Entrepreneur and wealth strategist Barbara Turley had lived the corporate life and knew all too well about the constant pressure, long hours and corporate rules and regulations. So she left – and launched her own home based financial strategy business. Just over two years later, Barbara now runs three businesses from home. Her latest venture, Virtual Angel Hub was launched in January 2015 and is forecast to have 100 people by December 2016.
“Virtual Angel Hub is a business that recruits, trains and manages virtual assistants from the Philippines for businesses all over the world,” explains Barbara. “We mainly focus on social media management, digital marketing implementation and systems automation. Our mission is to free up the time of busy entrepreneurs so they can focus on growing their businesses, instead of getting caught up in the day to day running of the business. In the space of just six weeks, the business exploded – I have a team of 40 virtual assistants based in the Philippines and I’m hiring 8-10 new staff every month. We’re forecast to have 100 by the year.”
As an entrepreneur working from home, printing is an integral part of Barbara’s operations, so she has teamed up with HP to road test their HP OfficeJet Pro 8620 All-in-One Printer. The need for quality, cost effective printing, speed and ease is paramount when you run a business, as Barbara explains. “When I’m running workshops and handing out activity books I have created, the quality of the print is reflective of my business – it has to look professional, but I also have to keep costs to a minimum.”
“Technology and the online world is the key reason I can run the business and work from home. While our team is based all over the Philippines and our clients all over the world, we are all connected online – but I would be lost without my home printer!” explains Barbara.
“Before I had a printer, I was racing down the local printing shop and waiting in long queues – it was time consuming and because I needed to print colour, it was very expensive. I only held two workshops before I decided to get a printer – it just wasn’t a smart way to run my business.”
“I also print all of my contracts – because contracts are a legal document and so confidential, we need to a hard copy for both our business and the client.”
So what does a typical day look like for Barbara? In partnership with HP OfficeJet Pro, we bring you a sneak peak…
6am to 8:30am: Wake-up
“My husband and I always spend our mornings together – it’s our time. We go for breakfast or a coffee to get and just enjoy that quality time together. We need to get out of the house for the day – you have to have coping mechanisms when you work from home, otherwise you become insular and can spend all day not leaving the house.
“After that, I go for a brisk walk on my own. I like a slow morning that is about me – not work. I don’t check emails or do anything that is work related. I have to make rules for myself – set boundaries between work and personal time.”
9am to 10am: Start Work
“I have a separate room in the house that is my office. If you can have a separate place where you can close the door and focus, that is a great start because it creates a physical ‘work space’ boundary.
“I work in intense bursts. I check emails first, what client orders have come in then the meetings start. Our Philippines team is usually online about 10am AEST. We have Skype chat forums and meetings until about 1pm.”
1pm: Lunch
“I usually break for between one hour and 90 minutes for lunch. I like to have lunch then rest for a while! I work so intensely for bursts of time that I really need a rest or ‘zone out’ time afterwards. You don’t get that opportunity when you work in the corporate world, but I do get to rest working from home! Sometimes I’ll go out to have a coffee at the local café, just to get out in the fresh air and away from home.”
3pm to 6pm: Work
“I work intensely. I’ll have Skype calls with new clients, check in with the teams and our helpdesk, and, because I’m a strategist, I’ll develop strategies for the team to get client requests done. My virtual assistants also undergo a heavy training program, which involves two weeks of live training calls. During these periods I often work until 7-8pm.
“When I’m printing, I need to print fast! I love that I can print directly from my mobile phone to the HP OfficeJet Pro 8620 All-in-One while having a Skype call with my team.”
7:30pm: Dinner
“My husband is a great cook, so he usually cooks or we will cook together, then have dinner.”
9pm to 10pm: Wind Down
“We are early to bed and early to rise people so usually after dinner we like to wind down with a little TV or just a chat about our plans for the future. We get a great kick out of hatching plans together so this time of the evening can be a great inspiration kick before bed!”
10.30pm: Bedtime
“I’d like to say I read in bed but I get about 2 pages out and then fall asleep!”
About the HP OfficeJet Pro 8620 All-in-One
Showcase your business, and make a professional impression with high-quality colour printing for up to 50% lower cost per page than lasers. The HP OfficeJet Pro 8620 All-in-One prints, allows networking options and has mobile printing features for greater productivity on the go. It creates vivid, durable, professional prints that are water, highlighter smear and fade resistant, features multi-page scanning, copying and faxing with up to 50-page Automatic Document Feeder and two-sided printing.
And for a totally slick finish, the HP OfficeJet Pro 8620 All-in-One effortlessly creates borderless, two-sided brochures and marketing materials in-house. Starting from $198 Officeworks.
Cashback Offer! For a limited time you can get up to $70 cash-back on the HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 Series! Visit HP OfficeJet Pro for details.
Awesome Prints! Are you a small business looking for sleep printing inspiration? Perhaps you’re creating birthday or festive cards for family and friends? Or maybe you’re looking for creative ways to print those fantastic social media pics you’ve taken? Check out HP Photo Creations for loads of fantastic ideas to bring your photos and designs to life.
This is a sponsored post by HP. All opinions expressed by the author are authentic and written in their own words.
