Posts made in November, 2009

December is the Perfect Planning Time for a Small Business

Posted by Laurie on Nov 30, 2009 in Entrepreneurial | 1 comment

Traditional planning/goal setting time may well be the beginning of January, but I actually think the beginning of December is a great time to set a day aside to start planning the upcoming year AND to review the past year to see if you’ve met your goals.

The review part of the process is especially important if, like many of us, it is your business year end on December 31. Have a look at your finances and expenses for the year. It may be a good time to make some last minute purchases (need a new computer?!) so that you can use the expenses against this year’s taxes. Also, you can evaluate if you have been paying enough tax, so that you can make appropriate deductions come January, instead of waiting until after you actually file your 2009 taxes in the spring.

December can typically be a very busy month, but it can also be slow in some aspects for your business. Many people are so busy with personal commitments that they aren’t producing as much volume of work, or they are taking downtime during the holidays so not as much marketing or networking is getting done. This means you may find yourself with a day here and there in December where you can sit down and start doing your planning for the upcoming year.

If you want to be able to hit the ground running come January 1st (okay – maybe January 2nd since you are probably sleeping in on January 1st!) have a look at this year end checklist or check out these suggestions. Think about what was the most successful business tool you implemented this past year (was it a process, a marketing technique, some type of hardware or software?) Think about what held you back in growing your business this past year. Look for some new networking opportunities for the new year. So many opportunities are out there waiting for us if we just plan for them and then grab them when we see them!

I’m going to set a deadline for myself of mid-December for my planning day – what about you? Got any ideas to share?

Can You Access Your Documents From Anywhere

Posted by Laurie on Nov 9, 2009 in Technology, virtual legal assistance | Comments Off

I can! When I first started operating Halo Secretarial, I realized how critical a proper backup system was going to be. I owned an external hard drive and was in the habit of using it semi-regularly to backup important information, but found it to be a time consuming process and was worried it wasn’t reliable enough by itself.

A lot of research led me to believe that my best choice would be a backup and syncing setup, as I have two computers and wanted access to files on both computers from anywhere, plus I wanted to protect my data in case of computer failure or natural disaster.

Now, I’m sure if I do experience a computer failure or my house is struck by natural disaster I’m going to appreciate my system, but even if such things should never happen (fingers crossed!) I’ve gotten a great deal of use out of my system. I’ve traveled with only one computer and needed to access files on my other computer so that I could quickly assist one of my lawyers and easily been able to do so.  I’ve been out running errands and quickly looked up a file from my mobile phone’s web browser, as my chosen application offers mobile access. It’s really reassuring to have this setup, especially when it comes to my business data.

And now I’ve actually realized another way such a system can be utilized. I have clients who are not particularly comfortable with LogMeIn or similar setups. There are benefits to such systems obviously, but especially to clients new to virtual partnerships, they may be hard to accept at first. I can tell my clients about my setup though and they can choose to share documents via a similar application (at least I know with my provider this is possible!) I had a situation recently where I needed a document from a client and if said client had been able to access his files from his phone’s browser he could have quickly emailed them  to me. Instead, we had to wait to finish a project until he was in his office to access the files.

So, can you access your documents from anywhere so easily? If so, what service do you use? I use SugarSync and totally recommend them, for what it’s worth (not a paid endorsement by the way, just true love of the product!) They offer fair pricing, SSL encryption which is very important especially when dealing with legal file materials, and work with both PCs and Macs. Similar SaaS backup/sync programs are compared here if you are interested!

Quick Virtual Assistant Tips

Posted by Laurie on Nov 3, 2009 in Time Saving Tips, virtual legal assistance | Comments Off

There are so many things to learn when you are starting a new business, and there are some things I really wish I had known when I started my virtual legal assistant business!

Whether you aspire to be a virtual assistant or you or thinking about working with a virtual assistant, I thought I’d share some quick tips I’ve learned and would have benefited from implementing sooner:

1. Be clear from the beginning on your preferred method and hours of contact (applies to both client and VA).
2. Discuss the “finicky” things right off the bat: font type, font size, paragraph justification, etc. – they might seem like small things but getting them right early can ease your working relationship.
3. If you have a concern over anything, do not wait to mention it to the other party. Sooner said, sooner fixed; don’t hope it will just magically resolve itself!
4. Be very, very clear about deadlines.
5. Read every email or communique from your client CAREFULLY. Check for attachments immediately, even if you don’t need to do the work right away.
6. Spend a few minutes each week, for each client, thinking of ways you can improve the service you provide or find new items you can assist with.

I can tell you, from experience, that it is hard to make mistakes and feel for even a moment that you may have let your client down or let yourself down. But we are all human and we are bound to have moments of imperfection. Be honest with your client if you feel you should have done something better. Offer a discount or some other small token if necessary. Thank your clients for being understanding and remember when they have issues crop up that they are just like you and don’t take criticism personally. Just do better the next time!