Upsource

20/02/2023

The best bit of outsourcing to a VA (in my personal experience!)

TIME

10 hours a month with a VA can give you:

⭐1 x hour walks / gym each week
⭐1 x hour to read a book to expand your knowledge each week
⭐0.5 hours each week to do something you love / that sparks Joy

10 hours a month with a VA doing your tasks doesn’t mean you then need to replace those 10 hours with work.

Putting time in your life to learn, move, rest and grow will always be worth it.

What would you like to get back into your life?

15/02/2023

🙋 Slack fan since 2016

I love the ease of the comms without the formalities of emails.

I love the social aspect it can help bring to remote working.

BUT - It also has it’s downfalls when you need a break.

After 7 years I think I am getting there with my boundaries and here are three of my favourite tips.

What would you add?

08/02/2023

You started your business, your passion.

You followed it, took the leap, loved it, became obsessed with it, lived it and you are seeing that success in return.

And then…something happens

👉Change in life circumstances
👉The need to connect with people outside of work again
👉Self care has gone out the window

Whatever it is, most of us as business owners can relate!

The excitement and enthusiasm has led to over working and burn out.

How can I avoid this?

Here is the plan.

Start with:

👉Recurring tasks
👉Tasks you don’t enjoy
👉Tasks you can’t do
👉Tasks you SHOULDN’t do

Have you experienced this? What advice would you share to avoid this?

24/01/2023

27/12/2022

Well this is some exciting news to end the year on!

So pleased to announce I will be one of the Judges for the Miss Jones Business Support Awards 2023

🏆 NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN | Miss Jones Business Support Awards 2023

The Miss Jones Group Awards are a celebration of talent and achievement in the Administrative and Events sectors. From the plethora of nominations, our judging panel expertly select the best-of-the-best to recognise for their outstanding performances.

💫SO this post is for all my colleagues in the Business Support world - all my fellow PAs, EAs, VAs, Office Managers...💫

Have YOU Really Stepped up this Year?

Self-nominations are not only welcome they are encouraged. It’s your time to shine and tell the world how you expertly wield your craft.

Nominate Today: https://lnkd.in/efyiY-Si

12/12/2022

🎁How is that Christmas shopping list going?!

🎄This time of the year is overwhelming but also can be used as a time to reflect on what we could change for 2023

An article I read on Inc.com said, a 2017 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that people who occasionally paid others to perform tasks they didn't enjoy or want to do (like mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, running errands were happier and felt greater overall life satisfaction than those who did not.)

Perhaps the same could be true of your Business Admin?

While we can’t mow your lawn perhaps we could give you:

🏖️A holiday without your laptop
👫More mealtimes with your family and friends
👩‍💻A day week to spend on your CEO time and growth
💸More time to spend on billable work

💫OR just support you feeling happier and less alone?💫

(Oh and we also do Personal and Lifestyle support - while we can’t mow your lawn…we can find you a trusty gardener!)

What would you like to gift yourself in 2023?

06/12/2022

When you work with us…we like to keep it simple!

Starting with a Virtual Assistant Service can be a BIG step so that is why we like to keep it simple as possible from our side, it is 3 steps.

1. Discovery call

This is a free, no obligation chat about you, your business and what you may need or benefit from by bringing in a VA.

You have this with me, Caroline, I have been working in the VA industry since 2016 and can say since starting my own business this is my favourite part of my job.

2. VA Choice

Its at this point I pick the best VA for you! (Or we can send a few profiles for you to choose!)

Maybe you want someone to take away the Social Media noise or an Inbox Ninja?! Either way I will make sure its the right person for you & your business.

3. Contract & onboarding begin!

We will have agreed a start date and that is when we will have a longer version of your discovery call with myself & your VA.

We will agree your priorities and next steps to get started that day.

We have a wonderful team, ready to get started with you.

👇What would you outsource👇

15/11/2022

Countdown is on!

🧑‍🎄Anyone else starting to feel that festive feeling?!

This time of year can feel overwhelming, a lot to do, a lot of people to see and then the Instagram noise to push for sales before 2023

Im here as your reminder we aren’t all doing that!

What am I using this time for?

💫Business reviewing and reflection
💫Business planning for next year
💫A little bit of R&R / Self care before the Christmas holidays

Why?

We have surpassed (my rough goals!) For Upsource this year and now I need a little time to reflect, plan and rest!

REST - as a mum of two with a business, I know this isn’t something we prioritise.

But the past two Christmas with family we’ve been in NICU with our baby or locked in poorly with COVID!

So Im going to try my best to make this year count and prioritise reserving my energy for my Upsource team the next 6 weeks and my family during the holidays / outside of work!

Its my business and I have decided new sales can start in January when me and the team will be ready with energy to give them the fantastic start to the service they need!

👇What are your plans for the end of the year? 👇

Are you taking time to plan and reflect also?

🤩Or are you making the most of a busy time of year

11/11/2022

I am so so excited to have made it as a finalist for a Women’s Business Award! 🏆

Couldn't be prouder to have been nominated for the :

💫Business Mum of the Year award 💫

🤯 I went from redundant to furloughed first time mum taking the plunge all within a year, and started my business deep in lockdown; running around after an 18 month old and pregnant with my second.

💪I truly started Upsource because I was exhausted by how hard being employed, trying to have a career and raising a child felt.

💃Upsource launched once my eldest went back to nursery post lockdown in July 2020

🥂 I handed over to 5 VAs, we are now over 25 VAs (over 50% of us are Mums 🤩)

This business has seen me through pregnancy, Mat leave, COVID and NICU (head to the blog to read more about our journey)

👇Now I need you to VOTE FOR ME at the link below! 👇

The votes only make up a small part of deciding the winner, but all testimonials will be read by the judges whilst making this decision. I would really appreciate your support.

If you would like to join me on the Thursday 8 December 2022 at the awards ceremony, along with a day of inspiring workshops and expert input into your business, get in touch as I may have a special friends and colleagues discount code for you!

Please cast your vote for me here:

https://womensbusiness.club/awards/sme

01/11/2022

I had half term all planned out...It was our first one for our 4 year old who has just started school.

✅ Some days at camp
✅ Planned days off for me and my husband to spend time with him
✅ Last but not least my wonderful VA had blocked the time out so I only focused on priorities the past two weeks
...then during the week of camp my almost 2 year old got croup, involving a trip to A&E and was at home for the last 3 days of half term I had planned to work.

Thats life! but also that is why number 3 was key. I worked the evenings on the priorities I'd planned and didn't feel behind come the weekend.

Struggle with holidays? We wrote a blog recently on how to take holidays as a small business owner (link in the comments)

27/10/2022

What is an energy audit?!

I managed to attend an event recently at where one half of the fantastic were speaking!

I have followed these ladies for a while so was definitely fan girling!

One part of the talk was discussing Introverts / extroverts

(as an intro who masquerades as an extrovert at times- I don’t believe the world is either/ or)

BUT - I do believe what is for all is reviewing when you work best, how you work best and if your calendar / routine is suiting you

I was reminded recently that I needed to do an energy audit - I’d been running between calls every work day and overloading my ‘task list’

I had a really tough week recently with some difficult (but needed) decisions and realised I needed to do an ‘energy audit’

I completely stripped back my calendar for a few weeks and had a think of what I need to do short term and long term to spend my time on the business where it is needed most.

(And a reminder to do an energy audit far more regularly!)

Do you ever do an energy audit? Where is your time best spent?

19/10/2022

Upsource team goals

😭💙🙌