Growing a business, especially online, requires you to wear many hats. If you focus on all the little things, you can lose focus and become distracted.
Some of those tasks include administrative services like appointment scheduling, calendar management, editing, proofing, custom followup…yep, the list goes on and on.
Then there are other projects to manage. Things like ghost writing — including blog posts, business letters, e-newsletters etc. — creating spreadsheets, forms, documents and more.
Depending upon your business, you might also need desktop publishing services like creation of brochures, flyers, postcards, surveys and even power point presentations.
Well, you get the idea.
Now, you can outsource all these services on a one off basis, paying for the projects you need when you need them.
Of course, this still requires you to contact virtual assistants in various specialty areas and assign each project yourself giving individual instructions to each new VA you work with.
Or you could find a virtual partner, one who can handle all these services for you, providing a sounding board and a manager for all these different tasks at once. That’s where Suzie Poirier comes in.
Building a Business in Stages
Like many entrepreneurs, Poirier didn’t arrive at her current business model all at once. In fact, the services she provides have evolved over time and been greatly influenced by the expansion of online business over the past decade.
Her business started out as Allegiance Concierge & Errand Services (now Ace Concierge) in 2002 and, as the name implies, she provided personal concierge service, running errands and taking care of many other kinds of personal business for individual clients and corporate executives.
He interest in starting the business emerged in a strange twist having to do with a very personal trial. She had lost both her mother and sister to breast cancer and — when considering which direction to take her professional life — decided giving and doing for others should be her focus.
Research Leads to Business Model
Seeking a business model that fit her goals led, as it often does, to research. The end result was a business model based on providing a wide variety of personal assistance.
But what Poirier hadn’t seen coming was the massive expansion of business online providing options for virtual assitance that simply had not been there before.
Suddenly, Poirier could suddenly serve clients not only in her immediate area but across the U.S. and in Canada and Australia.
The business soon became 100 percent digital, but Poirier provided her services with a slight twist. As an alternative to the explosion of freelancers now on the Web who provide specialized and specific services, Poirier acts as more of an online manager for her clients.
She provides a sounding board, helps with brainstorming and in many ways acts as a virtual partner in her clients’ businesses on a more holistic approach.
Building Better Community
So what brought her to the BizSugar community? As in so many other aspects of her business and professional life, it was looking for a better way to serve her clients, of course.
Poirier discovered the community as a great place to gain visibility for her clients and to build their brand. Then she discovered the benefits and started to use the community for her own business as well.
“I have been using BizSugar for several months for both myself and my clients,” she says. “It not only helps us to gain additional visibility and market share, but BizSugar is a wealth of tremendous information, centrally located on one simple platform. The knowledge, tools, conversations and connections are extremely valuable for any business.”
Would you like to be a Contributor of the Week like Poirier? It’s easy. Just sign up for a free BizSugar account and start contributing with small business news and information. You’ll also want to vote and comment on the submissions of others to get the full benefit this community has to offer.
And be sure to “like” our BizSugar Facebook page as well. We can’t wait to meet you in our community!