Four Years of The Remote Assistant – From Solo VA to Aspiring Six-Figure Agency

Four years ago, The Remote Assistant was just me — working from my spare bedroom with my laptop, two clients, and a dream that one day I’d turn my passion for supporting others would become my future.  

Fast-forward to today and we’re an aspiring six-figure business, now running as an agency, with a brilliant team of multi-skilled Virtual Assistants. We’ve helped consultants streamline and scale, supported higher education teams with complex research projects, and started offering done-for-you marketing for small businesses. 

What’s changed? 

✅ We’ve evolved from a one-person setup to a growing agency 

✅ We’ve built strong, repeatable processes (and actually enjoy SOPs now!) 

✅ We’ve become part of Entrepreneur Circle, and invested in coaching and mentorship 

✅ We’ve created a reliable, expert associate network  

✅ And we’ve defined our focus across three clear areas of work 

The Three Pillars of Our Work Today 

1. Consultants – especially those designing a work-life on their terms, we support ambitious individuals who want more freedom and less admin. Whether it’s inbox management, client onboarding, or full business support, we help consultants stay in their zone of genius. 

2. Higher Education – research teams who are under-resourced but under pressure to deliver, we’re now regularly recruiting Research Project Officers to support large, grant-funded projects. These are often hybrid roles — part administrative, part logistical, and sometimes even technical. Our associates understand university systems, and they’re used to hitting the ground running. 

3. Small Businesses – where marketing falls to the bottom of the list We’ve recently started offering marketing support for small teams who know what they should be doing (updating their websites, sending newsletters, posting to socials...) but never quite get to it. We do it for them — consistently and affordably. 

   
   

What have I learned? 

No growth story is linear. I’ve made mistakes, worked silly hours, and second-guessed myself constantly. But I’ve also learned a huge amount along the way. Four of the biggest lessons? 

1. You really can’t do it all — and you shouldn't try. Hiring help felt scary at first, but it’s life-changing. Practice what you preach, ay? 

2. Marketing works — but only when it’s consistent. For a long time, marketing was something I did when I had time — which meant it didn’t happen very often. Last year, I started working with a marketing consultant who brought structure and consistency to our content. Not only did that massively raise our visibility, it also freed me up to take on new clients. The impact has been huge. 

3. Processes and systems are the business. They protect your time, your clients, and your sanity. 

4. Build a business around the life you want. For me, that means freedom, flexibility, and doing work that matters. 

What’s next? 

The Remote Assistant is now a fully functioning agency. We’ll continue building our team of brilliant associates, deepening our work in higher education, and growing our marketing offering for small businesses. 

We’re not chasing rapid scale — we’re focused on sustainable, service-led growth. And we’re only just getting started. 

Whether you’ve worked with us, recommended us, or just cheered us on — thank you. You’ve helped build something that’s not only successful, but meaningful. 

Here’s to the next four years!