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3 free resources for running your own VA business

Virtual Gurus blog about 3 free resources for running your own VA business, showing a young VA at her home with a mug sitting in front of her laptop.

Nicole Duggan

September 21, 2021

As virtual assistants, we know what it takes to keep a successful business running for our clients, but where do you even start for managing your own? Even if you aren’t looking for ways to manage your business, I find that the options are endless when it comes to tools for my VA work … I want to try them all (and admittedly have signed up for a lot)! So to help you out if you are in a similar dilemma I am sharing my go to resources and tools for my VA life:

Task Management: Asana

I’ve tried a few: Trello, Microsoft tasks, Notion, clickup, an excel spreadsheet … Currently I am using Asana.com. Why? #1 it’s free! I just needed a basic task list that I could eventually scale up and use for working with multiple VAs and/or contractors. It’s easy to jump in and start using right away, no tedious set up required. I can see from a bird’s eye view where a project is and pull the info I need for reporting. 

 

Email Management: Shift

Gmail is my email provider of choice and it’s true of many of my clients as well. So how do I manage my 5+ Gmail accounts of my own and my clients? 

Meet SHIFT! It allows me to see notifications across all my clients at once, work in multiple Google Drives and add apps that I commonly use for all my work. Did I mention you have the ability to create a custom workspace? I set these up for one off projects and specific job duties. My favourite workspace right now is “Marketing” where I keep all my social media calendars, social media profile links and resources I need to do my marketing work. 

Invoicing: Wave

When you start your journey of self-employment you quickly realize you need to get your financial act together. If you don’t find that out within the first few months, it slams you in the face come tax time! Wave Accounting is software that can connect your bank accounts, sync your expenses, balance your books, and get you ready for tax time. It’s been a lifesaver for helping me decide if I need to register for a GST number.

*Bonus Tip* Check out this extensive collection of resources for Founders 

Running a business requires a lot of work. Your 24 hours are precious, so take advantage of all available tools for increasing your productivity.. I hope these resources will help you in your day to day VA work and give you more time to rock your home life.

Nicole Duggan

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