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Office Support 911 Opens its 'Virtual Doors' to Help Small Businesses Drowning in Paperwork

 


Thousands of women (and men) are now offering their professional office skills and talents over the internet. This new industry is called "Virtual Assistance" and can save small businesses countless dollars.

SB Informer
Thursday, May 18, 2006; 02:51 AM

Brampton, ON - Office Support 911, a Brampton, Ontario based Virtual Assistant service, is now open for business. Owner, Karen Braschuk, has joined the thousands of women (and men) who have decided to offer their administrative and secretarial skills from their home offices.

“We can do practically everything…except make the coffee!” is Braschuk’s slogan on her web site: http://officesupport911.ca

Says Braschuk, “Many small business owners have at least one thing in common: limited financial resources. These entrepreneurs have a solid vision and the drive to succeed, yet may not have the funds on-hand to hire someone on a full-time basis to perform the administrative tasks that are vital to the ultimate success of their business. This is where the newly emerging Virtual Assistant (VA) industry appears to be stepping in nicely to fill this gap.”

The Catch-22 for these small businesses may be that without the expertise and administrative services they need right now…their businesses may never fully get off the ground. They may not hire someone because they believe they can't afford it, and yet hiring someone to achieve their goals might just be a lot more affordable than they think.

Because virtual assistants work from home as independent contractors, there are none of the usual employee-related costs to the small business owner such as medical/dental benefits, paid vacations, and sick-leaves. There is no new equipment to buy, no extra overhead or office space to rent, and no lengthy salaried ‘learning curves’ that new employees would normally require as they settle into their new roles.

Using the latest in computer software and hardware technologies, Office Support 911 offers its clients services such as word processing, spreadsheet preparation, visual presentations, marketing materials, proofreading/editing, calendar management and live telephone customer service. All of these services are provided ‘virtually’ via email, fax, telephone and courier.

Braschuk, a 48-year-old mother of two teenage sons and a veteran of the corporate world since the age of 16, adds: “I’ve been employed by both a major Canadian bank as well as a computer software company for many years combined. As I worked my way through the ranks, I learned about finance, customer service, time management and people skills. I think my past experience, coupled with my current technical abilities, would definitely be an asset to small business owners and entrepreneurs needing someone to take the initiative to get the job done - without paying an ‘arm and a leg’ for that service.”

Virtual assistants may charge by the hour, by the project (pay-as-you-go), or on a monthly retainer basis. This type of flexibility can be invaluable to small business owners whose operations may be seasonal, or to those who are experiencing the inevitable waxing and waning of cash flow.

'Virtual assistants' endeavor to find out as much about their clients as possible. This way they can provide exactly what their clients need -- exactly when they need it.

For more up-to-the-minute information about the emerging Virtual Assistant industry in Canada, please visit the following sites:

http://www.cvac.ca/ (Canadian Virtual Assistant Connection)
http://www.canadianva.net/ (The Canadian Virtual Assistant Network)

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