Heather Wilde had considered starting her own business for a while but, with the safety net of working as an administration employee in various sectors for 23 years, it took the COVID-19 pandemic to prompt her to make the final step towards her dream.
Realising that more people were working virtually, Heather saw an opportunity and launched her virtual assistant business in January 2022.
“I provide administrative and office services for small businesses, especially service-based ones like photographers and branding specialists who work one-to-one with their clients. Business owners can contact me on an ad-hoc basis for a specific project or take out a monthly retainer.”
Heather’s services range from email inbox management through to client onboarding, CRM set-up, and chasing invoices. This is a great solution for small businesses that need a little extra help but don’t want to recruit an employee or pay agency fees.
When looking at the location for her business, Heather knew she wanted to work from home but with the option of being in a different environment occasionally. Having worked in The Business Village for six years as an employee, exploring a virtual tenancy was an obvious choice.
“Being a virtual tenant is a really affordable option without the commitment of office space. I still get access to networking events and use of the postal service via reception, plus I can work from the pods in the bistro when I want to get out of the house.”
At Heather’s first meeting with The Business Village team, they discussed the support available to her via ScaleUp 360. Amongst other things, the programme offers her tailored business advice and has already led to a new client from one of the advisors.
Aiming to eventually move into her own office space and grow a team, Heather has ambitious plans for her business.
You can contact Heather directly via email: heather@heatherwildva.co.uk
Are you eligible for ScaleUp 360 support?
If you can answer yes to the below, we want to hear from you!
You are either a pre-start entrepreneur/business or a small or medium-sized enterprise (SMEs)…
You are looking to ScaleUp from where you are today. This could be:
- Starting a business, or scaling up an existing venture
- Launching a new product or service
- Improving systems and processes
- Designing new or improved packaging
- Taking on your first employee, or increasing existing staff numbers
You are located in the Sheffield City Region which covers Barnsley, Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales, Doncaster, North East Derbyshire, Rotherham and Sheffield.
For further details visit scaleup360.co.uk or email scaleup360.shu.ac.uk
To find out more about The Business Village:
www.barnsleybic.co.uk or contact business development manager Kevin Steel on 01226 249590 / 07970 930560 or via www.barnsleybic.co.uk/staff/kevin-steel
