On 14 September 2022, WAHM WorkSpace celebrated 5 years in business. Both for our records, and to share our achievements, I thought to document the first 5 years of our business.
Chronological History
2017 – The Beginning
When I started my business I had a 3 month old baby girl and a busy 3,5 year old little boy. It was September 2017. I’d been thinking about the kind of business I wanted to start from about 3 months into my pregnancy. I’d been researching and connecting with other women business owners for most of my pregnancy.
I wrote a blog post a few years back about my pregnant mind, pregnant body. It’s like the two were created together – my daughter and my business.
Originally WAHM WorkSpace was going to be a coworking space for Work at Home Moms. A space where you could come to work for a few hours or every day. There would be like minded women to connect with and there would be reliable, drop in onsite childcare while you were there. I also wanted to offer a retail space for work at home moms who created physical goods. As I researched more in Durban in particular I realised that it was going to be quite a stretch to develop and fill such a venue, and that it would need a lot of capital to get started and keep it going.
2018 – Try Everything
2018 was my year of Try Everything. And I did. Part of that was starting to look at WAHM WorkSpace as a virtual assistance service. Finding a virtual way to empower work at home moms in ways that supported my financial situation at the time. I was still working on building community, developing offers that might work in a physical space, and coming up with ideas that sparked my interest. Our Lunch and Learn events started in 2018, as did our Best Face Forward events. There was so much growth that happened in 2018, but it also had some sad times – my daughter’s epilepsy was diagnosed, we learned a lot of lessons in starting a business, and we lost some money.
2019 – Happiness
2019 was another year of growth and change. We grew our VA services and offered a variety of options for working with us, we introduced our Know, Like and Trust packages. Our rebrand to our stunning pink and purple brand took place along with a new website and our overhauled social media presence. We developed long lasting relationships that were mutually beneficial with a number of clients. I focused on in-person training, speaking events and we empowered more people through our Lunch and Learn events. I personally started the Baby Bryce Foundation and supported the first Infant & Pregnancy Loss walk in Durban.
2020 – The Year the World Changed
2020 will go down as the year that everything changed in modern memory. It was surprisingly, one of our most successful years. Through our business we were able to sustain 5 or 6 families during a period of utter turmoil worldwide. Because we were already familiar with and comfortable on Zoom, we became the go-to hosts for Zoom meetings in our networks. In March 2021 we checked our statistics and we had hosted over 14000 people on Zoom the previous year. I think for us 2020 was definitely the year of online meetings. A service we still offer. The world suddenly saw the value in remote working, and we no longer needed to explain what a virtual assistant was or how it was possible to do the work we did. The changed how we presented our business to the world.
2021 – the Blur
2021 followed on from 2020 with a lot of online work, a growing international team, and a successful business. Our KZN based team dealt with the rioting and looting, and the aftermath of that chaos. We hosted a large intercontinental African conference online. I was able to invest in business coaching, and do a lot of personal development into the CEO role. We attempted launching our VA Bootcamp – Virtual Assistant training for the South African market, but in the end found more success in providing small business training to a wider audience. Adrienne Brown officially became a partner in WAHM WorkSpace.
To be honest 2020 – 2022 are a bit of a blur. The last 2 to 3 years have sort of blurred together into one long year of growth, change and pivoting.
2022 – Year of Ease
2022 has been the year of my personal growth – I took on the role of Vice Chairperson of KZN Women in Business. I’ve focused on choosing coaching and training programs that lean into the feminine side of business, as well as balancing both working and homeschooling. Working with Becky Mollenkamp, Sonja McKaiser and the Homeschool CEO Society have truly been the right things for growing our truly female empowered business. My word this year has been Ease, but this year has been definitely testing me on this desire and focus.
The last 5 years in numbers
20 women empowered as VAs through the team
More than 50 clients assisted directly
More than 100 lives touched through training, workshops and events
Over 2000 Social Media posts (just on Facebook).
35 Blog posts
2 websites (with multiple iterations along the way).
Things I know for sure after 5 years in business
- Networking works, if you work it.
- People do business with people
- Relationships are far more important than anything else
- Money will come and go, but how you affect someone stays forever
- Trying is always worth it
- Collaboration over competition always
- There is always someone who needs what you do
- Honesty and Integrity always win
- Skills change and grow, so can businesses
- When in doubt, be kind.
WAHM WorkSpace – the Future
WAHM WorkSpace is a technical virtual assistance agency made up of a team of empowered work at home moms, who are working with and empowering our variety of clients (many of which are work at home moms too). We specialise in assisting with helping business owners feel at home in the online space – whether that is working on their wordpress websites, their email marketing, inbox and client management or financial services. Our small, but dedicated team is passionate about ensuring that our clients are able to focus on their zone of genius, while we focus on ours.
WAHM WorkSpace strives to be the go to VA agency for creative female entrepreneurs who are wanting to teach their craft online. Whether you’re a photographer, an artist, a web developer or a branding specialist – you’ll find a team who are passionate about you focusing on what you do right, and helping you be your best self online.
Are you ready to work with a team who gets you? Book a call now.
