Category: Uncategorized

When the phone rings and you can’t answer it, most new callers won’t leave a message. They’ll ring the next business on the list. A telephone answering service makes sure a real person picks up in your business’s name whenever you can’t: when you’re with a client, on a job, in a meeting or, just as important, on holiday.

I have relied on a telephone answering service since 2011. It answers Get Ahead’s own number, and in 15 years we have never missed a call. When clients started asking how we did it, offering them the same service was an easy decision. In this guide I’ll explain how a telephone answering service works, what it costs, how it compares with voicemail and AI, and how to tell whether your business needs one.

Perhaps one of these sounds familiar. “I can’t take calls when I’m on site, and by the time I ring back they’ve booked someone else.” Or: “I haven’t had a proper week off in years, because I’m the only one who answers the phone.”

What is a telephone answering service?

A telephone answering service is a team that answers your business calls for you, using your business name, and passes each message on. You divert your calls to them when you can’t answer, and they pick up as if they were part of your business.

You may also see it called a call handling or message taking service, or outsourced telephone answering. It sits between voicemail, which records a message and leaves the caller waiting, and a receptionist, whom you employ to sit in your office. It suits owner-led businesses that are too busy to answer every call but too small to employ someone to do it: sole traders, tradespeople, consultants, professional services firms and small practices.

How does a telephone answering service work?

You divert your line to the answering team, they answer with a greeting you have agreed, and they send you each message by email or text. Setting it up can often be done the same day. At Get Ahead it works like this.

1. Talk to your Regional Director

Tell them what you need cover for, when and for how long: every afternoon, evenings and weekends, a busy season, or a fortnight in August. We work with two specialist UK call answering partners, and your Regional Director will match you to the one that fits your hours and your callers.

2. Tell us about your business

We agree how calls are answered, your opening hours, the questions callers most often ask, what counts as urgent and whether you want messages by email, text or both.

3. Divert your calls

Most landlines, mobiles and internet phone systems have a call divert setting. You switch it on, and your calls come to us. If your mobile is your business number, as it is for many sole traders and tradespeople, a mobile phone answering service works in exactly the same way.

4. We answer in your name

A trained call handler answers in your business name, takes the caller’s name, number and reason for calling, reassures them that you’ll be in touch, and passes the message on.

5. Switch back when you’re ready

Turn the diversion off and your calls come straight back to you.

Why go through Get Ahead rather than straight to an answering company? Because you get one point of contact who knows your business, the right service chosen for you rather than a price list to work through, and support that can grow beyond the phone. I chose our partners precisely because they are specialists: answering calls is all they do. We were already using them for our own phones, so I knew exactly what our clients would get.

What happens to calls outside office hours?

They can still be answered. If your customers ring early, late or at weekends, or out-of-hours calls are your main concern, we use a partner that specialises in out-of-hours cover, available up to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, depending on your specific needs. Callers reach a real person rather than a voicemail, and urgent calls can be passed on to you straight away if you want them to be.

If you only need daytime cover, calls outside your agreed hours can go to a personal message in your business name, and anything left is passed on first thing the next working day.

Whichever you choose, agree in advance what counts as urgent and who should be contacted, for example for a tradesperson’s emergency call-out.

What can a call handler do beyond taking a message?

More than most people expect. A good call handler doesn’t only write down a name and number. Depending on what you agree, they can:

  • answer common questions about your opening hours, services or prices
  • book appointments in your online booking system or calendar
  • find out who is calling and put the call through to you when you are free
  • pass urgent calls to you, or to someone you nominate, straight away
  • take orders and capture the details of new enquiries

Because Get Ahead is a network of more than 90 Virtual Experts, phone cover can sit alongside other support. A virtual assistant can follow up the enquiries, keep your diary in order or deal with the emails that build up while you’re busy, so the calls become work rather than a list of people to ring back.

That is what happened for the Leeds office of Sanderson Weatherall, the national estate agents. We set up telephone answering to handle calls and pass on messages, and alongside it an administration Virtual Expert who booked property viewings and checked prospective tenants were suitable. Within eight months her role had grown from one hour a week to a full day, and that gave the office the business case to employ someone permanently. You can read the case study here.

Should you use a telephone answering service when you go on holiday?

Yes, if your phone is how customers and new enquiries reach you. A recorded message saying you’re away until the 14th tells a new customer to try someone else, and tells an existing one to wait. A person who answers, takes the details and says when you’ll be back in touch keeps both.

It’s also better for you. A proper holiday is one where you don’t take work calls. You need time to recharge and to reconnect with yourself and the people you care about, and you can’t do that while checking your phone by the pool.

Headline Design & Print, a Guildford design and print business, uses our service in just this way. When staff are on holiday or off sick, they divert their line, each call is written up and emailed to the right person, and they switch it off again when the office is fully staffed. Their managing director, Mark Warner, puts it like this: “The service Get Ahead deliver allows me, as the director and sales front end, to take time out of the business safe in the knowledge my clients are able to communicate with us and are not going elsewhere.” You can read the case study here.

Holiday cover works in the same way as everyday cover, for a set period. Give your Regional Director your dates and tell them what counts as urgent, set your diversion before you leave, and come back to a clear list of who called and why rather than a full voicemail box. It’s worth doing for bank holidays and the Christmas closedown too, when many owner-led businesses close but their customers still call. Our [link: bank holiday guide] covers what else to think about when you close.

Telephone answering service, voicemail or AI: which should you choose?

It depends on how many calls you get and what your callers need. Voicemail costs nothing but loses callers. An AI answering tool is cheap and always on, but struggles when a call doesn’t fit its script. A person can deal with the unexpected.

 VoicemailAI call answeringTelephone answering serviceEmployed receptionist
Who answersA recordingSoftwareA trained person, in your business nameYour employee
Handles the unexpectedNoPartlyYesYes
Typical costFreeLow monthly feeA monthly fee plus a charge per callA salary plus employer costs
Holiday and sickness coverNot neededAlways onYesNeeds cover of its own
SuitsVery few callsHigh volumes of simple callsOwner-led businesses that can’t afford to miss a callBusy offices with constant calls

AI answering tools are improving quickly, and for some businesses they will be enough. For most of our clients, though, the calls that matter most are the ones that don’t fit a script: a worried customer, a complaint, an urgent job or a new client deciding whether to trust you.

How much does a telephone answering service cost in the UK?

Most UK services charge per call answered, per minute, or a monthly bundle that includes a set number of calls. Published 2026 price guides from UK providers put per-call charges at roughly 60p to £2.50 and monthly bundles from about £25 to several hundred pounds, with set-up fees of up to around £150. Out-of-hours cover usually costs more.

At Get Ahead we have a couple of models depending on your specific needs – you either pay a small monthly service fee plus a charge for each call answered, or block buy a number of minutes per month. There is no long-term contract, so you can use it for a few weeks over a holiday and stop when you are back. Your Regional Director will agree the cost with you before anything starts.

When you compare quotes, look at the whole cost: what counts as a call, any monthly fee, minimum term or set-up charge, and what your mobile network charges for diverted calls. Then set that against the work you lose when a new enquiry rings someone else.

How do you choose a telephone answering service for a small business?

Ask these six questions before you sign up. Good answers to all of them are a sign the service will work for a small business, not just a large one:

  • Who will answer my calls, and will it be the same people each time?
  • What hours do you cover, and what happens to calls outside them?
  • How quickly will I get each message, and how?
  • How do you handle urgent calls?
  • Is there a contract, minimum term, monthly fee or set-up charge?
  • Where are messages stored, and how do you look after my callers’ personal data?

The last question matters more than it used to. Every message holds a caller’s personal details, so your provider should handle them in line with UK data protection law; the Information Commissioner’s Office has more information on what that means. The call handlers we work with are trained, based in the UK and handle your callers’ details under UK data protection law.

Never miss the call that matters

A telephone answering service is a small cost that protects two valuable things: the first impression a caller gets of your business, and your own time away from the phone.

If you’d like your phones covered, for a holiday, the Christmas closedown or every day, talk to your local Regional Director, or ring us on 0330 223 7580. You’ll hear the service for yourself: it has answered that number for 15 years. We can often have your calls covered the same day.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a telephone answering service just while I’m on holiday?

Yes. Many businesses use it only for holidays, bank holidays or the Christmas closedown. At Get Ahead you can use it just for holiday cover and switch it off when you’re back.

Will callers know they aren’t speaking to my own team?

Calls are answered in your business name, with a greeting you agree. To most callers, your business has simply answered the phone.

How do I divert my calls?

Most landlines, mobiles and internet phone systems have a call divert setting you can switch on and off. Your phone provider may charge for diverted calls, so it is worth checking. Your Regional Director will talk you through it.

Do you offer out-of-hours call answering?

Yes. We work with a partner that specialises in out-of-hours cover, so evening and weekend calls can be answered by a real person, up to 24 hours a day if you need it. Your Regional Director will match you to the right service.

Can I divert my mobile to a telephone answering service?

Yes. Mobiles have a call divert setting, usually under Phone or Call settings, and you can choose to divert every call or only those you do not answer. Check with your network whether diverted calls are charged.

About the author

Even without heatwaves and the disruption that they bring, summer can feel like a moment of overwhelm if you’re running a business. With our help it needn’t be so. Keep your business running at its very best with our six top tips.

Ensure employees take their time off

The first thing we recommend is to ensure that everyone takes a break. This prevents burnout which can be real when people have been working to capacity for months. Communicate with your staff and encourage them to use their allocated holiday, and lead by example. In turn, this opportunity to rest and have time away will increase productivity. Remain mindful that each department has enough cover to deliver the same exceptional service.

Address Priorities and Strategy

Summer can be a great time to reassess business strategies and make any adjustments. Priorities may change depending on customer needs and trends. Taking stock of how the organisation is progressing and allocating resources accordingly helps everyone to see the bigger picture. It can be a great time to focus on autumn activities and get ahead of schedule.

Create a hot weather strategy

Given the recent heatwaves in the UK and predictions for the future, does your organisation have a plan to deal with future events? How will you protect the wellbeing of your people? Now is a good time to create a hot weather policy and include factors such as caring for school age children, working from home, creating cool spaces, offering flexible schedules and considering the companies own contribution to climate change.

Do things differently

Make sure everyone is comfortable. Can you relax the dress code? Take the team meeting somewhere different with refreshments to show gratitude and care for their wellbeing. It’s possible to create a different environment without disrupting schedules and process, it just needs a bit of inventive thinking and making small changes. 

Streamline your processes

Summer is a great time to take another look at automations and process and make sure they are working for the business and keeping things sharp. Here is a piece we wrote about going away on holiday and how to make sure things don’t fall down when you’re away – this is a good place to start.

Is everything working as efficiently as possible? Consider each department and see if any improvements can be made by including accounting software and other business automations. 

Take pressure off and outsource

Outsourcing key activities like liaising with clients and appointment booking can ensure employees avoid burnout. With people taking time off summer, the last thing remaining employees need is more pressure. Make a schedule and see if that requires extra staff – outsourcing is an effective and flexible way of filling gaps when needed.

At Get Ahead, we can help you to develop a work coverage plan to keep your business at top efficiency over the summer, meaning you can take a break and have peace of mind. 

Expert support, delivered with confidence – To discover how we can support you over the summer with outstanding virtual experts and advice – get in contact with us! Find out more about our services or call 0330 223 7580 to discuss in more detail.

Making Automation work for your business

We’re all striving to make our businesses run more efficiently, minimising wasted time and streamlining our systems. Yet, with our workloads often keeping us busy, it can be difficult to dedicate attention to the potential savings in both time and money that these improvements could bring.

In this blog post, we’ll explore practical strategies for enhancing productivity within your organisation, while also improving employee morale.

Eliminate repetitive tasks and save costs

Does your organisation have routines that squander valuable employee time and effort? Tasks such as tedious data entry, invoicing, or inventory management can often go unquestioned simply because “that’s how it’s always been done”, leaving little motivation to review or update existing processes.

Just because a process is longstanding doesn’t mean it’s effective. By critically examining your current workflows and identifying opportunities for improvement, your business can reduce operational costs and boost productivity.

Automating routine tasks such as accounting and reporting not only minimises errors but also frees up your team to focus on their core responsibilities and deliver better service to your customers.

Complement human skills – not replace.

By leaning into technology and making small changes to how we get things done each day it doesn’t mean your team is any less important. The real goal is to help everyone do their best work and have more time to focus on what matters most.

Teams get more done together by using tools that make it easier to collaborate and cut down on lengthy email threads. For example, sharing files through Google Drive makes working together smoother and helps everyone stay connected.

Automating tasks has all sorts of benefits: people feel less stressed, morale goes up, productivity improves, and costs drop. And your team can put more energy into helping your business grow.

Where to start and how can Get Ahead help?

Chances are, you already know which areas of your business could do with a bit of a shake-up. Maybe it’s making customer service faster with automated replies. Or perhaps you want to connect with a specific group of your audience and need a quicker way to do it, like using Mailchimp. For better communication between colleagues, there’s always Slack.

Want to find out how to easily share updates and work together with your team? Check out our article on Google Drive.

If you’re feeling a bit lost, especially if you run a small business or start-up, our guide to choosing the right software is a great place to start.

Our expert, Carrie Jones, suggests one way to improve efficiency through automation: “I recommend a good CRM system because it eliminates the chaos that leads to mistakes. Keeping everything in one place doesn’t just streamline your daily tasks; it ensures you’re handling customer information responsibly. In a world of strict GDPR requirements, having accurate records is the best way to protect your customers and your reputation.”

Outsourcing is a brilliant way to hand over some of the work involved in automation. By teaming up with virtual experts, you get access to specialist support and people who really know their tech.

To discover how automation can work for you – get in contact with us to speak with someone who listens to make the best of your business.

In an ever-changing world, business resilience is no longer a simple checklist. But when we look beyond our horizons and develop curiosity about future threats, we can build our resilience and protect ourselves against disaster. 

In this blog, we’ll look at what business resilience is and how curiosity can help us prepare. 

What is business resilience and why does it matter?

Business resilience is the process of thinking ahead and preparing for the worst. Many businesses start with a risk register, identifying the seriousness of potential risks and how to mitigate against them. A SWOT analysis is also a good business resilience tool, helping you identify future problems so you’re well prepared. 

Business resilience matters because it will protect you if or when disaster strikes. Resilient businesses weather the storm, continuing to trade and preserving their reputations at the same time. 

It’s easy to think “it won’t happen to us.” But it’s important to remember that it could. Distracted team members sometimes click on a dodgy link; even the best supply chain can break occasionally. 

How does curiosity help us build business resilience?

Curious business owners look beyond the everyday and make their businesses stronger as a consequence. 

Curiosity about solutions

It’s easy to accept problems and just try and live with them. But thinking more curiously can help us identify solutions and put them into practice. If something’s not working very well, look into alternatives and be confident about pursuing them. 

Curiosity about others’ experiences

A curious business owner might see an article on LinkedIn about a crisis that has befallen someone in a different sector. But by taking the time to read the article, they can digest the information and apply it to their own experience. And if that helps them imagine the scenario playing out in their own business, they can plan ahead and be prepared. 

Curiosity about developments in tech

We’ve blogged recently about developments in tech. New tech is always exciting and brings with it loads of opportunities, many of which can make our businesses more resilient. But being curious about it and digging deeper than the marketing spiel can help us prepare against potential threats. AI, for example, has created opportunities to streamline the way we work and reduce the time tasks take us. However, AI is a good servant and a bad master – as an employee, it needs careful management. Keeping this in mind and looking for risks as well as benefits will help us keep our businesses resilient. 

Curiosity about back-office tasks

Some tasks are accidentally left to chance, like website hosting and SEO. When these go wrong, we leave our business with a minimal online presence, undermining our marketing strategy. 

It’s easy to think these marketing tasks are just running themselves, but when direct our curiosity to what’s involved, we see that they need some proactivity from us. Our proactivity might extend to educating ourselves so we can cover these tasks ourselves. Alternatively, it might show us that these are tasks to outsource (Get Ahead can help, by the way!). 

Curiosity about other people

Our curiosity should most definitely extend to other people. Talking to others, communicating online and building our network is a great way to find out what other people have to offer. It’s also valuable to listen to other people’s experiences and learn from them ourselves. 

Curiosity about others within our network helps us build more resilient businesses. It enables us to build a collaborative team we can call on if we need help. And it also broadens our experience and helps us prepare for the future. 

Outsourced back-office support from Get Ahead

If our blog has made you consider how you can make your business more resilient, Get Ahead can help. Our nationwide team of virtual experts can fill in the gaps in your team, share their experience and make your business more resilient. Contact your local regional director today to find a tailor-made solution for your business. 

Brand credibility is essential for any business – it’s key to establishing trust and growing your business. In this blog, we talk to our branding expert Kim, who explains more about reputation and how to build it, addressing “why is brand credibility important?” 

What is brand credibility?

Kim: Brand credibility is the extent to which your brand is trusted. Your community will naturally include customers and/or clients, but it’s also important to consider how you’re seen by the rest of your industry. 

Why is brand credibility important?

Kim: Brand credibility is important for a number of reasons.

The most obvious one is that it helps you build and retain a strong customer base. Consistency and trustworthiness will always attract customers: they’ll feel reassured, confident and like the business cares about them. 

As well as attracting customers directly, a credible brand will also help you attract opportunities and collaborations. Maybe you’ve established yourself as the most reliable designer of finance software – brand credibility could lead to you speaking at a major conference. Or you might offer something with a niche appeal, but your credibility allows you to branch out into teaching your skill as an additional revenue stream. 

Another a key benefit is that credibility makes your business resilient. For example, you probably saw that big high street brand Marks and Spencer suffered serious cyber attacks earlier this year. You probably also saw that they were able to bounce back because the strength of their brand outweighs any doubts about their online security. 

How do I build brand credibility?

Kim: Brand credibility is one of the ultimate slow burns. While you can invest in brand development, design a new logo or use a fresh advertising campaign, these ideas can’t build credibility by themselves. So in addition to your active branding work, it’s a good idea to think about what you can do to show that you’re a brand to rely on. 

A good starting point is consistency. Make sure that your community has the same kind of experience whether they buy from you in person, visit your website, follow you on social media, or any other touch points. An audit of your marketing will highlight any inconsistencies – note them down then take action! 

Checking for customer focus is also important. Measure every aspect of your brand against the customer experience, because your community will trust you if they feel like you care about them. Check whether your business easy to recognise and contact. Check your tone – are you talking to them, with them or simply at them? “You” is a powerful word – use it. 

You can also look out for opportunities to show leadership. From being an expert in your field to shaping your industry’s response to a new situation, there are more opportunities than you think. Establishing yourself as a leader helps you attract good PR and partnerships, as well as directly driving conversions. 

Outsource branding to Get Ahead

If reading Kim’s insights has got you thinking about increasing your brand credibility, Get Ahead can help. From a marketing audit to a detailed branding exercise, Kim and our other branding experts can help you strengthen what you already have (or even start from scratch!). Explore our site to find out more, follow us on LinkedIn or contact your local regional director today. 

A SWOT analysis is an overview of your business, identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Taking time to do it properly, involve the right people and learn from your findings gets business growth off to a great start. In this blog, we consider the question, “what is a SWOT analysis?” and look at how you can use yours to grow your business. 

What is a SWOT analysis?

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis is your opportunity to look at each of these areas in turn, identifying points under each heading for your specific business. Used correctly, it’s a great business development tool. 

The strengths and weaknesses should be the good and bad things found within your organisation. They cover matters like personnel, premises, strategy, focus and product quality. Because they take place within your business, you have the power to address them. If you find your business lacks a team member with marketing knowledge, for example, you can either train someone up, recruit or outsource. 

Opportunities and threats are the good and the bad things happening outside your organisation. They include local matters like who your competitors are and the character of the area you serve. But they also include huge international concerns like supply chains, wars and global economics. While you cannot control the opportunities and threats themselves, you can control how your business responds to them.

How can I use a SWOT analysis to grow my business?

Once you’ve done your SWOT analysis, the next step is to examine your findings. 

Think back to your opinion of your business before you did the SWOT exercise – how accurate were you? If you were right then well done! But if you thought you were doing better than you were, do you need to invest more time in your business or deepen your understanding of how to run it? And if your initial opinion was pessimistic, could some business coaching help you improve your confidence? 

Then it’s time to look at each section in turn and note down action points.

Strengths

Strengths won’t necessarily give you many action points. These are things that are already working well. However, it’s important to note that they probably didn’t happen by themselves. If you have a strong team member, for example, think about what you did to recruit them and consider whether you could replicate the process to find another high-calibre employee. Also consider what you might have to do to keep your best team members so they remain a strength of your business.

Weaknesses

Weaknesses are the issues within your organisation that you have the power to control. So if you have identified that you need some new software, for example, you can solve the problem by investing in what you need. Even if you cannot afford it now, seeing the business weakness should help you plan ahead for the future spend. 

Opportunities

The list of opportunities should spur you into action too! Maybe you offer customer service training and a new shopping centre is about to open near you – could the retailers become your next clients? Or maybe you run a hotel by the sea – would businesses like to hold conferences there in your low season? You’ve identified the opportunities and now it’s time to act on them.

Threats

Some threats are easier to address than others. Professional bodies representing specific industries may respond to threats on behalf of their members, as happened with the rise in employers’ NI contributions. Joining one of these bodies will strengthen their voice and increase the chances of turning the tide.

Even if you can’t take direct action, identifying threats can help you be more aware of them, and manage how you respond. If, say, prices rise, examine your business and work out if you can make savings in other areas. 

The bigger picture

Acting on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats will help you take control, tackle problems head-on and ultimately take your business forward. Incorporate them into your business strategy and goals – they’re your road map to success. 

Outsourced business support in your area

If your SWOT analysis has highlighted areas for improvement, Get Ahead can help. And if it’s time to take your business to the next level, take our quiz – reflect on your current processes and gain valuable insights to help your business grow. 

There are always lots of things to do at work before taking a holiday, particularly if you run your own business. Fortunately, when we know what they are and we manage our time well, we don’t have to bookend our holiday with two stressful weeks. 

We’ve caught up with virtual PA Amanda who shares her list of things to do at work before taking a holiday.

What should we do at work before going on holiday?

Tell people

Amanda: If you do nothing else, tell the people you work with that you are going away and when. Even if you own the business and you don’t have to apply for annual leave, it’s a good idea and common courtesy. Telling others means that they can manage their work accordingly, whether that’s asking you about matters now before you go on holiday, or taking the initiative so they don’t interrupt your break. Let anyone outside your business whom you’re collaborating with know too. 

Set up email management

 Amanda: We’re all used to out-of-office replies now – they’re a very handy invention. If you’re in danger of forgetting to set yours, write it now and schedule it for your holiday period. 

While you’re automating emails, take the opportunity to set up the “focused” and “other” inbox system that Outlook provides (if you haven’t already). This can make things smoother when you’re back from your holiday – the messages that need your attention should be easy to find.

Some of my clients ask me to manage their inboxes while they’re on holiday – it’s a great solution. I create folders for different types of email and I can even field them out to others in your organisation. You won’t come back to thousands of emails and you will be able to pick up where you left off. 

Test your automation

Amanda: If you’re going to use, say, social media scheduling software to cover you while you’re away, test it out first. If you trial it while you’re still in the office, you’ll have time to iron out any wrinkles so the system runs perfectly in your absence. 

Write a to-do list for your return

Amanda: Writing things down is a great way to get them out of your head, even if you can’t deal with them immediately. I always encourage my clients to write their to-do list for their first day back. Not only does it mean a more organised return, but it gives them more freedom to enjoy their holiday!

Plan for core work and big projects

Amanda: How you cover bigger projects depends on many factors. However, it’s important to remember that everything won’t grind to a halt without you. You might choose to put work on hold while you’re on holiday. Or you might choose to set it up in advance so it can run well in your absence.

 If you’re a good employer or collaborator (and I’m sure you are!) your team should feel empowered to carry on without you and act on their own initiative. Maybe the team could use your holiday time to address the areas that don’t need your specific input, like the actual printing of a new publication. Or maybe you could set up a task in your last week and they could use your holiday to put it into action. 

Virtual PA services from Get Ahead

Get Ahead has built up a team of nearly a hundred virtual PAs, VAs and sector experts to support your business while you’re away on holiday. We’re here for when you get back too! Follow us on social media to find out how we work, and get in touch whenever you’re ready. 

How do you know it’s time to rebrand? Well, that depends on a number of things. Crucially, we don’t believe you should ever be afraid of rebranding. Yes, it sounds scary but it doesn’t have to be as big a deal as you might think. Several years ago, we went from “GetAheadVA” to “Get Ahead” – not only did we survive but it proved to be a very good move for us. 

In this blog, we look at some of the signs that it might be time for you to rebrand your business.

1. You’re thriving

Deciding to rebrand doesn’t mean you’re failing. On the contrary, most businesses that successfully rebrand are in a secure position when they do so. When your business is thriving, you can stop firefighting and find enough time to reflect on your business and what it does well. These reflections can help you pin down your brand identity and create something newer and stronger.

2. You’ve changed what you offer

When you first set up a business, it’s natural that you should offer a range of products or services. You’re testing the water and you want to see what works. And when you’ve found what works, you can use it to drive your business growth. 

Of course, this also means that there are some aspects of your offering that will fall by the wayside. Rebranding will reflect your fresh focus and highlight what you offer right now. 

This is what led to us deciding to drop “VA” and market ourselves as “Get Ahead.” We recognised that our differentiator from other virtual assistant agencies is that we offer specialist services like graphic design and HR, in addition to day-to-day admin support services. We still offer VA services but our change of name shows that we are more than just a VA agency. 

3. Your client base has changed

Savvy business owners know that they can’t please everyone all of the time. However, it’s also natural that you started your business hoping to appeal to as many people as possible! Now, as time has gone by, you might find that you know your clients a lot better than you used to. And now you need a brand that reflects them as much as your business.

7. Your original brand isn’t strong

If your business logo is something you cobbled together to go on your first website five years ago, it probably needs updating. This is because your business deserves a strong logo and clear brand guidelines. Not only is it more professional but it makes life easier for you and your employees. If you’re putting together a banner for an expo, for example, you’ll have instant access to the right colour palette and design templates. 

Outsource branding and logo design to Get Ahead

If our blog has got you thinking about a rebrand, we’re here to help. Check out our graphic design case studies to find out more, or follow us on social media.

As the fifth anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic rolls round, we can all reflect on the curve ball it threw us, forcing us to adapt quickly to stay in business. Five years on, the world continues to change and we have to ask, “what challenges do businesses face in 2025?”

There are certainly many challenges on the horizon. However, we believe that open-minded businesses can continue to thrive in this changing world. In this blog, we look at the five biggest issues and how UK businesses can withstand them.

  1. Climate change

It’s easy to think that climate change is all about protecting rainforests and polar bears, neither of which we have in the UK. But climate change is affecting UK businesses. We really felt for businesses in Glasgow who lost days of trade to Storm Eowyn in January this year, when shops and services were told not to open because the extreme weather posed a risk to human life. And what about the dilemmas faced by businesses that sell plastic products, for example, or cars or fast fashion?

What you can do

If your business is directly impacted by climate change and new consumer trends, you need to find a way to make your business future-proof. Whether you keep a bigger financial reserve to cover you when storms prevent you from opening, or find new products that appeal to a more environmentally-conscious market, an open-mind will provide a solution. What we cannot do is pretend that climate change isn’t happening.

  1. Price fluctuations

Everything is expensive at the moment. Labour, raw materials, rent, energy…the list goes on. Impressively, however, many businesses are finding ways to do more with less, making their income go further while maintaining the great service they’re known for.

What you can do

Reviewing your financial position can often help you find savings. From unpaid invoices to obsolete subscriptions, chasing what you’re owed and clearing out what you don’t use can add more money to the pot.

  1. High interest rates

One of the reasons that prices are rising is that interest rates are high. This can be a big problem if you’re repaying a business loan or you have a mortgage on your premises.

What you can do

Again, reviewing your finances might reveal areas where you can make savings or reduce the size of your loans. And if you’re lucky enough to be saving or you’re keeping funds back for a big project, you can take advantage of higher interest rates and make your money work harder.

  1. Employment rights

The Employment Rights Bill that came into force last summer was created to protect workers. However, it has created problems for employers, particularly in the retail, hospitality and care sectors. You can read our blog on it here.

Similarly, the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions has made some businesses think twice before taking on new staff.

What you can do

Outsourcing gives you a way to work with a team without having to become an employer. And if outsourcing isn’t an option, you could work with an HR expert and review your processes. Checking your processes for compliancy might reveal areas for savings too.

  1. AI

AI is a somewhat mixed blessing. In the plus column, it is speeding up business processes for many of us and creating new opportunities and ways of working. In the minus column, it is undermining jobs in the creative industries and driving down the quality of internet content.

What you can do

Forward-looking businesses in 2025 need to be open to the benefits of AI but also aware of its pitfalls. Find out more about AI here.

Get Ahead supports agile businesses

If our blog has made you feel ready to take on 2025’s challenges, we’re here to help. Our finance experts can help you review your accounts and find savings, while our HR outsourcing managers can talk you through new employee rights and keep you up to date. Our business development experts can compile risk assessments for your business. And our virtual assistants can work with you on business continuity planning, so you’re ready for any eventuality. We can also help you access the right AI for your business, making the most of new technology and saving time and money into the bargain.

All our support is fully flexible – choose from fixed hours every month or ad hoc support.

Explore our site to find out more, follow us on social media, or talk to your local regional director. We’re ready for whatever 2025 wants to throw at us!

We all feel energised as the days get longer and the sun comes out. And if you’ve ever thought about working for yourself, why not use this positivity to make it happen?

In this blog, we look at the benefits of working for yourself and what support there is to help you.

Why should you choose working for yourself?

There are loads of great reasons to set up on your own. We meet a lot of business owners and we’ve learned that each one has a specific reason that made them decide to run their own business.

Flexibility

Many business owners found that being tied down to a nine-to-five schedule just didn’t work for them. Some wanted to enjoy more time with their children (they grow up so quick!), while others had caring responsibilities for family members. Others wanted to have time for hobbies and interests – there’s more to life than work!

Values

Another big group of self-employed people are those who have a clear set of values that they didn’t feel the corporate world embodied. They love their sector, but they recognised independence would offer them more of a chance to share their skills in the way that felt right to them.

Challenge

Other people simply love a challenge! Working for yourself is full of challenges, but the knowledge that you are behind every one of your business’s achievements is exceptionally satisfying. If you’re stuck in a rut and not taking your best self to work every day, it could be time to do it differently.

Working for yourself – what do you need?
Budget

Start by working out your budget. Obviously, you will need to consider business costs – remember that even home-based businesses will need a website and hosting. You also need to work out personal expenses. Look at your monthly outgoings like mortgage repayments and car finance, and work out what you need to earn to cover them.

Business plan

Your business plan maps out what you offer and how you will grow. It’s an important document – you will need to show it to the bank if you apply for a business loan. And if you want to connect with investors or form a partnership, the other people involved will want to see it.

Registration for self-assessment

You need to register for self-assessment so you pay the right tax on the amount your business has earned.

Record keeping

Businesses need to record their income and outgoings, as well as customer and client information, and details of products and services. You might think you’ll remember but trust us, you won’t (sorry!). You will also need to provide financial records to HMRC so these need to be accurate and accessible.

Support for new businesses

Fortunately, there is loads of support out there. From online guides to writing business plans to plain English guides to registering your business, any new entrepreneur can find what they need to get started on the UK government website.

Fill your skills gaps with outsourcing

If you love the idea of starting your own business but you’re worried about financial records, tax and invoicing, you’re not alone. In our experience of supporting business owners, we’ve seen that finance is the number one area of difficulty. Not feeling confident about finance means maths (yikes!), getting to grips with invoicing software, praying you’re doing your tax return properly and having to admit you’re not actually Alan Sugar.

But it doesn’t have to be scary. The good news is that you can outsource almost anything you don’t know how to do yourself. Finance, tax and admin are some of Get Ahead’s most popular services, with our admin assistants, accountants and bookkeepers all on hand to provide what you need quickly and accurately.

Get Ahead also supports businesses with writing business plans, as well as creating websites and managing social media – all great ways to get your business out there.

If it’s time you started working for yourself, remember that Get Ahead are here to help. All our services are fully flexible and we don’t tie you into long contracts. Whether you need just a few hours’ support to get you started, or monthly help with invoice reconciliation, our virtual experts are ready to meet your needs. Check out our site to find out more, or follow us on social media.