FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s a virtual assistant?

Quite simply put, a personal assistant that works remotely. I have explained it more in my blog post.

I’m interested in using your services – how does it work?

First of all, I offer all prospective clients a free no-obligation consultation, which can be in person, over the phone or by video conference. This normally takes about 30 minutes and we use this time to find out more about each other’s businesses and explore what help I could provide you with. Once we have decided to proceed with working together, I’ll email you my terms and conditions. I’ll then write up a contract for you to read and sign electronically – this may be rolling (for regular work) or have an end date (for a project). After this, we begin the work, working to the agreed deadlines and invoicing at the agreed intervals.

Do you do call handling?

I’m only one person, and being at the beck and call of a client’s phone calls would just take too much of my time and focus away from other work, so I choose not to do it. Think of me as more of a ‘virtual administrator’ that does all the back office stuff, rather than a ‘virtual receptionist’. There are companies that specialise in call handling, and they usually have a whole team of people to ensure that your calls are always answered and dealt with on time. Please get in touch with me at toks@tavaservices.co.uk if you’d like me to introduce you to one in my network that comes highly recommended.

Do you do social media work?

I’ll make it clear that social media isn’t my expertise and doing it for business is something I’ve only been learning since I started my business in 2016. If you need a social media strategy created from scratch, this is beyond my skill set and I recommend you use a social media manager/marketer. However, if you already have this all set up and just need help with things like researching content, scheduling posts or creating Canva graphics, then I’m happy to help with these things.

Do you ever work on site / in person?

I prefer the flexibility of working remotely for the majority of the time. However, I am open to some on-site work depending on my availability. I’m currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland, so I’m happy to do minute taking and other in-person tasks within a reasonable commutable distance – just give me enough notice to fit it into my diary. Travel costs will be added if the job is outside Edinburgh and the Lothians. I also love travelling all over the UK and the world, so if you have a job like that for me and you can pay my travel expenses, feel free to enquire with me and let’s talk! 

Can I see examples of your work?

Due to confidentiality reasons, I can’t show you any work I’ve done for my clients unless it’s something that’s already freely viewable to the public. However, I have many assignments that I can show you from when I studied admin at college. I’m also happy to do a short paid tester task for you so you can see how I work and how well we gel together before committing to signing a contract.

Will you sign my NDA/contract?

I normally provide my own terms and conditions and agreement contract which cover confidentiality amongst many other things. However, if you prefer that I sign your own legal documents in addition or instead of mine, I’m happy to do this as long as there is no conflict with my own business terms.

I’m interested in becoming a VA myself. How do I get started?

There are a lot of great resources out there and VA trainers that will teach you better than I could. Most of them offer freebies as well as paid training and coaching. Many of them also have associated Facebook groups where you can ask questions and read other people’s experiences. Please see a list of them below:

All these websites have some overlapping information, so try not to get overwhelmed or feel like you need to use them all. Just have a browse around and see which one or two take your fancy to focus on. The VA Handbook in particular is my main go-to for VA help. I’ve done a number of courses with them, including their DIY course that helped me get set up.