Suzanne Cox and Kristy Roff are celebrating the first birthday of their Get Ahead VA Berkshire and North Hampshire franchise.
Kristy and Suzanne met at a mother and baby group nearly 12 years ago and have been friends ever since, supporting and coaching each other in their careers, too.
Suzanne had been working as an independent virtual assistant, while Kristy was in the corporate world of IT. Both felt they had more to offer and they decided to team up. When they saw that the Get Ahead VA Reading franchise was available on Facebook, they felt it was too good an opportunity to miss.
The first thing they did was to expand the operational area, and they quickly renamed the franchise Get Ahead VA Berkshire and North Hampshire. They admit it’s a bit of a mouthful, but it has helped them widen their catchment, connecting with businesses in Newbury, Berkshire and Basingstoke, Hampshire, as well as Reading.
The next step was supposed to be developing marketing strategies and creating templates for contracts, but the needs of local businesses didn’t give them time!
Suzanne and Kristy came back from their first networking meeting with two proposals to write, proving there was a real need for virtual assistant services in their
area.
Suzanne transferred some of her existing clients over to Get Ahead VA, and Kristy’s former employer was keen to continue using her expertise. The two friends found themselves with a solid base of clients.
After a strong start, they have stayed busy, despite the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 over the past few months. Their clients range from business growth agencies to holistic healers, and everything in between. An outlook that all their clients share, unsurprisingly, is trust in the outsourcing process. They all know that outsourcing gives them time to focus on their core business.
For Kristy and Suzanne, offering a variety of flexible services is crucial. Fortunately, the nationwide Get Ahead VAs were available from the outset, to bolster their evolving team.
Their flagship project to date was when Suzanne was asked to deliver all the elements of an international conference in Hong Kong. She completed it in style, despite political riots forcing a last-minute venue change. An amazing example of determination to succeed and a very happy client.
Looking ahead, Kristy and Suzanne are continuing to grow their business further, adding more VAs to their team to ensure they can address as many businesses needs as Berkshire and North Hampshire require.
Rebecca Newenham, founder and director of Get Ahead VA, said: “I am so proud of everything that Kristy and Suzanne have achieved over the past 12 months.
“From the first moment they got in touch about the franchise, I could see how well they worked together and their enthusiasm for a joint business venture. That enthusiasm has translated into real results for their franchise and it has been a joy to watch their business grow.
“I look forward to continuing to support them over the coming months to help them take their business to the next level.”
Investing in a Get Ahead VA franchise has been a great career move for Suzanne and Kristy. Running a franchise between two people has proved very successful. They are proud to report they are as good friends now as they were a year ago.