Business Management & Growth Strategy

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sandra Booker, owner of Any Old Task, located in St. Catharines, ON, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We help overworked, overwhelmed, multi-hatted entrepreneurs become the CEO of their own sustainably scalable and profitable businesses. We work mainly with heart-centered online service providers with big goals and big dreams for their business that are firmly rooted in pro-people values. We help them through business management services and growth strategies designed to get them unstuck and set them up to be able to scale their business long-term.

Tell us about yourself

When my, then 14-year-old, socially anxious, and highly introverted child came home from school asking to go on a school trip to Iceland (even though she didn't know anyone who was going), I knew I had to make it happen. We had no savings and were living paycheque to paycheque, so I started looking for ways to bring in a little extra income. A friend told me about Fiverr, so I started offering VA Services through there, specializing in transcription at the time.

The work quickly grew until another friend mentioned, "Why don't you make it into a business?". Honestly, it hadn't really occurred to me, but when he said it, I immediately knew that was the next step for me.

Being able to provide for my family and me, employing others, and providing a great place to work is the number one motivating factor for me.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I think my biggest accomplishment is that my work helps to create jobs. I'm on a secret mission to help create a million jobs by helping my clients grow their own businesses and by assisting others in starting Virtual Assistant Businesses of their own that will increase the ripple effect. I'm at about 40 that I know of :). It's hard to track, but I'm confident I can reach my goal.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Taking time! As a business owner, it is imperative that you take time for yourself so you don't burn out, but it's also essential to take time for your business. Take time to plan, assess, investigate, experiment, and review. That's something I see many, many business owners skip - especially the "assess" and "review" pieces. We're so focused on getting things done and moving on to the next job, task, or project that we rarely take time to learn from what we're doing or see where things need to be improved.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

"Know where you're going." Have a mission statement that you review and share regularly. Make sure everyone you work with (employee, contractor, client, etc.) knows what you're working towards. Revisiting your mission regularly will help keep you on track.
Build pauses into your business. Make sure you have time set aside to plan and strategize your next steps, to review and analyze key metrics and performance, and to assess the different areas of your business so you can address any weak spots.
Remember that everyone you meet is doing what they think they need to do in order to be happy, and they're using the tools, knowledge, and skill they currently possess to do it. Remembering this will help you address issues with more patience, understanding, and grace. You'll be less likely to feel negatively towards them or that they're doing something because they're trying to be mean, rude, or unreasonable. Sure some people are those things, but it's not usually done on purpose. Meet these situations with curiosity instead of judgement and with the goal of seeking clarity. You'll be much happier for it.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://anyoldtask.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anyoldtaskca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anyoldtask/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/any-old-task/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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