Questions!

[Anonymous]

Hello!

I agree freelancemom.com by far has been the most informative! I am a single mom putting together my VA business. I'm in the process of writing a business plan and have 3 questions that I would love answers to from other people that have already started their VA business!!

1. What was the one piece of advice you wish someone gave you when you were starting out?

2. What was the one or two items (software, hardware, books, anything) that you cannot live without?

3. What was the one or two items that you would not recommend on getting?

Thank you!!

Lisa

[Mel]

My single piece of advice... to pick a niche market and know it well before you begin.

Items I couldn't live without...
Printer
Office 2003 (word, excel, outlook, etc)
Google - really! I use them every single day

Items I would not recommend...
I'm not sure because depending on how you are going to run your business, how you will send and receive work and what services you offer would make a difference in the things you would need.

I would suggest not purchasing a lot of software until you know what types of work you are going to be doing.

[Debbi]

Hi Lisa,

Welcome! And here's my tips :D

1. What was the one piece of advice you wish someone gave you when you were starting out?
--have faith and have confidence in my abilities. I didn't have that and I sold myself short a lot, but once I began to believe in myself, everything became SO much easier.

2. What was the one or two items (software, hardware, books, anything) that you cannot live without? For repetitive typing tasks, I LOVE perfect keyboard - couldn't live without it. Google desktop search - it is priceless. Friendship with adults - gotta have someone to blow off steam with!

3. What was the one or two items that you would not recommend on getting? Hmm - I wouldn't get a fax machine unless you already have one. Efax works just as well. Also, a lot of the software you might need often has trial versions - Most of the Adobe products, etc. So it's nice to try them out and see if they're really anything that you need.

Best!
Just let me know if you have any other questions.

d