Jean Hanson, owner of VA Office Solution, works from her lakes area home-based office in the virtual assistant field. The field is growing as virtual assistants work as self-employed administrative professionals assisting several clients. (Dispatch Photo by Renee Richardson)

By RENEE RICHARDSON
Senior Reporter

When Jean Hanson started looking for a business she could make her own and still work from home she found what she wanted and joined a growing profession.

For others looking for a similar option, Hanson said the field is wide open.

Hanson is a virtual assistant.

Consider the small business owner who has grown enough that keeping up with all the details is taking over valuable time that could be spent on the business' future. In past years, adding an assistant typically meant hiring an employee who would physically come to the office and help with the daily details of running a business.

Technology is changing that look. Enter a virtual assistant who can keep up with multiple clients across the globe without leaving their own home-based office.

And there are many niches within the field.

Hanson works primarily with coaches, speakers, writers and consultants. Other virtual assistants may find real estate is their area of interest. Hanson said opportunities exist with nearly any one with a small business or even their own home-based business. Work may include Web site maintenance, research, creating and publishing newsletters, database and e-mail management.

Hanson and her clients communicate through e-mail, instant messages and talk at least once a week via the phone. She has managed client e-mail accounts while they are on vacation or traveling. She has submitted articles for them and gathered research for them. Many clients are solo entrepreneurs who need a little help but do not need to hire an employee.

"It's a really easy relationship," Hanson said of working with clients. She finds her client's work interesting and feels the virtual assistant is a greater part of the business than a temporary worker. The idea behind virtual assistants is to build long-term relationships with clients. Hanson says she is a sounding board for business decisions, collaborator on ideas and business plans and feels more a part of the client's success than if she were simply doing contract work for a specific project. "... I have a real interest in seeing them succeed."

She said there is a lot of collaboration, not face-to-face, but through the Internet. As an employee and then business owner herself, Hanson understands the pressures.

Hanson worked for discount retailer Shopko for 16 years. She worked in LaCrosse, Wis., and then in Boise, Idaho. Hanson and her husband owned and operated a building maintenance company with janitorial services. They had 30 employees. Most of their family members lived in the Twin Cities area and they wanted to return to spend more time with relatives.

Brainerd's location seemed to be the perfect spot for a day trip to relatives and a place to live where the lakes area location could be enjoyed as well.

"I really didn't want to move to the Cities but I wanted to be within driving distance. And we kept coming back to Brainerd."

Then came the question of what to do. Her husband started a similar business here called Brainerd Lakes Cleaning and Supply.

"After owning a business I had to do something that was mine," she said.

Hanson started researching different career options. She found a Web site -- www.assistu.com and that opened a new horizon. She wanted to work one-on-one and help entrepreneurs with their businesses. Hanson completed a 20-week training course associated at AssistU.com. And she started her own home-based business called VA Office Solution. She started with one client in Idaho and now has six clients -- four in the Twin Cities, one in Texas and one in California. Many clients are fairly new business owners.

Hanson recently gained certification, a two-month process that requires a certain amount of hours in client relations. Hanson said she does not think of herself as a secretary or administrative assistant because she becomes more involved in the client's business. She belongs to several organizations in the field -- AssistU, IVAA.org and IAVOA.com. There are three main organizations with 400 to 600 members each. And they are growing.

Hanson joined ewomennetwork.com, a network of women business owners and professionals, and started attending the organization's events in the Twin Cities. One of her early clients was the event coordinator with her own coaching business. That led to other referrals.

The virtual assistant field, which has been around for some time, has come a long way in just the last three years, Hanson said. The AssistU.com training program began in 1997. Others link the field, if not the name of virtual assistant, to the 1980s. Obviously the changing technology, high-speed Internet among others, has created better opportunities more recently.

And virtual assistant organization memberships offer each other ideas, resources and gatherings where there can be more social interaction than solo work in a home-based office. Hanson said people in the field are willing to help newcomers.

"There is more than enough work to go around," she said.

She meets every few months with classmates and they also have conference calls to keep in touch.

One of the benefits of a home-based business comes in choosing work hours. Hanson has an office in her rural lakes area home and wants to work about 120 hours per month. She said virtual assistants also have to keep in mind they need time to work on their own businesses. Her start-up needs included a computer, printer, Microsoft Office software and a couple of phone lines.

Hanson said people interested in the field can startout without a lot of equipment but high-speed Internet access, a good virus detector and a good information backup plan are a must. Now Hanson has three computers networked together with a laptop so she can be connected to the office while not physically there.

Hanson said: "Actually I can see down the road where I might need my own assistant."