SHAPING A BRAND

THE LIFE OF A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR MAY APPEAR TO BE ONE THING ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT AS EMILY MILLER FINDS OUT FROM DIRECTOR JOANNE PETERS THE CHALLENGES MAY BE TOUGH, BUT THEY ARE KEY DRIVERS FOR UNDERSTANDING HER CLIENT’S NEEDS, AFFILIATING HERSELF WITH LIKE-MINDED BUSINESSES AND SHAPING HER OWN BRAND

Having met director Joanne Peters a number of times over the last few years, the impression this writer has of her is someone who is absolutely relatable, instantly likeable and frankly totally unflappable.

Of course, as a virtual administrative hub, organisation keeping it calm and organised is kind of part of the job description, but anyone who runs their own business knows that there are moments where the stress mounts and the path seems unclear.

We all know though that this ‘unflappable’ look I speak of isn’t always the whole picture, but according to Jo herself this look is real, it’s just born from experience.

She said: “I think it comes down to the experiences I have and cultivating enough selfbelief to know that I can handle it. I have been through enough experiences in both business and my personal life to know how to react to the pressures every businessperson has.

“I wasn’t always so at ease with running my own business, my confidence has grown from dealing with high pressured situations both in my career prior to setting up my own business working for large companies and juggling personal life changes too.”

These experiences though are helpful when relating to her clients, she knows that when things get highly pressured and stressful for clients, they need her company’s support to even things out again, to take off some of that pressure. “We have grown from a virtual assistant company to a virtual administrative hub and in that time, I have grown too as a business owner, I have had to in order to meet the needs of our clients.”

When I ask how she responds, “I have learnt how to thrive where my challenges are. When you have your own business, you are all departments to all people, and you have personal life in the mix too.

“I have a business coach myself who guides me on these things. I recognise that in order to be all the departments to all people I need to have guidance on that. I think it’s really important for any business owner to take on guidance outside of their personal circle, to use the experiences of others to grow but also to work with businesses and networks who align with your vision for your own business to keep motivating you to push yourself and your business forward.”

The growth of her company has come at a ripe time for demand. As the global pandemic shifted the emphasis to working remotely and the results for so many businesses being that working remotely could be a hugely positive and very possible thing for supporting their business.

“Since our inception we have worked remotely for our clients, the pandemic shifted the general impression of what that looks like for businesses out there. We have experienced an increased demand for our services and then met that demand with further remote administrative services. The trust has grown in the whole process of remote services for the wider business community.”

Since JSP Virtual’s part time beginnings in 2018 the company has grown from offering assistance to a small number of companies to becoming a full administrative hub with PA services, reception services, bookkeeping and being ‘Xero Certified’. The growing team has meant that the hub can offer a wide range of expertise, and crucially gives Jo support herself.

“My team are so supportive, and capable of handling things, it’s a relief to know that I have a team of people to help me be part of all the departments! Really that’s been my other learning curve – to delegate and trust those that I delegate to. You just can’t be all the things to all the people all of the time.”

From starting her own business in her home office to expanding to becoming the admin hub for a fast-growing number of businesses in the UK, Jo was ahead of the curve and tells me there’s no stopping her now: “We knew that remote working was the way before the pandemic hit. Our reach and services are growing all the time – the addition of new services has always been as a response to client need, spotting the pain points and providing a cost effective and efficient solution – that’s how I spot our next addition, by understanding what our client needs often before they do.”

Words by Kerry Smith