It’s time for our first interview series post of the year for Be My Guest. If you’ve not been following me for long ‘Be My Guest’ is a series of interviews that I run on my blog with different people in business, with the intention of sharing some hints, tips and inspiration to help you in your business.
Today’s guest is Sandra Barter. Sandra is the Managing Director of Your Business Helper.
So over to Sandra… Enjoy!
I am a female entrepreneur like you, and have two businesses to keep me busy. By profession I trained and qualified as an accountant and before starting a family and setting up my own businesses, I held various Finance Director roles in the charity sector.
I too invest in my own personal development as I believe learning helps you to thrive in your business. I am highly organised, effective and efficient with a calming presence and understand the challenges that you face in your business. I understand that you want your business to succeed yet create that work life balance that you both desire and deserve.
I am a proud graduate of the Virtual Assistant Coaching and Training Company, founded by Carmen MacDougall.
Describe yourself in 3 short, fab and fun sentences
I’m a coffee loving, number crunching, organized and all round helpful lady who runs two successful businesses whilst juggling being a Mum to a 4 ½ year old. I work with charities to manage their financial problems and challenges via SDW Accounting and through Your Business Helper, I assist female entrepreneurs so that they can work ON their business rather than IN it.
What made you decide to become an entrepreneur?
The arrival of my son in May 2010! I started my accountancy career when I was 18 – first in an accountancy practice, then industry and finally the charity/ not for profit sector. I progressed steadily up to Finance Director level and absolutely loved every minute of my job. Then my biological clock started ticking very loudly (I was 39) and fortunately my 40th birthday present was my little boy 
I had always intended to return to my role albeit part time – however as this was refused, we had a rethink as a family and made the decision for me to stay at home. I had a fabulous first year or so watching my son grow and develop into the gorgeous thing he is now! My ex work collegegues remarked that I looked 10 years younger as all the stress of a FD role evaporated around me. It was not long before I got itchy feet though and wanted to “do” something. It made sense for me to use my qualifications, experience and knowledge in the charity sector to set up my own dedicated charity accountancy practice and my first steps into the world of self-employment began in 2012. More recently, I launched my own VA and Business Manager service enabling female entrepreneurs to stop doing all the things that drain their time and block their productivity and instead to focus on the real activity that takes their business forward.
Who has been your biggest inspiration in business?
I am inspired daily by all the lovely women business owners I meet online and face to face. Each one has a story to tell and to see them achieve (or be well on their way to) their business and life dream is heartwarming and makes me feel proud to be amongst them learning and sharing their journey. In terms of a “celebrity business figure”, it has to be Oprah Winfrey. She has conquered so many things in her life. Her struggles and the way she talks about them, gives me the inspiration to better myself.
What’s the best business advice you’ve ever been given?
I think it has to be to “trust your gut”. In building my businesses, some things have not quite gone to plan and I have had to invest more time and resources into achieving my desired result, so I have learnt to trust my instincts more. If something doesn’t feel right at the beginning, stop, re evaluate and walk away if necessary. You won’t regret it!
What three tips would you give someone thinking about outsourcing to a VA for the first time?
1. Look at your to do list. For each item on the list, ask yourself:
- Do I personally have to do this task or can someone else do it or be trained to do it?
- If someone else were to do the task, is their hourly rate less than mine?
- If someone else did the task, could I utilise that time on business growth activities or achieving a greater work, life balance?
If the answer is yes to all three questions – outsource it now!
If the answer is yes to two of the questions, think about outsourcing it and revisit the task in a week or so.
If the answer is yes to one or none of them, you probably want to keep the task to do yourself.
2. Ask around for recommendations for a VA. Arrange a chat / skype call / meeting with them and make sure you feel comfortable with them. The phrase Know, Like & Trust springs to mind!
3. Remember the key to success is to try a few tasks with your new VA first, then continually revisit your to do list as your confidence in outsourcing grows and your relationship with your VA develops. Don’t forget with a VA you only pay for the time you use, so the work is scalable and can be increased or decreased as your business and relationship progresses.
One of the services you offer is podcasting support, what’s that all about and why should I be doing it?
A podcast is normally an MP3 file that is placed on a web server and announced to the world via an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. Listeners can subscribe to the RSS feed (via “Podcatching” software like iTunes) and, when a new podcast is available, be automatically updated with the new content, allowing you a direct line of communication between you and that listener that has been previously unavailable online. This is a VERY important component to podcasting that makes for a potent sales and marketing tool. Listeners love podcasts as it gives them alternative and more convenient ways to consume content, for instance whilst commuting.
So what are the benefits of podcasting?
- Put yourself in front of a huge GLOBAL audience – raising your profile
- Be seen as THE expert in your field
- Enables you to be discovered – reaching a new audience
- Builds a relationship with your listeners
- Drives traffic to your website
- Content can be listened to on the go at a time convenient to your listeners – again widening your audience
- Opportunity once successfully podcasting, to earn a passive income from it
Did you know that there are 525+ million active users on iTunes and that 315 million people access iTunes from their iPhone? The podcast app is pre-installed on every iPhone now and Apple Car Play will be in all new cars from 2015 making access to and the listening of podcasts so easy.
Podcasting is taking social media by storm and it is growing in appeal for consumers. More and more people are now producing shows to establish expertise and set them apart from the competition. What I offer is support with all the technical aspects of podcasting, so all you need to do is record your voice!
What if I have no idea where to start with podcasting, what do you suggest?
Firstly I would subscribe to iTunes and listen to other shows in your field. See what your competitors are doing and what is “hot” in the iTunes charts at the moment. Do some research on where your show could fit in – which category etc. Have a think about what you could use for content for your shows – will you be interviewing guests or going solo? Who is your target audience? What topics spring to mind that your listeners would enjoy, find interesting and subscribe too? Could you re purpose content that you already have into shorter podcast shows?
How much time do I really need to spend on podcasting?
The first thing is to decide on your publishing schedule – will you have a weekly, fortnightly or monthly podcast show? Weekly is recommended, but fortnightly is fine – the main thing is that you are committed to being consistent. Obviously the first show that you produce will take more time as you will need your album art, intro and outro and choice of music for example, but once you get into the rhythm, I estimate that half an hour of your time for a 15 minute podcast would be sufficient for recording your content. You can then edit it and upload it through a podcast host onto iTunes/Stitcher or ask me to help if that’s something you wouldn’t enjoy!
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
If you’re inspired to give podcasting a go but are unsure where to start, why not download my free “20 Steps to Creating Your First Podcast Show” to point you in the right direction
If I wanted to connect and/or work with you where would I find you?
Have a look at my website or connect with me on Facebook or Twitter.
Thanks Sandra for sharing some of your insights. I’d love to know whether you have a VA or not, and if you do what you would outsource. If you don’t have a look at this great article that I came across just this week. Maybe one of your goals could be to get to the point that you outsource some work
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