DARLINGTON HAS THE OUTSTANDING VA OF THE YEAR 2010

15th June 2010

A virtual assistant (VA) from Darlington is celebrating a prestigious national award win.

Sara Gill who runs Officebird based in the Imperial Business Centre on Grange Road, was crowned Outstanding VA of the Year at the 2010 National VA Conference and Awards in Birmingham on Saturday.

Judges felt that Sara outshined the 50 other VAs who entered the competition due to her incredible passion and spirit to really go that extra mile to provide a hugely valuable service to not just businesses in Darlington, but also the community. Carmen Macdougall, president of the VA Conference and renowned VA Coach and trainer, said:

“We really felt that Sara has a truly outstanding business and has gone above and beyond to ensure that her clients receive the best service. She is certainly a very credible and professional business woman that I would never hesitate to recommend.”

Sara said: “I’m absolutely amazed to have won and I didn’t think in a million years this would ever happen to me. The judges’ comments were fabulous and I couldn’t stop shaking when I went up to collect the award and nearly cried with joy – I certainly hadn’t prepared a speech!

“Its been a really tough year for me with some very trying personal circumstances, so to win this award has made me realise what I have already achieved and has inspired me to make office bird even more of a success.”

Officebird offers a complete administration service, including providing mailing addresses, meeting rooms and call answering services, all tailored to suit clients’ individual needs. With 80 regular clients, some of which international, and 20-30 ad-hoc clients, it has been steadily growing since it launched in March 2008 and now employs a full-time apprentice, Hannah Burnside. Sara puts this down to the fact the company went through a process of Service Design. Sara explained:

“Many products have product designers, so I used a service designer to help me to develop a service completely tailored to the end user. I believe this makes a real difference to customer satisfaction and is the reason that I get recommended so often.”

Sara, who spent six years in the army and juggles her hectic work schedule around her six year old daughter, was also runner-up for the Best Customer Service Award. Carmen added:

“We are hoping that Sara will be involved in the judging next year when we hold the National VA Conference and Awards 2011.”

For more information about Sara’s award winning company, please go to www.officebird.co.uk or for more information about the National VA Conference and awards, please go to www.vaconference.co.uk or email Carmen@vact.co.uk.

ENDS

Picture reference: Office Bird 3.jpg
Picture caption: Sara Gill – Outstanding VA of the Year

For more information, please contact Charlotte Nichols on 07813579164 or email charlotte@harveyandhugo.com

VAT Change

Have you remember to change the VAT rate on your invoice templates, spreadsheets and accenting software?
The VAT rate reverted to 17.5% on the 1st January this year but have you implemented the change?
Make sure everyone in your company is aware of the increase to ensure quotes etc are made with correct figures.
If you collect deposits make you system can handle the two rates as the 15% rate will apply to any deposits collected before 1st January and the 17.5% rate will apply to the balance.
Haven't got time to change all your templates etc?
I know an officebird that can help!

Tax Free Staff Chirstmas Parties

Christmas is an expensive time, but staff parties are potentially tax-free. HMRC’s festive gift is limited though, as companies are allowed an annual tax-free amount of up to £150 per member of staff. This total not only covers food and drink, but also accommodation an...d transport home if the employer pays for these. The number of guests can also include non-employees such as partners. On top of this, the employer will also get tax relief on what it all costs. As many firms are planning a frugal Christmas party this year, more staff parties could end up being tax-free. The rules apply to any annual party or similar function, which must be open to staff generally or to workers at a particular location. The tax-free limit applies for a tax year, so if the employer puts on a summer party and a Christmas dinner together costing less than £150 a head, both will be tax-free for employees. The gift from HMRC is available to businesses of all sizes. But one penny over this limit and the full amount spent will become liable to income tax and National Insurance (NI) for both staff and employer alike. It is taxed as a benefit which could bring a nasty chill in the New Year Anita Monteith of the ICAEW Tax Faculty, explains: “Businesses should make the most of the tax free amount and not just resort to putting up some cheap tinsel in the office and offering plates of pretzels and soft drinks.” “It has been a tough time for many businesses and staff are probably in need of having their spirits raised. Having a Christmas party is a real morale-booster and rewards the hard work that staff put in over the year. It is a good way for businesses to show appreciation for their employees’ contributions and encourages their commitment and ongoing efforts.” For those bosses who are truly entering the festive spirit, they should remember that gifts for employees will be taxable. Cash presents, such as Christmas bonuses or vouchers redeemable for cash will have to have tax and National Insurance (NI) contributions paid through the PAYE system. But bosses who prefer to give staff a poinsettia or high street gift voucher can pick up the tax bill on behalf of their employees by setting up a PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) with their tax office

Small Business

Whilst researching the net I’ve come across some interesting starchiest on small business in the UK. These stats taken from the federation of small business the website is www.fbs.org.uk . Here are a few I found the most interesting.
• There are 4.8 million small businesses in the UK (up from 4 million in 2003)
• 3 million businesses are sole proprietors
• 5 per cent employ less than 5 people
• Over 500,000 people start up their own business every year
• 33 per cent of all UK enterprises are in London and the South-East
• Small and medium-sized firms employ more than 59.4 per cent of the private sector workforce

Pre Budget Report

Most of you are probably aware of the things announced in the pre-budget report. But for those that aren’t, here's some of the key points that will affect small businesses.
1. VAT will return to 17.5% on January 1st
2. Employer, employee, and self- employed rates of NI to increase by 0.5% from April 2011.
3. Starting point from which NI in payable to be raised to £20,000.
4. Enterprise finance guarantee scheme to be extended for a further 12 months.
5. Increase in corporation tax far smaller compares to be deferred.
For full details please visit www.thetelegraph.co.uk

Unique Selling Points

OK, so I have been looking into this a bit lately as it is something that gets talked about a lot on forums. USP, or unique selling point was a phrase first coined in the 1940s and put forward as a theory for why some advertising campaigns were so successful.

Now I know what a USP is and I know what mine are, don't I? The most obvious USP I have is that I am office based in the town centre and people can call in and enjoy a coffee whilst I do work for them. No other VA in the area does this. I am therefore unique. Yay! Sorted.

Hmmm...... during my research though I realised that perhaps this isn't good enough. From Wiki:

Quote:
In Reality in Advertising (Reeves 1961, pp. 46–48) Reeves laments that the U.S.P. is widely misunderstood and gives a precise definition in three parts:

Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: "Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit."

The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique—either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.

The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e., pull over new customers to your product.

So my USP stacks up to number two but doesn't really hit the mark with one and three.

I'm going to be looking at all my marketing material to try and tick all three options, but I think when I do this I am going to have to come up with some more USPs.

So how do you find a USP? If I'm honest mine just kind of found me, thats why I think I have to look into them a bit more carefully, in case they aren't the USPs I want.

I read a great blog the other day about finding your USP: http://www.copyblogger.com/usp/

Quote:
Remember that information consumers don’t go to just one blog, subscribe to just one site, or buy just one product. They want anything and everything about the topic they love.

That means your USP doesn’t have to beat everyone else out. It just has to play nicely with the other offerings in your group.

The Crossroads USP
To create a crossroads USP, take two seemingly unrelated ideas and bring them together.

The hit movie Speed was famously pitched as “Die Hard on a bus.” Clueless is Jane Austen’s Emma set in 1995 Beverly Hills.

You can create a crossroads USP by taking something well-known and presenting it to a new audience. Maybe you’ll offer Yoga for Stockbrokers, or Business Blogging for Veterinarians.

VAT Rate Reduction

From 01st Dec 08 the standard rate of VAT will reduce to 15% in order to boost consumer spending. It will revert back to 17.5% on 31st Dec 09.

This is going to cause complications for VAT registered businesses as they will need to decide if they are going to pass on this reduction to their consumers and if so how. There is no need to make a change to VAT inclusive prices but you do need to record the correct rate internally.

The VAT due on all your sales must be recorded at the correct rate from 1st Dec 08. Only VAT at the standard rate has reduced and zero and reduced rate VAT remains the same.

So, if you sold something for £1175 inc VAT now (Nov) you will have collected £175 in VAT for the Chancellor. If, however, your sale was made in Dec and you charged £1175 inc VAT then you would only have collected £153.26 VAT and have made an extra £21.74 profit.

Invoices issued after 1st Dec 08 must show the new 15% for standard rated items. However, if your invoice is for something that was completely delivered before 18th Nov 08, or you were paid for the complete sale before 1st Dec 08, you should use the old rate of 17.5%.

There are specific rules to consider if your business receives stage payments for long contracts. The VAT date is the date you issue an invoice or receive a stage payment, so if the invoice is issued after 1st Dec 08 you must account for the VAT at 15%, even if the work it relates to has been carried out before this date.

For those businesses that use the flat rate scheme there will be a new flat rate for each sector. You must look up your new rate here (appendix E). You must apply the new rate from 1st Dec 08 to stay on the flat rate scheme.

If you use the cash accounting scheme you will need to be ensure systems are in place to record when the sale was made and when the invoice was issued. You need to pay over VAT of 17.5% for sales made before 1st Dec 08 even if you receive the payment on or after this date.

Please be aware that this is my interpretation of the rules regarding the reduction in the VAT Rate and I strongly advise everyone that is unsure of the rules, and how they will affect their business to seek the guidance of their accountants. Please ask your accountant to run through the VAT rules in relation to your business.

Remember this VAT change is only temporary and everything will revert to 'normal' on 1st Jan 10.

If you need help changing your systems or recording your invoices correctly give me a shout!