Virtual Secretary& Virrtual Offices

I met Rani in my friend’s office a few years ago. I immediately liked her because she was cheerful and energetic. "You are the most cheerful girl I have ever met." I told her. After a few moments of heavy silence she said in a voice tinged with sorrow, "I force myself to be cheerful and happy. That’s the only way to protect my sanity."

"I’m sorry. I think I have embarrassed you," I told her in an apologetic voice. "No, you didn’t. When I was studying in Plus Two, my father died in an accident. My brother and sister were still in primary school. So, I had to quit the school and take up the job of a typist to generate some money for the survival of our family," Rani said.

"On job, she learnt how to use the computer, Internet and email. She is very efficient and extraordinarily sincere in her work," My friend said. "Job has never had an attraction for me. I sincerely wish to be on my own once I overcome my financial difficulties," Rani said. "What will you do? You will fail if you do something of which you don’t have any knowledge," my friend said in a doubtful voice.

I said, "Recently I read a funny story in a book. Three monks – two were experienced and one was a newbie – decided to practise meditation together. They sat by the side of a lake and closed their eyes. Then suddenly, the first one stood up and said, ‘I forgot my umbrella.’ He stepped miraculously onto the water in front of him and walked across the lake to their hut on the other side. When he returned, the second monk stood up and said, ‘I forgot my towel.’ He too walked calmly across the water and returned the same way. The third monk, the newbie, thought ‘If these two can walk on water, I too can do it right now,’ and rushed into the lake. He fell into the deep water. Undeterred, the monk climbed out of the water and tried again, only to sink into the water. This went on for sometime. After a while, the second monk turned to the first and said, ‘Do you think we should tell him where the stepping-stones are?’"


With a smile my friend asked, "It’s a lovely story. But what’s your point?" I replied, "There is no short-cut route to success in self-employment. If you learn the process behind a successful entrepreneurship, you will succeed no matter what your occupation is. If Rani learns every rivet of the job of a secretary, in future, she can be on her own. If she tries something without understanding the process, she will be in trouble. " Rani was happy to hear these words. "I will learn everything about my job and try to achieve perfection. I believe it will help me to be on my own."

After a year, her family received money due to her father from his employer. As the financial position improved considerably, her mother decided that it was time for Rani to get married. Elango, Rani’s husband, did not want her to go for a job. Perhaps, life fulfilled Rani’s aspiration through Elango. When she complained about sitting idle at home, he bought her a computer and games software. But, what Rani wanted was work and not wasteful pleasure. One day, when she was browsing the Internet, she came across a website that had some information about Virtual Secretary. She immediately set to collect every bit of information about this new profession. It was just a matter of a few days for her to acquire the complete knowledge. She realised that she had all the skills required of a Virtual Secretary.

Her ex-employer had excellent overseas contacts. He introduced her to some of them. She too marketed her service actively. Soon she got offers from a few website owners to work as a Virtual Secretary. They gave her guidelines, templates for customer support, standards, flow charts and other documents to operate from a remote place through email. And, her dream became a reality.

How does Rani work? She receives copies of all emails sent by the customers. She replies them promptly. If and only if she is unable to solve a problem, she escalates it to her clients. She takes care of many other repetitive online tasks also. Every month she sends activity reports to her clients. She has four clients. As she has regular income, the couple has bought a flat with the help of a bank. Rani earns more than Rs.10,000 a month at the ripe age of 19.