Virtual Assistant Request For Proposal

Little Stream Software has reached a point where I could use a virtual assistant to help me take care of running the business. I’ve never worked with a VA before but I know several people who have had a lot of success with them.

About Me

I’m a software developer who builds web applications for businesses using Redmine.

What I do

• Software consulting, building web applications
• Maintain and support Open Source software and their communities

Why I need a VA

My business has been growing by leaps and bounds and it’s hitting that point where I’m so busy running on my business that I don’t have time to steer it into the long term direction I want to head in.

What I would like to delegate

Here’s a list of things that I’ve done over the past few weeks that I could delegate. It’s not comprehensive in any way, but merely an idea of some common tasks:

• Vendor research (e.g. credit card merchant accounts, web hosting providers)
• Calendar scheduling with clients
• Transferring Paypal money to checking
• Creating contracts and other documents from templates
• Sending contracts to clients and reviewing the returned copies
• Transcribe notes (e.g. from phone calls)
• Research banking accounts
• Researching places to promote my products
• Researching the best prices and reviews on purchases I need to make (e.g. new laptop, phone service)
• Trip planning
• Social media monitoring
• Classifying sales leads
• CRM data cleanup

Hours needed

I don’t know how many hours I need. I’d like to start off small and increase the number of hours once I get more experience and comfort delegating. I think 6-10 hours a month would be a good starting point.

Time Zones

I’m flexible with time zones, I’m in Oregon (USA) on Pacific time. Ideally, I’d like to have a window of few hours each day in order to have discussions.

Business Goals

My business goals over the next 6 months are to:

• continue to consult with clients, helping them to implement web applications
• launch a few software products that will help my existing clients as well as to attract new clients
• start a few large marketing and promotion ideas that I have in the works

Computer and software requirements

I use Linux and a Mac. Most of the help I need can be done on any computer with a web browser.

Some software I use:

• Redmine – project management, task tracking, time logging, invoicing
• LessAccounting – accounting
• Open Office – documents
• Google Docs – documents
• Mailchimp – email mailing lists

The most important things to know about me

I live by frequent communication. I don’t want to micro-manage and love to give people freedom to run with ideas, as long as I’m able to see progress. A pet peeve of mine is to not respond to email timely, I try to respond to all client email within 2 business days.

Responding

To respond, send me an email. You can use my contact form or the email address on that page.