Relocating Your Business: Interview with Paula Williams
Some of us dream of packing up and moving somewhere new and different. I have a friend who lives and works on an island in the Carolinas and I sometimes envision myself there happily toiling away and being far more creatively productive just because I’m enjoying ocean breezes from my office window…
For those who actually do have a plan to relocate, Virtual Assistance remains a business in which you can make the work part of the move happen almost seamlessly.
Now then, imagine waking up somewhere new every few days while still working full time with long term clients whose projects you find challenging and fulfilling. Do you think that you could stay focused on work? Would you face any challenges in retaining your existing clients or in picking up new ones if you were a mobile VA?
Paula Williams (pictured above right) owns Money Penny Assistants, a VERY mobile Virtual Assistance company. She’s been a full time traveling VA since 2000, and she combines her work and lifestyle in a tricked out RV that also serves as home to her and her boyfriend. Although her lifestyle may never work for you, what she has learned in her years working on the road has relevance for any VA.
ktcosmos: When you first decided to uproot your business, how did you inform your local clients?
Paula Williams: I had been traveling full-time for 5 years before I discovered the VA Industry. I had several business contacts in a couple different states that would hire me to work for them, temporarily in an administrative capacity as my travel schedule allowed. The work could last 4-6 months, or 4-6 weeks. I had one former employer “create� a job for me when he heard I was going to be in his area. Being wanted is such a good feeling!
The challenges of working and traveling fulfills me, so, I decided to research a way to work full-time while traveling, not just when I happened to be “rooted� in one place. The term ‘local’ to me never played a role for building the business or marketing to clients. The term ‘virtual’ was what grabbed my attention. I market strictly for virtual business only.
ktcosmos: Since you don’t have a specific home base (though I know you do reference a physical address on your website), how do you deal with such things as zoning, tax structure, technology infrastructure, and print marketing?
Paula: Full-time RV’ers choose a state in which they declare residency. I have a business license, vote, register my vehicles and pay taxes in my declared state of residency.
The only print marketing I do is in making sure I have business cards with me at all times, and I have thousands of those made at a time.
ktcosmos: Do you have any guerilla marketing techniques that you use to acquire new clients while in specific locations, or is all of your marketing done via the internet?
Paula: I talk to people wherever I go, whether it’s an airplane, train or ferry and I make sure they all get a business card. I meet some very interesting people, and there is a definite interest out there about the Virtual Assistant Industry. I don’t know if that’s guerilla or not, but word of mouth really works for me.
ktcosmos: Have you learned anything new or discovered any new resources as a result of life on the move that have pertinence for those entrepreneurs who aren’t mobile?
Paula: Being here in Greece for the summer, the phrase “nothing under the sun is new� comes to have such true meaning. This certainly applies to my resources or the techniques I employ to run a smooth traveling business. I have followed the philosophy of K.I.S.S since I was in my early 20’s – Keep it Simple Stupid. I follow industry news; belong to VA organizations and message boards as resources to stay current with trends.
I think most things that pertain to my business would pertain to a “non-mobile� VA. Some VA’s have young children and families to work schedules around, I have irregular travel schedules to work around – the difference is slight.
ktcosmos: Are you RVing in Greece? What does it take keep your business systems in place while living abroad temporarily?
Paula: No, (laughing) we are not RVing in Greece. We have a really nice 4 bedroom apartment to live in while here – and I do make the most of having this much space.
We have DSL and even get CNN in English. My business systems are pretty much the same abroad as they are when we are living in the RV.
My carry-on luggage has a lot more technology packed into it than before I started this business. The most critical system I carry with me is the Maxtor 320 GB external hard drive, in which I keep all the back ups of all my work safely stored.
The transition of working abroad is seamless, and the time difference seems to even help, rather than hinder. I do appreciate the desktop more when I am away and working on the laptop, but it doesn’t make a difference business wise. Everything is synched I have what I need with me at all times.
ktcosmos: Wow. I had no idea that setting up your internet access abroad could be so simple!
Paula: Yeah, it really is a WOW. I love how simple it’s all become in the last few years. I make video calls on Skype to clients, associates and family – except for the time difference it’s like being in the same room. I always have access to my email, which I use Outlook to manage, but can also pull up as a webmail option through my webhost (if I was without the laptop for some reason). My bookmarks are managed through del.icio.us so again if I am without my laptop, I still have access to all my marked sites. Everything is relatively simple and getting more so all the time.
ktcosmos: I just have to ask, maybe out of envy(!): How do you manage the work life balance challenges all employed people face? I mean, you have many wonderful travel activities just outside your front door; how do you muster the discipline to work when you must? Or on the flip side, if you get swamped with a project do you ever feel like you missed out on an area you wanted to explore because you were too busy working?
Paula: It’s a great question, and one I think applies to most people and how they choose to live.
As an example, I worked with a woman, the bookkeeper and office manager of one of the offices I mentioned I worked temporarily a few times. Bless this woman’s heart; she was IN THE OFFICE by 5 a.m. every morning. This was based on that she would cut out early, by 3 p.m. in the afternoon, allowing her to pick her children up after school. Sounds like a nice arrangement, right?
Will you be surprised to know that she was regularly still in her office long after I clocked out at 6 p.m.? Pulling twelve to fourteen hour days, she was tired; her family missed her it was a terrible environment for her. Finally she moved on to another company, one that would allow her the flexibility she needed to balance a more appropriate home life – but do you know that the story did not change one bit, except to cut her commute by a significant amount.
This woman (a very dear friend of mine) and I worked very well together. We are both highly organized and efficient in administrative tasks – the main difference between us? I know how to say “no”, she does not.
Prioritizing, delegating and time management are critical skills for those of us who want to “work to live” and not the other way around. Please, excuse the cliché. There are many ways to say “no” to someone without turning down work – it’s all about communication. I respect the time and schedules of others and appreciate that in return.
Yes, I have missed things by being busy working, but I love the fulfillment I get from working and am grateful to have found a business I can mostly balance with being able to sightsee in the morning and work in the evening, or vice versa.
ktcosmos: Great answer. Paula, do you have any advice for other VAs or entrepreneurs who are considering relocating their business?
Paula: One tip is to make sure you make lists for everything. If you are not using a planner or organization system to make lists, you should be.
Get rid of all things remotely considered clutter, especially paperwork.
Don’t put the task of packing off until the last minute; otherwise you end up throwing everything on one box, rather than having the time to clearly organize each box you pack. Unpacki
Make sure to breathe if you start feeling overwhelmed, and make a new list.
_______
You’d think Paula’s friends would know that she can do what she does from anywhere, but when she decided to spend a few months abroad, she says a good friend was just aghast that she would even consider executing a large data entry project while in Athens. Paula’s response is the perfect note to end on: “That’s what having a business is all about, still working all aspects of the business no matter where.”
In case you want to reach Paula, her site, again, is www.MoneypennyAssistants.com and you can reach Paula, wherever she may be, at: Paula@moneypennyassistants.com. She’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
(Aside: Yours truly is putting this interview together from the La Posada, a lovely property created during the Fred Harvey heyday in Winslow, Arizona. Never would have expected to find treasure like this just a few hours from my home. If you love the American Southwest, route 66, trains and fabulous food, you should make trip to this area.)
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