Personal Assistant

Start a Home-Based Personal Assistant Business

This is an extremely simple and easy home business opportunity that virtually any stay at home mom can start. Before you start, you have to ask yourself whether you know how many people have time to manage the variety of important tasks before them each day. Not too many, think of your own life. How many times have you wished you could have more time to complain about a billing error and how long it eventually took to be resolved when you finally had enough time to deal with it? Well there are thousands of people saying just that and have the same problem with time. This problem is now your opportunity, now you can start a Home-Based Personal Assistant Business.

Here is a listing of the types of tasks that many people need help with the most:
Billing Complaints
Organizing Meetings and Appointments
Party Planning
Client Christmas Card Mailing
Important Date Reminder
Vacation Planning
Information Inquiries

Getting started is simple, there are three things to consider, business setup, service pricing and marketing.

Business Setup
You will need a phone that can handle multiple incoming calls at one time. Nothing worse than a busy signal when an important call is coming in and you cannot handle it in a professional manner. A cell phone and a pager, always be available for your clients. You may even consider obtaining a blackberry to handle email when you are away from your office. Next, you will need a fax machine, a computer and a high quality printer. The last essential piece of office equipment is a tickler file. The tickler file is a filing system methodology that incorporates organizing tasks by importance and due date. Those tasks that are of most importance and are due sooner than the others are placed in front of the file, while those of least importance and are due later are placed behind. As tasks are completed, they are moved out of the file system and into a separate complete file so that only your active tasks remain in the tickler file.

Pricing
You can be paid in two ways, though methods that are more creative can be used also. The first is to be paid by the hour, if you do choose to employ this method, make sure you keep good track of the time you spend on tasks so that you can provide detailed billing, much as an attorney would for his clients. Do not be too fussy, some minor tasks can be listed but can also be discounted. The second way to be paid is to obtain a type of retainer fee from the client whereby you promise to complete a set number of tasks in each given year without sending a bill.

Marketing
Start by advertising in your local newspaper and gradually graduate to prominent business journals, magazines and newsletters. Once you have a few clients and have successfully completed a few tasks, ask them for referrals. If they use your services, chances are they have the same types of friends that will also need your services.

I hope you will think about this unique opportunity and if you do start a business of your own that it will be successful and you will enjoy many happy years of financial freedom.

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About the Author:
Diagonal Street Business Services offers work at home articles and business ideas to stay at home moms. If you are thinking of starting a business, visit www.BestBusinesses4u.com.

Considerations when Hiring an Assistant

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According to some people, you cannot trust an assistant if they have an interest in investing. He offers many tips about things you should think about when hiring an assistant. You can find a lot of advice in books about hiring personal assistants.

When you interview people for your open assistant position then you need to ask people right off the bat if they have any interest in investing. You want someone who says they have no interest at all. The person who gets excited and their eyes light up when you ask them and they say yes are the people you need to worry about. These are the ones who will steal your knowledge and become your competitor.

Some recommend you be sure to use a non-compete clause for your business. You should not trust anyone because when you least expect it they will take your clients and your prospects. A non-compete clause will ensure you that an assistant cannot take your business elsewhere. You can rest assured that if they want to go out on their own then they will have to start from scratch.

Others might recommend that you should be sure to complain on occasion about your job and the work you do. An assistant will make life very good. An assistant will also give you more free time and make the job look very enticing when you are making a lot of money. Be sure to complain about the things you deal with and be vocal. This is how you deter your assistant from wanting to be successful in the same field as you. Your success is for you and no one else.

When you purchase the systems to hire a personal assistant, you will learn all of the things you need to think about when hiring and working with an assistant. You will learn how to protect your business, your clients, and your success.

Find books, articles, or magazines to find out the best concepts that are involved in hiring a personal assistant. This is a concept by ones whom say this worked for them. There is no guarantee these systems will work for your or anyone else. You cannot hold the company liable for the system not working and it is at your own risk when you purchase the program. Not all people will be given a refund and given 30 days to test the program.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
For more articles and a 10 part e-course on how to create your own Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! plus over 50 training audios, simply go to www.LarryGoinsFreeOffer.com where you will gain instant access