Todays Mompreneur

As the first interview here on Today’s Mompreneur, I wanted someone that I currently follow on the ‘net. I wanted the first interview to be a woman I knew was stronger than she let on and someone I knew will continue to succeed in her endeavors. She’s a great woman, she’s a single mom, and she has worked very hard to build up her business. More than anything, I think she’s an inspiration. Starting a business takes risk, but those who do take that chance always exhibit a strong will to succeed.

April Jones, also known as AprilTara on Twitter, is a mompreneur as well as a mommy blogger. Through everything she does, I really want to put the spotlight on her VA business, Advantage Virtual Assistant. She always wanted to start her business, but it was the loss of her day job that made it easier for her to really dig in and work on it. Things have been rough, but April has seen her way through.

She’s a truly deserving mompreneur.

Why did you decide to start your VA business?

I had wanted to work from home for a long time but just didn’t know how to go about finding a job that would allow me to do that, especially since I wanted to stay in the legal field. I didn’t think there was a way to work with attorneys and also work at home although I did always have the idea in the back of my mind of being a research paralegal. Finally about a year ago, I managed to find a job working from home doing transcription. Even though I liked working from home, I knew I wanted to do more than just transcription. So I did some research and saw this phrase “virtual assistant” popping up everywhere. Once I found out what a VA does, it just sounded like a good fit for me. I could work at home, own my own business, set my own hours, and continue to do what I enjoyed doing.

How long has it been since you launched your business?

I spent about 6 months gathering bits and pieces of info and finally in June 2008 I decided to just go for it. I registered my domain name and gave myself 30 days to start my business and on July 1st, I officially opened for business.

What kind of virtual assistance do you specialize in? Did you go to college or take any special courses that pertain to this industry?

I started out specializing as a Virtual Legal Assistant and I even started an organization called NAVLA, the National Association of Virtual Legal Assistants. My legal support services come from both my education in Paralegal Studies and experience as a Legal Assistant. But my business has evolved and I’ve added another set of services as a Social Media VA which means that I assist my clients with Web 2.0 services such as creating or modifying their website, installing and customizing WordPress, and writing and submitting press releases and articles for them. Those skills are all self-taught. I started out doing things like graphics, HTML & CSS, and writing as hobbies for myself. That eventually led to doing them for friends which then led to offering these services to clients.

What was it like trying to balance your business and home life as you were getting started? How has it changed since then? Have you been able to maintain a positive balance between work and home?

It was hard at first. I was working my transcription job during the day and trying to get my VA business started at night. There were many days where, between the two, I was putting in 16 hour days and getting about 5 hours of sleep. I was exhausted and wondered what I had gotten myself into. But I kept plugging away at it, reminding myself that all of this work would pay off eventually. About a month and a half after I started my VA business, I lost the transcription job. Financially, its been devastating because I relied on that income to pay my bills. But emotionally it was a blessing in disguise. I honestly didn’t like my job and felt like it was holding me back when it came to building my VA business. So that’s been the biggest change. Balancing home and work is a challenge but most of the time I manage pretty well. Things come up, kids get sick, there are appointments to go to so sometimes it takes some juggling and rearranging to get everything done. And there’s still the assumption that people in your life will make that because you work at home, you’re just sitting around all day doing nothing and you should be able to just drop everything and come do something for them or sit and chat on the phone. But in spite of all that, the truth is that I still have more flexibility and more options owning my VA business than I did in the corporate world.

What do you enjoy the most about working out of your home? What do you enjoy the least?

The two greatest things about working from home are the flexibility and doing what I love. There’s something fulfilling about not only enjoying your work but being able to choose what kind of work you do. The only thing I really miss about working out of the office is the financial stability. When I worked for someone else, I knew how often I would get paid, I knew how much it would be and I had health insurance, 401k plans, etc. I’m a single mom so my income is the only income which can put a lot of pressure on me. In my VA business, my income fluctuates and it can be stressful not knowing where the next “paycheck” is coming from and if it will be enough. But hopefully that’s just temporary and my vision is that I will eventually be in a place where I can rely on the income from my business the same way I relied on the consistency of a paycheck.

What are some of the traits a person should acquire if they’d like to jump into the VA business? Is there any education or experience you recommend they have before they take that chance?

Discipline, drive and a positive attitude will take you far. When you’re working at home and you are your own boss, its tempting to slack off so you have to rely on yourself for direction and the motivation to do a good job has to come from within. Contrary to what some websites might tell you, being a VA is not one of those “get rich quick” schemes. Its a business, and like any other business it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. As far as education and experience, most VAs do have a background in some sort of administrative capacity and those are the skills upon which they build their business. Although there are a few colleges and online organizations offering VA training programs, I think this industry is one where hands on experience is more helpful. If you don’t have that kind of experience, you may be able to find an experienced VA who would be willing to take you on as an intern. If you do plan to attend college, I would recommend a few courses in business administration and marketing. While experience will give you the skills you need to do the VA work, those classes will help you when it comes to actually keeping your business running.

No two mompreneurs are the same. We may fit within the definition, but we all come from different walks of life. In your own words, how does this term describe you?

Even though the term “mompreneur” was coined to describe a mom who starts her own business, we all have different skills, different interests and different reasons for being a mompreneur. For me, the two most important things in my life are my kids and my business and those are tied in to one another. My kids are one of the main reasons I started my own work-at-home business. So using a term that combines these two seems very fitting.

Photo Credit: Guillermo Esteves

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