Emma - Your Virtual Assistant

Home
Mauritius
Flic en Flac
Emma - Your Virtual Assistant

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Emma - Your Virtual Assistant, Business consultant, Flic en Flac.

Behind-the-scenes support for creative & product businesses
Client experience • Social media • Business support
Helping you stay creative while I keep things moving

Book a discovery 👇
https://calendly.com/hello-emmap/discovery-call

04/09/2026

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be a zoo keeper, I had it all in my head that I would work at my local zoo Whipsnade, and I would work with the monkeys.

I wonder what little me would think if she saw me now. She would probably say that you don’t work with them but you have 2 at home aged 6 & 9.

Apart from my zookeeper ambitions, I never really had a big plan for what I wanted to do. Some people know from a young age exactly what they want to be and stick to it. I’ve never been one of those people.

I have been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and take opportunities when they've appeared and somehow find myself where I am now.

But even now I still wonder what I’m going to be when I grow up, which is worrying as I’m supposed to be a grown up aren't I?

What did you want to be when you were growing up? Did you end up anywhere close?

I'm sorry for the photo 😜

02/09/2026

One of the things I always ask when supporting a business is Why?

I don't ask why to be difficult or to tell you that it's wrong, I have a genuine curiosity and need to understand your business and what you put into it.

Your answer to Why could be

- it's the way I’ve always done it
- it made sense at the time when we had 5 orders per day.
- I don’t know

None of those answers are wrong, and I'm certainly not going to start supporting your business by changing everything.

My support will start with

- observing
- following
- asking
- understanding

Once I understand why you do something, that's when I can start asking different questions.

- Did you know that we can get your website to tell you this automatically rather than you looking for it every day?
- Why do you enter that twice?
- Did you know that we could change this so it becomes 2 steps instead of 4?

I'm not there to tell you your process is wrong. I'm there to notice where we could make it easier.

Some of your processes might have been created right at the beginning, when you were getting two orders a day. Now you're getting 30 and you're still following exactly the same steps.

The process worked back then. But now your business has outgrown it.

Are you still using the same processes you used five years ago?

Let's see if we can make them simpler.

31/08/2026

Writing a process down and getting it out of your head doesn't have to be scary.

Hearing people talk about processes and systems can send you into a bit of a panic. But getting a process out of your head doesn't mean using some fancy system.

Next time you get an order in (one of your favourite processes) as you start to deal with it write down everything you do.

You check the payment.
Write it down.

You check the stock.
Write it down.

You update stock levels.
Write it down.

You send something.
Write it down.

You remember that weird little extra thing you always do for this particular product.
Write that down too.

Now you have finished, guess what you have done?

You have started to document your processes.

Be honest it wasn't as hard as you thought it was going to be was it?

No fancy systems, just a process that is now out of your head (the important bit) and on paper or your notepad app or a Google document. It really doesn't matter where it lives as long as it's out of your head and you aren't the only person that knows how to do it.

26/08/2026

You already have systems they're just invisible to everyone except you.

Whenever anyone mentions systems, you think that systems aren't for your little business. You don’t need some giant computer system or CRM, you really don't like complicated things so anything technical makes you anxious.
It's just you so you don't need anything else and know the process. It's like second nature to you now.

When an order lands you know what to check.
You know what to update on the website
You know what to do when you have low stock.
You know what process you need to follow when a customer needs a refund

You probably don't even think of these things as systems or processes. They're just what you do and scarily, most of it is kept in your head!

And still, we haven't needed some giant computer system or complicated CRM.Because this isn't really about software.

You already have the process. The problem is that you're the only person who knows it.

So what happens when you have someone new to work with and you ask them to deal with the new orders that you have. What will they do?

I’m sure you can already hear the conversation in your head

You: "Can you deal with today's orders?"

Them: "Of course. What do I need to do?"

And suddenly you're saying:

"Well, when an order comes in”

"Oh, and don't forget"

"Actually, if it's this product"

"Oh! And you need to update"

"Hang on, there's something else"

You thought this was simple and it is, but only to you. You have done it for soooo long and dont really think about it. But someone else can’t see inside your head.

Systems and processes don't have to be complicated, they just need to be available for everyone that needs them.

23/08/2026

If you disappeared on holiday for a week, would you switch your website off while you're gone?

You are probably reading that thinking of course not crazy lady I still need all the orders coming in for when I’m back.

But what about everything else that you do? Are you stopping that or will you be checking orders from the pool while sipping your cocktail?

It's probably about then, sitting around the pool, that you start thinking about the list of tasks you normally complete for every order that no one else knows about.

It's ok the cocktails can continue as the girl that works with you on a Saturday is keeping an eye on orders and hopefully everything else. But in the back of your head you can’t stop thinking. She's helping you. She's perfectly capable. But she can't know the process because you've never actually given her one.

When an order comes in, check the payment
If it's this product, you need to make sure that you
Don't forget to update the stock list and the shipping
Oh, and if this happens you have to make sure that you tick this button.

But then the realisation hits,

she isn't the problem,

the problem is that there isn’t a process she can follow as

YOU ARE THE PROCESS

It's taken a holiday to make you realise that your website can carry on without you.

But can the rest of your business?

21/08/2026

Apparently, it’s World Entrepreneurs’ Day. So here’s to the people who decided having one job simply wasn’t enough.

The business owner.
The marketer.
The customer service team.
The salesperson.
The content creator.
The bookkeeper.
The website updater.
The person replying to an email at 10pm because “it’ll only take two minutes.”

Running your own business can be exciting, rewarding and something you’re incredibly proud of.

It can also be a LOT.

Especially when the thing you started because you loved designing, creating, making, photographing or bringing ideas to life suddenly comes with approximately 367 other jobs you never actually signed up for.

So today, I’m celebrating all the creative and product-based business owners building something of their own including the messy days, the brilliant ideas, the tiny wins and the what on earth am I doing? moments.

And a little reminder while we’re here:

Being the business owner doesn’t mean you have to do every job in the business.

Some of those hats are allowed to belong to someone else.

Happy World Entrepreneurs’ Day.

18/08/2026

My happy place, apart from the obvious beach sunset with a glass of something fizzy and my friends, is supporting your business and being useful.

It isn't necessarily doing the daily tasks or clearing your inbox. It’s making something easier for you, resolving a customer problem, finding a better way of doing something or being able to say “don’t worry I’ve already done it”

I’m happy when I’m busy but it's not necessarily the tasks, it's knowing something was resolved because I was there.

So yes, give me a beach, a glass of ch*****ne, my friends and a sunset and I'm very happy.

But give me a problem to solve and something I can take off someone's plate and apparently I'm pretty happy there too.

16/08/2026

Give me access to your inbox and I wouldn't answer a single message!

Well, not at first anyway. There is a bit of work to do before I start talking to your customers.

Firstly, I have no idea what goes on in your business, so I'd spend some time pretending to be a customer.

I'd look at your website, go through the buying process and see what communication I receive along the way.

I'd want to understand your voice and your values. How do you talk to your customers? How do you want them to feel when they're dealing with your business?

Then I'd look through your current messages.

What are customers asking? Are there common questions? Are there things they're confused about? Are there questions that could be resolved before they even need to ask them?

And then, importantly, I'd spend time talking to you.

Handing your customer communication over to someone else is a big deal, especially when you've built an independent business and your customers have only ever spoken to you.

You need to know that the person replying understands your business.

What would you normally say?

How do you deal with a complaint?

What can I resolve myself and what would you prefer me to bring to you?

Are there certain words or phrases you'd never use?

I don't need to sound exactly like you, but I do need to understand how you want your customers to feel when they're talking to your business.

Your customers are as important to me as they are to you, and I wouldn't expect you to hand them over and simply hope for the best.

So yes, give me access to your inbox and I wouldn't answer a single message.

Not until I know your business well enough to give your customers the service they expect from you.

Would handing your customer communication over to someone else make you nervous?

14/08/2026

The solution to an overflowing inbox isn't always someone answering it faster.

Remember all the messages that went PING? Answering them immediately isn't going to resolve the issue

Instead of asking yourself how am I going to answer all these questions, you should be asking yourself why am I always being asked the same questions?

- Is my delivery information clear enough?
- Are the payment options easy to understand?
- Are my dispatch notifications actually going out?
- I think the colour options are obvious... but are they obvious to my customer?

So maybe everything isn’t quite as clear as you thought it was? This is where we need to look at what's creating the PINGS in the first place.

I would start by checking

- Can the delivery information be made easier to find?
- Are the payment options clear, without unnecessary information?
- Are all the right automations switched on and working?
- Are the product descriptions and colour options as clear to the customer as they are to you?

Once you've cleared up some of those repeated questions, you're left with the messages that actually need a conversation. And those are the messages you want to have.

The customer who wants some help choosing between two products.

The person buying a gift who wants your recommendation.

The customer who isn't quite sure which option is right for them.

Those conversations give you the opportunity to get to know your customers, build a relationship with them and help them make the right choice. Communication is at the heart of your business and the goal isn't to stop your customers messaging you. It's to stop spending so much time answering questions they shouldn't really need to ask, so you have more time for the conversations that actually need you.

The goal is to make the PING more intentional, not stop it completely.

If you're answering the same customer questions day after day, this is exactly the kind of thing I can look at with you. Sometimes a few small changes behind the scenes can make a big difference to both your time and your customers' experience.

Send me a message if you want to talk about what could be creating all those PINGs in your business.

12/08/2026

Do you feel guilty when you don’t instantly reply to your customers' messages?

One thing we need as business owners are boundaries, big or small we all need to have them. As the owner of your customer driven business do you have any boundaries in place?

You are in the middle of your to-do list and you notice there is a new message to be answered but do you drop whatever you are doing to answer or keep going with your list?
You decide to keep going but you can still see the notification and you keep thinking you should answer.

Right the guilt got you, push the task list to the side, it won't take long to answer the message, you always put yourself in the customers place.

You think if it were me I would want the answer asap and it's best to answer quickly to keep people interested. This isn’t the wrong thing to do, you have to remember that you aren’t ignoring them because you don’t care about them as your customer, your thought is always the customer's experience and how they see your service. You really don’t want them sitting and waiting for a response.

But does good customer service really mean you always have to stop what you are doing and reply instantly to any messages.

There is another way to keep your customers happy and remove that feeling of guilt you have for watching the notification and not directly answering the message. The customer probably has a question or needs some clarity. A full and detailed response may not be needed immediately, sometimes they may just need to see that you have read the message and you will get back to them.

“Thanks for your message, I’ve seen it and I will get back to you later this afternoon”

That way you can continue through your to-do list, no guilt, no worry about not looking after your customers properly and can reply to them once you have finished.

Good customer service isn't about being available every minute of the day. It's about making sure your customer knows they're being looked after.

Do you have boundaries around your customer notifications or do you drop everything each time you hear the PING?

Address

Flic En Flac

Website

http://www.emma-yva.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Emma - Your Virtual Assistant posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your business to be the top-listed Business in Flic en Flac?