How It All Started

Virtual assistants were unknown when I started work all those years ago. And I have to admit, when I first heard the term, the question “Virtual what?” did cross my mind.

Look how far we’ve come!

I first cut my teeth on office work when I was just eighteen, quickly discovering that I had an eye for detail and the organisation skills to get a job done well. I’ve always enjoyed office work - it suits my quiet, methodical ways and seems to justify the word “conscientious”, which appeared liberally on my school reports as a child!

I took some time away from my career until my children had reached school age but then I was eager to get back to work. My husband began rubbing his hands together in glee and if our bank manager had known, I’m pretty sure he would have danced a little jig as well.

This time, though, I wanted the business to be mine! But how?

With a little help, your small business can flourish. The Office Elf is at your service.

If you think a virtual assistant could help your business, contact The Office Elf on 01963 824822.

No job too small or too unusual!

And then I looked around me. I suddenly realised I knew at least a dozen people with fledgling businesses of their own...and they all had one thing in common – they all needed an extra pair of hands, but they didn’t need the hassle of becoming an employer – to be truthful, like so many small businesses, they couldn’t afford to employ staff.

What they all needed was to have someone lend a hand at peak times, for urgent jobs, to cover holidays; someone to make phone calls, type letters, fill in their application to Dragon’s Den (honestly!), write press releases and articles.

I saw my chance and decided there was a market for what I had in mind.

I made it clear to all my clients that they mustn’t feel obliged to use my services regularly. If they needed me for an hour one week and then never again, that was fine. It began to dawn on me that if I made flexibility my unique selling point and kept my fees reasonable, I had the start of a viable business.

And so The Office Elf was born. My husband bore the news with good grace and the gloomy prediction that our bank account wasn’t going to see an upturn in its fortune any time soon.

For the first year, anyway, as word slowly spread, he was probably right. After that, it became clear that The Office Elf was both needed and appreciated by its clients and now it’s not only my job to help them out - it’s my pleasure.