Freelance Virtual PA?

[Piglet]

Does anyone have any experience of working as a freelance virtual PA? Either as a supplier or a customer?

Is there much of a market or is the market saturated currently?

[Silver]

My sister set up business doing exactly this but I know that she struggled to get work.

http://www.virtuallyhired.co.uk/

I think you'd need someone you knew as a good client to start off with.

[Piglet]

Thanks Silver, any one else with any info?

[Truckosaurus]

I suspect the main issue would be that you would be competing with people in India (etc) offering similar services for much less money.

See the extensive chuntering on http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/outsourcing-l... for examples.

[niva441]

A friend of mine tried it for a bit (she did suggest she could sort my life out!). I'm seeing her this weekend and find out why she didn't persue it.

[Engineer1]

Now maynot be a good time to start companies are still cutting staff or combining roles, I was contacted a couple of days ago about contracting at a company, within 1/2 an hour of hearing my rates which weren't unreasonable (would have been £10K for 6 months CAD work) decided to move an employee over to cover the role.

[Original Poster]

Engineer1 said:

Now maynot be a good time to start companies are still cutting staff or combining roles, I was contacted a couple of days ago about contracting at a company, within 1/2 an hour of hearing my rates which weren't unreasonable (would have been £10K for 6 months CAD work) decided to move an employee over to cover the role.

The engineering market is still down, however plenty of markets are very much on the up.

[escargot]

Original Poster said:

The engineering market is still down

That's a very broad and sweeping (and totally incorrect) comment, Chris.