An emerging sector of administrative professionals is the virtual assistant. Although a virtual assistant, or VA, performs many of the same tasks as other administrative professionals, there are some major differences. One of those differences is that a VA is not an employee, but an entrepreneurial business owner performing administrative tasks for other businesses from their own office. Because they are business owners themselves, responsible for their own overhead such as taxes, equipment, insurance and training, VAs have the ability to understand the problems faced by the small businesses and entrepreneurs who contract their services.

Sherra Scott, a virtual assistant and owner of Quality Practice Management Solutions, says, “I enjoy helping other small and home based businesses with their administrative needs and bookkeeping. After spending over 17 years as an employee, I took a subcontracting opportunity that was given to me by a previous employer and decided to take it a step further. With some research, I discovered the term “virtual assistant” and a wonderful network of fellow VAs to turn to for support and ideals.”

Scott continues, “Helping other business owners with solutions for the tasks they do not have the time, space, equipment or skills to perform themselves is a great source of accomplishment for me. When my clients succeed, I succeed.”

With the VA industry receiving exposure from respected media outlets like Entrepreneur Magazine, The Today Show, Reader’s Digest and others, the industry has become more mainstream. It has carved itself into an administrative profession that continues to grow and offer more outsourcing solutions to entrepreneurs and businesses across North America and the rest of the world.

So, while you honor administrative professionals on April 23, don’t forget the virtual professionals.

Sherra Scott, owner and operator of Quality Practice Management Solutions, a virtual assistance company in Kershaw County, South Carolina, provides small business owners and entrepreneurs with secretarial, bookkeeping and desktop publishing services.

For more information about Quality Practice Management Solutions or the virtual assistant industry, contact Sherra Scott via e-mail at Sherra@QualityVA.com or by phone at (803) 438-8508.