Call Team is young, dynamic company who are always on the lookout for additional enthusiastic and friendly VAs to join our growing team of Call Handlers on a self employed basis.

Our team is made up of VAs who answer calls on a shift basis, around clients, work/home commitments and school/nursery runs and this works well.  You should ensure that you have no small children, dogs, washing machines etc in the background of any shift that you are undertaking.

We require you to be professional and therefore no background noises of this nature will be tolerated.  You will need to have a good telephone manner.  Not all calls are message taking and therefore being able to use your initiative and multitask is a must.

Please note that you will work on a shift rota on a weekly basis based on times that you have advised you would be available to undertake a shift.  You will not be guaranteed a set income as this depends on how many calls you receive during your shift(s).  You will be paid on a per call basis via invoice raised by you on the last working day of each month and paid within 14 days.

If you are interested in joining our team or which more information please email us, detailing your weekly availability for shifts.

Are you constantly searching for contact details and paperwork?

Lost control of your cash flow situation?

Unsure of the up to date status of your current projects?

Managing your office systems is the key to success in business. As your business grows your office management systems require to be continuously improved so that they keep pace with your needs. What was adequate for you initially can end up hindering your business.

Sometimes, problems don’t become apparent until you have actually started to use them and discovered that they are not working in the way that you had anticipated them to.

What can you do about it? We can set-up user friendly systems for you, or we can completely reorganise your existing systems. Together, we can create a system tailored for your needs – giving every piece of paper a home – making your filing efficient and effortless!

We could even help you create a paperless office!

The systems we would put in place will enable you to locate contact information quickly and easily, keep track of your cash flow, monitor your projects and keep them on track and respond to customer requests straightaway.

For further information or to discuss your requirements please contact us.

Remember, our services are tax deductible, therefore our costs can be offset against your tax return.

What is your business? I run Mattian – an IT support business in Worcestershire. We fix computers and laptops and offer support. We also do website design and management, and have just launched a budget service, www.yourbargainwebsite.co.uk where you can grab a website for just £199.

How long have you been in business? Since December 2008 although I have had the Mattian website for 10 years or so.

What led you to start your own business? I got married in August 2010 – and working full time we still didn’t have enough cash so I started Mattian in December 2008 to help us on our way. Since then it’s just kept getting better and better. I enjoy running my own business too. Wish I could do it full time, but unfortunately its just not the right time.

What do you enjoy most about being your own boss? Not having people looking over my shoulder all the time, freedom to make decisions and give my customers service above and beyond what they expect, because I want too.

Best thing(s) about working with Call Team? I’m an Web designer/ICT Tech at a high school Monday to Friday 9-5 – so if I didn’t use Call Team I wouldn’t be able to answer my calls. They answer them and let me know about them to deal with when I am home, this way I never lose a call.

What are your biggest challenges? I guess its juggling being a dad, a husband, an employee and my own boss and then finding some time to relax.

Where do you hope to be in 12 months time? Working full time, with lots of happy customers with the odd chance of a night off for a beer!

Tell us more about your business. Mattian offers IT Support – but we also offer an online help desk solution, ideal for people who just want to ask the odd question. For one monthly fee of just £7.99 you can send us a support request at any time, and get an answer within 24 hours – if we can’t fix it after a couple of replies we call you.

You also get discounted remote support, for just £15 compared to our usual rate of £25 so we can instantly fix any issues. Find out more here – http://www.mattian.co.uk/mattian-help-centre/

Another exciting business we have just launched is http://www.yourbargainwebsite.co.uk/ where we offer customised websites for just £199 with a range of additional items you can purchase as modules to improve and add to your website over time.  Our £199 package covers all design work, a .co.uk domain for two years and a year’s hosting.

What is your business? Internet webshop selling educational toys, mostly wooden and fancy dress.

How long have you been in business? Been trading since 2005

What led you to start your own business? Having my second child and realising the only toys that were in a great condition to hand down were the wooden toys.

What do you enjoy most about being your own boss? Being able to be flexible both for my family and for my work.

Best thing(s) about working with Call Team? Being totally assured that my calls are handled with real professionalism and that they go out of their way to help my customers.

What are your biggest challenges? Dealing with the fluctuation of work and adapting to ensure the business is maintained.

Where do you hope to be in 12 months time? Continuing to grow our product range.

Tell us more about your business. All our website orders are dispatched by First Class post and are usually received in 24-48 hours.

It’s that time of year again when we start to think towards the New Year and how we can improve our business and what New Year resolutions that we can make both personally and business wise.

Just like writing your marketing plan each year you need to decide first of all what you want to achieve. This time of year is a good time to reflect on the year you just had in your business.

Look at the different areas within your business that you could improve or try a new direction. In Advertising there are a wide range of routes to go down Internet marketing is constantly changing and it is all about keeping up with the changes. I for one love Twitter and Facebook and use them both for my business, if you don’t use them why not try? You will be surprised at how quickly you will learn to use them and it is a free way to advertise your services/products and reach a wide range of people.

Look at how your business performed in 2010. Did you meet your objectives that you set yourself?  If you didn’t, look at why you didn’t? Could this have done better? Make notes of these and look and learn on how to improve and go forward into 2011 with.

You need to decide where you want your business to go. Once you have decided this have a strategy in place to help you get there.  Don’t make the mistake of writing a business strategy and then never look at it. My top tip is once a month set a date to read through it and set yourself goals for the forthcoming month this way you can make sure you are on target.

Here are some more top tips when writing your business strategy:

• What is the market like, and how does your business compare?
• What is your unique selling point of your company?
• List out your key objectives for 2011
• What do you want to achieve and the direction of your company for 2011
• Set realistic targets. Once you have done this put your strategy to one side then take a step back and look at how realistic your targets are.  Are they realistic targets that you can achieve or will they be stretching you?

And one last note, one of my favourite quotes

“The future depends on what we do in the present.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Author: Rebecca Parsons, GR Office Solutions

It’s that time of year again! It’s time you start thinking about dealing with your Christmas workload.  What is that you say?  You dont have time?   Well, you are in luck as Call Team are here to help!

We are offering 1 hour free admin support, on the basis that you use a minimum of 5 hours during November and December. Contact lyndsey@callteam.co.uk to discuss your requirements and to schedule time for your projects.

Are you planning on sending out Christmas cards to your clients and business associates? We can purchase cards, ensure your database is up to date and arrange to post prior to the Post Office deadline, or send to you for signing.

Having a Christmas Party? We can source venues, keep track of your RSVPs and generally help you to organise the event.

SmartSheet is a fantastic tool at a very cost effective price and is software that Call Team use on a daily basis. It is a fabulous way to track projects, share and collaborate, draw up task lists etc.

You can use SmartSheet in the following ways:

• Project Management – you can set up your projects, share it online and get real-time updates.
• Sales – track your sales pipeline, prospect and customer lists in an online tool that your reps will actually use.
• Smartsheet for Google Apps – Extend Google Apps with integrated Smartsheet solutions
• Task Management – Easily create tasks and sub-tasks, assign to others, set reminders and get alerts.
• Goals & Objectives Tracking – Track team objectives and status in real time.
• Marketing – Manage events, track team activity, collaborate on projects, and report on status.
• IT Management – Manage IT projects, track helpdesk inquiries, manage issue logs and bug tracking sheets.
• Human Resources – Share on-boarding and exit checklists, manage recruiting candidate pipeline and track employee review process.
• Product Management – Manage feature and enhancement request lists, track customer feedback, and share product release timelines

How we use SmartSheet
We use SmartSheet on a daily basis to manage our client’s calls and forward messages at a touch of a button. We also produce monthly reports which detail all calls received for clients, keep records of all clients and call handlers, and invoicing. We also use this tool for attaching client information documents and you there is also a section for discussions for the team so that we are all aware of what is going on for each client and how they wish their calls to be handled.

How much does it Cost?
The system is extremely simple to use, easy to set up and free to share. They are very reasonably priced, from $9.95 per month for 10 sheets and offer discounts for annual plans. There is also a 30 day free trial.

Opinion
We are totally sold on this system and have gained favourable comments from our team and clients. Why not try the system out and let us know how you get on – we will be surprised if you don’t find multiple uses for them too.

Visit the Website by clicking here.

So you’ve just started your own business, but you’re a little daunted by the thought of accounts & tax.  This blog will enlighten you on what taxes you have to pay, and when, and what to do to register for them.

Registering as a sole trader or partnership

You should contact HMRC as soon as you become self-employed on the newly self-employed helpline.  They will ask for some personal details and description of your business.  Following this call, they will issue you with a Unique Taxpayer Reference which can be used by you or your accountant to complete your tax return.  Once HMRC have registered you, you will also be required to start paying Class 2 National Insurance Contributions at £2.40 per week (2010/11 rate).

Registering your limited company

You will need to register your new limited company with Companies House.  The registration process is outside the scope of this blog, but there is plenty of information on the internet to guide you through incorporation, or your accountant can do it all for you.  Once you have registered at Companies House, you should notify HMRC of the new limited company.  HMRC will then send you a pack containing Corporation Tax forms and new company details forms which you should complete and return to them.

Taxes you pay as a sole trader or partnership

As a sole trader or partner, you will be taxed on the profits you make from your self-employment, and any other income you bring in, for example through employment or savings.  We will come to how we calculate your profits later in this guide, but broadly it is the income you make less the expenses you incur, and does not take into account what money you have or have not taken out of the business.  In a partnership, you would be taxed on your share in the partnership profits.

The good news is that the first £6,475 you earn (2010-11 rate shown) is tax free.  This is known as your personal allowance.  The next amount of income you earn, up to £37,400 (2010-11 rate shown) is taxed at 20%, and anything above that is taxed at 40%.  There are some special rules for high earners (over £100,000), but these are outside the scope of this blog.

Taxes you pay as a limited company

As a limited company, you will be required to pay corporation tax on the profits of the company.  Broadly this is the income you make less the expenses you incur, but you are better off asking an accountant to prepare this for you, to make sure the profits take into account all allowable expenses.

Companies do not have a personal allowance, so tax is payable on all your profits.  The rate for small companies (with profits under £300k in 2010-11) is 21%.  In addition to this, you will have to pay tax personally on any money you have taken out of the business.  Directors often take a mix of salary and dividends as this is considered to be the most tax effective method of withdrawing funds from a company, and your accountant will be able to advise you on the best amounts to take out.

If you would like any advice in this area or any other areas of accounting or tax, please contact me on 01767 260282 or amy@tayloraccountancy.net, www.tayloraccountancy.net.

Amy Taylor Accountancy takes every care in preparing material to ensure that the content is accurate and up to date.  However no responsibility for loss to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of this material can be accepted by Amy Taylor Accountancy You should always ask your accountant to give you specific advice which is tailored to your personal and business circumstances and properly implemented.

Call Team are today celebrating our first birthday.  It is astonishing how far we have come during our first year. We have grown and prospered during the year because we have great clients, resellers and a fantastic team of call handlers, without all of you we wouldn’t be where we are today.

A lot of hard work and determination has been put in to establish the business and we are also working on putting call packages together for clients. So if you are a client keep an eye on your inbox, for further information coming your way over the next few weeks.

All businesses know that they cannot afford to miss out on important calls and potential new clients. Therefore utilising a Call Handling service enables you to concentrate on getting work completed without interruptions, attend meetings and not worry about calls being missed and gives callers a professional image for your business. You will also be able to capture more business opportunities as you will never miss another call whilst diverting to us.

Over the past year we have serviced over 40 clients with call handling and office support services.

Birthday Offers to YOU:

Current Call Handling Clients: 10% discount off your first invoice for our VA services during October. Quote DISC01.

New Clients: 10% discount for the next 3 months call handling or 10% discount off your first VA services invoice during October. Quote DISC02

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