Initially Ms Tiara represented a bank subsidiary that had its main headquarters back in London and I was representing a joint venture custodian bank having its headquarters in Canada. At that moment I didn’t know anything about GBS companies and their field of expertise but everything changed one day when I went to a Job Fair organized by Jobstreet.com at Mid Valley.

Starting with this new company, personally I had no idea about their products what so ever and I along with other colleagues had to attend a series of training courses. This entire process lasted for seven months. Seven months of berguru (knowledge transfer session) until we were finally able to really understand the way this business was working.

The most important idea in this case is that you don’t need to know every single thing but rather to have the boldness and willingness to learn and develop yourself as much as possible!

These companies we’re talking about are more than willing to provide the necessary assistance and training for your development and they also have another feature which facilitated learning and development: ‘a cocktail of nationalities’. This idea and the variety of people (From Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Canada) made learning of new principles and culture a walk in the park.

I remember like it was yesterday, our first requests from foreign countries and how we had no idea what those people were saying. So we had no choice but to bring to light our secret weapon which would solve all our problems: Mr. Google Translate! Even if sounds like a cliché these days and wasn’t really so sophisticated at that time, we took advantage of this possibility and I must say that at the end of the day it was very helpful, it did its job.

After some time of enjoyment together with my colleagues of course, after all those Xbox and pool hours and after so many unlimited free drinks it came the moment when I was called by senior management. I didn’t know what to expect exactly and I was hit by this one:

Congrats for your promotion!

And it was huge regarding the fact that I was the last of all in terms of experience… but I had the skill! The thrill was over soon and I realized the complexity of the situation. It wasn’t only about me anymore, now on I had to take care of the entire team, take care of people, production procedures and be the main example above everything; this huge responsibility was on my shoulders and if anything went wrong I had to answer the tough questions!

Over the past decade many companies, professionals, executives, individuals & organizations have a used a cost effective business solution known as the Virtual Assistant, to streamline their business. They have benefited from hiring their services, which can save you time and money in your business or projects. Many companies are seeking cost-effective support for their business in their “own backyard” instead of venturing overseas for outsourcing services or business support services.

By working with a Virtual Assistant, a business can save by: lowering overhead costs, eliminate federal obligations of an employee, you only pay for the services that you request, eliminate the cost of finding/training an employee, they can help you to reduce your work hours, help you to improve or reduce administrative tasks, provide assistance at half of the cost of employees. Some of them offer discounts on their services, you don’t have to have a business or employees to use their services or some of them can work along with your current staff.

They provide professional business services in a variety of areas: office / business management or support, business consulting, web design, secretarial services, tax processing, accounting, personal assistant, payroll, public relations, bookkeeping, computer services, real estate, typing services, research & analysis, marketing, project management, transcription services, business management, art dealer/ art design, web analytics, computer specialist, seo, data management, email management and many other specialized business services. All business services don’t have to be outsourced to them & they can assist with portions of your business needs or one time projects.

Their business experience & backgrounds in business are endless. They work via the Internet, phone, email, instant messenger, fax, courier services and postal mail. There are no geographic restrictions on some of their services; which can be offered worldwide & some of them offer one single service or multiple services. When a business is created and growing, administrative tasks can increase. This can equal to less time that a business has to generate new revenue or focus on other aspects of business. Wouldn’t it be great to have an assistant to call only when you need them? That’s what a Virtual Assistant can do.

CNN.com states “Those in the industry say it is on the rise because it is cost-effective. The employer does not pay for extra office space, furniture, equipment or software. There is no additional cost for training, pensions or work insurance.” A Virtual Assistant does not become a part of your company, they are self-employed business owners. Hiring one can cut back on employees wasting time at work. According to a survey from Salary.com and America Online states “employees are wasting about twice as much time as their employers expect.” Salary.com stated ” employers spend $759 billion on salaries for which real work was expected, but not actually performed.”

Outsourcing is better for the environment, reduces commuting back and forth to work, there is less worry about late employees, employees wasting time on the job and costing a company extra money. A Virtual Assistant is a professional who is 100% focused on your business needs and only bills for the hours worked and/ or tasks completed and they can be a good business solution for outsourcing and helping to cut back on additional business expenses.

While more businesses move their marketing and communications to the internet, Virtual Assistants become a more obvious choice for business or staffing problems. You can hire them faster than an employee and pick which hours, days or services that you need their assistance on. For less than the cost of temps or employees, you can take advantage of professional assistance with a variety of skills with the click of a mouse.

A business services franchise is a good option for many who are willing to serve the corporate world. A business franchisee needs an investment in terms of fees, real estate, marketing, merchandise etc. there are both small business services as well as high cost businesses in the category. Here we discuss some prominent business services franchises.

Financial services: The financial services space is rapidly growing in India. It is one of the most significant business services in India. According to the latest Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) data, financial services, banking, insurance and real estate sectors have risen by 7.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2009-10. This displays the success of the financial service industry. With the over-all increase in the finance services seekers, finance service providers took to franchise route, thus creating a great scope for franchise opportunity.

Till a few years back, the franchising which was an unknown concept in this field has gained lot of momentum in the present times. Before discussing the factors responsible for this development, let us first get familiar with the term ‘Financial services franchisors’.

Financial services refer to services provided by the financial service companies. The finance service companies encompass a broad range of organisations that deal with money management. A few of these organisations include banks, insurance companies, consumer finance companies, stock brokerages, investment funds etc. These companies offer various services such as asset protection, investment and savings, retirement plans, customer-orientated service, besides offering personal loans, commercial loans, mortgage loans, and education loans for the aspiring students. Financial service providers are on the rise as franchising as a mode of expansion is being opted by this industry. Manish Shah, Associate Director- Business Strategy, Equity & Product Development, Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd shared, “The belief in entrepreneurship and the drive it brings to the business, made Motilal Oswal take the franchise route. Franchising brings more scalability to the business and the business becomes entrepreneur driven.”

Courier Services: Another category of business services is courier service. The companies basically work around transportation of goods from one place to another, delivery of documents, packages, and larger shipments of products. These provide services to companies and individuals who need rapid service, accountability, and tracking that regular mail does not accommodate. Courier services are more reliable and dependable as compared to ordinary postal services due to less time consumed and delivery guarantee. However, with the introduction of modern gadgets and faster modes of transportation this system has also progressed a lot. Moreover, franchising is also one of the main stimulants of its popularity and profitability.

Franchising in this sector has grown with more and more players taking the franchise model for reaching out to far flung areas in the vast nation. Courier service companies are required to deliever important mails and parcels to any part, whether city, town or village in the country. Therefore, franchising can be the best mode for guaranteed delivery of the items. According to DS Patel, Channel Head, DTDC, “Franchising is an essential and most effective way of expanding the network. Opening our own company owned courier offices is very expensive and time consuming. However a franchise outlet is economically beneficial to the company.” As informed by Praveen Govindraj, Assistant General Manager, First Flight Courier, “Franchising definitely helps in directly reaching to far-fling areas for delivering items due to our local partners in those areas.” He further added, “Franchising can be a win-win situation for both the franchisor and franchisees as both benefit from it. The local partner (franchisee) has a much better idea of a particular locality than the main company which is based out of Delhi or Mumbai. Delivering parcels to small towns and cities becomes difficult and also take a lot of time if it is done by the company in metropolitan areas. At such times the local franchisee can be of great help.” This can be the major reason for courier companies to opt for the franchise route. Moreover, having local partners all over the nation, who deliver all items on time, also increases the credibility and profit making of the parent company.

The typical feature of the courier service franchise includes doorstep booking, customer convenience and security of each and every consignment that has been entrusted to it. Jaguar Couriers Franchise, Blazeflash Couriers, etc are some of the franchising companies under this category.

Cartridge refilling: Cartridge refilling forms another business service category. In the modern age of I.T, there is a constantly growing need of cartridgere-fills. Foraying in the cartridge refill industry through franchise route is a promising venture. A cartridge refill franchise offers to its user’s quality refills at a fractional cost. Current industry trends and future projections suggest that printer cartridges demand will continue to multiply at a very fast pace as computers and low cost printers swamp the market. Cartridge World, Cartridge Café, Cartridge Xpress are some of the good low-cost franchise options.

With a bookkeeping business, you’ll have no shortage of potential clients as so many people dislike bookkeeping and are willing to hire a professional to take care of it for them.

Better yet, bookkeeping services are always in demand, even in a shaky economy, as businesses require additional help managing their finances and evaluating budgets.

Successful bookkeepers need to be reliable, precise, thorough and willing to review their work for accuracy. Your clients will depend on you and so you’ll need to be willing to commit yourself to fulfilling your obligations, and in taking great care to handle their business and personal bookkeeping with the upmost professionalism.

In order to set up a home based bookkeeping service, you will need to be experienced in accounting and utilizing spreadsheet software, so this business is best suited for those who have had previous experience working in financial and accounting departments for companies or employers.

If you don’t have the experience needed, you could consider taking a short-term accounting course through your local community college. You could also take a distance training course from hoe through online colleges and training facilities to gain the knowledge and experience needed to run a successful bookkeeping business.

I recommend purchasing “QuickBooks Pro” (retail $200-$240) which is the most popular accounting software on the market today and also the easiest to use, even if you have no experience bookkeeping.

The overall profits of a bookkeeping service is absolutely phenomenal as your start up costs and business operation costs are minimal once you have the software and management tools that you need. You can expect to earn anywhere between $30-$50 per hour based on the services you offer and the types of clients you accept.

In order to determine your price structure, you will want to evaluate existing bookkeeping services in your area, as well as the level of work you do, ranging from basic book keeping to extensive preparation of financial statements and business accounts.

Bookkeepers often include tax returns in their service listing each year as a way of making extra money on a seasonal basis.

A great way to get started in bookkeeping is by targeting brand new businesses. There are over 500,000 new start-ups each year within the United States alone and many of these people require help in managing and maintaining their business records, because they are new to the world of commerce!

Consider targeting these start-up businesses by offering them an overview of the services you offer, along with your business card.

If you have experience and training, you will want to highlight that on your service sheet by attaching an “Credentials” page to the pamphlet.

A home-based bookkeeping business carries a very low start up cost. In fact, you can build your business for less than $1,000, and if you already own a personal computer and accounting software, your costs are tremendously cut down even more!

In fact, all you will really need is a business registration unless you intend to do business using your own name.

Other benefits of a home-based bookkeeping business include:

– No zoning requirements
Since you will be completing your work from your home office, there is no traffic to and from your home, eliminating the need for business zoning or licensing.

– No Special Equipment Needed
Other than a personal PC, accounting software and a fax machine, there is little involved or needed in starting a home based bookkeeping service.

– Work On The Side
Many bookkeepers start their business to supplement their existing income, and since you can set your own hours and take on only a few clients, this business is something you can do while keeping your full time job.