The difference between a £500 month and a £5,000 month is often what you choose to focus on.

Most of us aren't taught how to think like a business owner. We're taught how to think like employees.

In this episode, I share some of the simple shifts you can make to ditch the restrictive employee mindset and make business decisions that'll see your business thriving.

By the end of the episode, you'll know exactly which area deserves your attention first.

'AI Didn’t Replace Me - It Made Me Better'.

Virtual Assistant Lily Attwell-Rowan joins me to share how she went from sceptical to making money from AI. In her own words, 'I'd rather be on the ride than watch it from the sidelines crying'.

Lily loves that AI enables her to now work faster, smarter, more efficiently and offer services she didn't offer before because of 'my own limiting beliefs about writing'.

In this episode I mention my Train AI course, which you can find here.

I also briefly mention legal contracts. Don't forget, you can get 10% off KoffeeKlatch Virtual Assistant Contracts with my code: CATH10.

(The KK code is an affiliate link which means I will earn commission if you use my code)

Here's the link to book onto the training I mention at the end of the podcast: https://courses.catherinegladwyn.co.uk/products/live_events/bookkeeping-2026

Did you know that when people say ‘I’ve had an unexpected tax bill’, it just means they didn’t have access to a podcast episode like this.

Personally, I absolutely love bookkeeping and I hope that comes across in this podcast episode so I can help you to love it and not fear it.

So many new VAs either:

• completely avoid bookkeeping because it scares them
• think they’ll “sort it later”
• or accidentally create chaos by mixing personal and business money from day one.

And because we do need to know a bit more than how many notebooks you can put through the business every month, when this suggested topic came in from a listener I thought ‘bloody brilliant idea’.

And it gave me an excuse to invite the lovely Nadia Gibbs from Birdsong accountancy and one of the co-founders of Hey Monika, the award winning software for new bookkeepers, to join me.

Let us show you how the scary bits of bookkeeping are really rather easy with these hacks, what else you could be claiming for and much more.

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It remains your responsibility to ensure your business accounting is accurate. If you're ever in any doubt please speak to HMRC and / or a qualified accountant.

Remember when becoming a VA was supposed to give you more freedom?

In this episode, I explore some of the warning signs of burnout, why so many of us struggle to switch off, and how to stop your business taking over your life.

Tried and tested practical tips on boundaries, client management, workload, AI, forced breaks, and how to build a business that supports your life rather than consumes it.

Plus, why your first £10k month might not be quite as glamorous as it sounds.

If you're doing this with your retainers you could actually be sabotaging the future of your VA business. You could be heading towards burn out. You could be heading towards another situation where work takes precedence over life.

I don't want that for you and I know you don't want that for yourself.

Let me share my thoughts on how we should be selling retainers.

Do VAs need to blog? No.

But if you want to get exposure to more clients, become noticed by AI (because AI is not going anywhere), want to attract more clients and allow Google to fall in love with you, then your website needs to do more than just sit there, and blogging can help!

In this podcast, I’m talking about:

• how blogs can help bring more eyes to your business (more eyes = more clients = more income)
• why blogging is important for your ranking on Google
• how blogging could help your business get found by AI, not just Google
• how to write blogs your ideal clients are actually searching for

If you’ve been wondering whether blogging is worth your time as a VA, this one’s for you.

I mention my fast track course, How to Train ChatGPT, in this episode. You can take a look here.

Everything evolves, so there's a couple of new recommendations for pieces of software Virtual Assistants would benefit from learning in here.

I also talk about my Canva course, which you can see here.

Like the sound of having Google Workspace to make your VA business even easier to manage? Take a look here.

(I am an affiliate for many products. All of which I only recommend if I use, love and / or see the huge benefit they may bring to us VAs. As an affiliate I may benefit financially if you click one of my links. There will never be any additional cost to you)

Some of you have noticed I've missed an episode so I wanted to give an update. Lots of gossip too!

You might be surprised to know that becoming a Virtual Assistant costs less than £350, in fact it could be less than that!

Listen to my honest run down of how much it might cost you to become a VA, with clients, sooner rather than later.

In this episode I mention a few things I use and am priviledged to be an affiliate of too, including money off links / codes:

Terms of business and booking forms from KoffeeKlatch. Use discount code CATH10 for 10% off.

PolicyBee for your insurance. Mention my name or use this link for up to 10% off your quote.

ICO registration. Get £5 off if you sign up for their direct debit.

EcoHosting for your website domain and hosting

Katya Varbanova's AI images course

(As an affiliate I may benefit financially if you use any of my codes or links. I only promote products and services I use, and love, myself)

How to future proof your Virtual Assistant business and avoid that feast / famine cycle.

Is it possible? Hell yeah!

Not only have I done it, but I've put it to the test about 5 times now over the last ten years.

Let me share some things you can do for your own VA business to keep yours going even when you need to stop.

I mention my second bestselling book, The 20% Rule, in this episode, which you can get from Amazon.