turn are supported by a UK-wide team of virtual experts.

In this blog, we take a look at what teamwork means at Get Ahead and how it benefits our franchisees.

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