Upper Hutt business is Strictly Savvy about virtual assistants

Nestled amongst the valley and hills of Upper Hutt, one innovative business called Strictly Savvy is on call to help businesses across New Zealand and the world.

Strictly Savvy's team of 12 in-house specialists create virtual assistants, and now work to provide services for more than 70 clients.

In the past decade taxis, retail, travel agents and the media are just a few of the industries that have been tipped on their head by the relentless march of technological innovation.

Founder Jo Jensen says, "Throughout my career, I've seen the way we work develop and change frequently. With more entrepreneurs and smaller, leaner businesses coming to the market, sometimes those underlying tasks like having an assistant to answer phones and emails or control the calendar get overlooked.

"During my career as an executive assistant through to building Strictly Savvy, the number of entrepreneurs we've come across continues to grow. Since we launched in 2012, we've serviced clients in New Zealand, Australia, India and the Philippines.

In most businesses, the executive assistant might be the office person who always knows how to get the job done, rearrange a diary, and how to find a rogue CEO in minutes.

"After launching Strictly Savvy for time-poor businesses to outsource critical work, we've noticed the need to go beyond that trusted EA role – to social media posting and management, handling events, presentations, HR processes, setting up Xero and Fergus, and recommending tools to get the business' systems online," says Jensen.

Jensen adds that Strictly Savvy offers a range of services including web design, videography, and task automation.

"Automation is really important for businesses. We help implement software and tools – such as job management software for tradies – so we can send their invoices out quickly and they'll get paid sooner.

Jensen also adds that outsourcing can be a good way of spending only what they need to on labour, particularly for businesses' sporadic needs.

"Outsourcing is a great option for early stage businesses, so they can focus on their core business.

"Businesses feel like they have a full-time employee, but they only pay for the time spent on each task.

Trough the Savvy VA Academy, Jensen also trains others for a career as an executive assistant – whether that's a virtual assistant or one physically in the office.

"The Academy is a way for me to pay it forward. It's amazing to see the confidence new skills can bring someone."