I've been circling this idea for a while now, and today it finally becomes real.
The Admin Bothy (TAB, if you're being efficient about it) is a VA business with a bit of a difference. Yes, we'll still offer admin, operational support, and inbox management (aka the bits of running a business that eat your week without anyone ever seeing the work); that's the day job, and I love it. But that's not actually why I started this.
I started TAB because of a gap I kept seeing and couldn't stop thinking about.
In recent years, and across my portfolio career (a charity role supporting parents back into the workforce, an enterprise hub role supporting startups, tutoring dyslexic children and young people, associate VA work, a CIC directorship, and now TAB), I've met so many brilliant women who would thrive in self-employment and just didn't know that it's an option. The skills were there, the work ethic was there. What was missing was the awareness that admin and business support doesn't need to be an employed role.
So The Admin Bothy isn't just a VA business. It's a social enterprise built around an actual route into self-employment: an associate structure where someone can come in, learn about setting up and running a self-employment business alongside building and managing real client relationships. Another thing we do differently is having an agreed milestone at which, when an associate is ready, they have the option to take the client into their own self-employment business, or to stay with TAB for as long as they like, and maybe even start mentoring some of the newer associates. Both outcomes are seen as equally successful.
I'm not doing this from the outside looking in, either. I'm staying on as an Associate myself while I build TAB (more on that soon too) because I think if you're going to build a route for other people to walk, you'd better still know what the path feels like.
It's early days. The launch is small, deliberate, and probably a bit wobbly in places, but that's what launches are. The good news is I've already got my first client booked in before the doors have properly opened, which feels like a good sign, and I've got people in my corner (you know who you are) who believe in this as much as I do.
More soon. For now... welcome to The Admin Bothy!