Some years ago, I wrote a newsletter piece for my professional organization, the International Virtual Assistant Association (IVAA), called “A Few of our Favorite Things.” This was just prior to IVAA’s first-ever Summit.

I was volunteering on the vendor committee, and the idea was to identify VA must-haves, and then approach the manufacturers of the products our members raved about to see if they wanted to become exhibitors or Summit sponsors.

Technology has changed immensely in those six intervening years. Whether you’re just planning to launch a virtual assistant practice or you are already in the trenches, a new year is a great time to assess your office and conduct an inventory of what you have or think you might need.

In completing your assessment, you may discover unused equipment that you can purge from your office.

Once your inventory is complete, make a needs list, which will likely end up falling into these categories:

1. furnishings

2. software

3. hardware

4. basic office supplies

5. utilities (your internet connection, phone service, etc.)

6. reference material

Over the next few weeks, let’s work together to build a list of resources for each one of these these tool categories.

When VA tools are recommended to me, I notice that most of my colleagues presume that one is both using a PC and Microsoft software. I, for one, use neither. So, in this series, I’ll instead use the convention of referring to these products using genre, rather than specific product name.

However, if you are mad about a particular product within one of these genres, please chime in with the name of the item and where it can be obtained.

Additional Resources to help you build your must-haves list:

1. Squidoo has a nice post on the basics of outfitting your office: “VA – What tools are needed?”

2. The Virtual Assistant, by Blanche Evans, is an article that covers some of what a startup VA practice needs.

3. The VA Forum is a place you can go to eavesdrop or participate in ongoing discussions on topics of interest to VAs. Here’s a link to the area in that forum called “Virtual Assistant Office Equipment & Supplies: Raves and Reviews.”

4. Andrea Kalli, owner of Virtual Traianer & Assistant, LLC, knows a lot about a lot. Her fabulous blog contains posts on all kinds of equipment you may need.

5. Signatureworx’s Connie McVicker wrote a fantastic 10-week series on FREE tools VA’s need. This link takes you to week 10 of that series, and you can work your way back through all the others.

6. Merrick Virtual Assistant Blog, by Taryn Merrick, has a solid list of categories representing some of the tools of the trade.

How about it, VA colleagues? Do you have tips or all-important items without which your practice would collapse? Have you taken a video of what’s in your office? Share your tool collection, and contribute by commenting or send to ktcosmos@LooseEnds.net.

In the next installment in this series, we’ll make a list of furnishings and sources for them.