Hello everyone,
I was just wondering if anyone on here is a Virtual Assistant or does a job like that or has been a VA before as I’m looking to set up my own VA business soon but i’m not sure on the legalities. I’ve tired researching about it but everything is very contradicting and it’s quite confusing.
I’d like to know about things like: where to buy the insurance (Professional Indemnity), Data Protection (in the UK you register with the ICO, Contracts (can I make them english along with all the french regs and legalities?) and what would I register as? As well as for declaring, what would it come under if I have to declare how much i’ve earned each month or every 3 months?
For a few years after I retired I did a little consultancy work. I found a very helpful French virtual assistant who took phone calls and acknowledged emails on my behalf while I was away from home. So certainly they exist.
As I recall I made contact with this lady via a orofessional network called Viadeo that I used to belong to. It was similar to LinkedIn. I do not even know if it still exists. You might perhaps join such a network, contact a few VAs and ask your questions to them. Usually people who join networks do so because they are prepared to help others.
I’ll be offering Admin Support, Lifestyle Management, Travel Planning, Customer Support, Email Support and/or Detox and Event Planning with the option of a Custom Package if they haven’t found the right package for them.
I am a bit confused by what you are proposing to offer in simple terms. I suppose that packages are trendy but I am not sure that clients in this market expect a virtual assistant to offer them a choice of packages. I think you will find that a prospective client knows exactly what they want assistance with.
I’m connected with a few VAs in the UK who say that packages are the way to go, as some of the clients aren’t sure of what they want, so a package helps them with that. They have more clients choosing a specific package than a custom one.
Obviously, the packages will be explained in more detail on my website once it’s up.
OK. Just do not fall into the trap of assuming that what works best in the UK, will also work best in France.
Could you not offer bilingual services? The VA I approached was competent in English and that was one of the reasons why I approached her first. To be based in France offering services only in English, seems a little perverse. It will restrict your scope greatly I would have thought.
I completely understand what you mean, and that’s why I won’t just be working for individuals in France. I’ll be working for entrepreneurs all around the world.
That makes more sense now, as I somehow don’t see VA packages having massive takeup in France.
Playing devil’s advocate, the question that then has to be asked is, France being the amongst most expensive countries for small businesses, is it the best place to base yourself to target anglophones around the world? Overheads are lower in the UK, I believe lower still in the US, and then there is “offshore” competition including from native UK/US expats working virtually from countries where taxes and cost of living are very low.
However I am sure you will have taken all this into account. This sounds a hugely ambitious venture, nothing like my own low key VA experience, and I am sure you will find it interesting to work with the many different business cultures and customs around the world. I wish you every success.
Agree with @Sandcastle Sandcastle. But this does raise a rather interesting question regarding ‘virtual nomads’. Where would you be based for tax purposes if you use the system and move countries at will, not being tax resident in any one country to account for tax? Also, if you work solely on the internet with clients in different countries, where are you tax resident for fiscal purposes on the work which is not ‘done’ in the country in which you are living? I am not sure the fisc has really got a grip on this in any country as yet…
Digital nomadism is a whole subject in itself. In reality there is not a system you can use to move countries at will and avoid being tax resident anywhere. The generally accepted rule is that you are classed as working in the country where you are based, physically, when you do your work, and you are subject to that country’s tax/social security/immigration laws. Where your clients are, is irrelevant. France does not recognise digital nomads and makes no special provisions for them, they are subject to the same rules as any other remote worker operating on French soil. Some countries do recognise digital nomads as a special category but I do not think that any country so far has found a solution that gives equal benefits to the nomads and to the host country. Portugal made a big thing out of being open to digital nomads but it has upset the locals and caused problems in the economy and now nobody seems happy.
Spain recently launched a digital nomad visa that a lot of people saw their ticket to Spain but in fact it turned out to have many more restrictions and conditions than some people had hoped, it seems Spain has learned lessons from Portugal’s experience. But I think that generally speaking, and within Europe at least, it tends to be the countries that are traditionally not the most popular destinations for immigrants, that set out to attract digital nomads. Estonia, Croatia for example. I cannot see France changing its position because it does not need to attract more immigration.
Yes but if you move countries and do not meet tax residence in any particular country? What then? Are you non resident anywhere fiscally? Interesting! As you say no country has really got to grips with this …. Yet!
Is ghis what used ro be called off-site secretarial and admin support? Or personal assistant?
The difficulty might come with finding a category to register your business under, and professional insurance if there isn’t a defined profession. Maybe need to talk to local chambre de commerce.
Like the sad tales of people paying to have help establishing themselves in France, and finding out the person helping them had made huge expensive mistakes but there was no come back as not regulated or insured.
Whilst it’s not impossible, in my experience, it is very difficult in practice to sustain non residence anywhere for long. Expat pubs and golf club bars are seemingly full of people telling anecdotes that claim it can be done. I’ve not seen it done successfully, despite several decades of dealing with tax residence issues. There’s always a first time though!
I think you will find that national tax rules and tax treaties between countries are usually constructed so as not to leave holes for people to slip down. Usually if you have been tax resident in country A, then until or unless you meet the rules for fiscal residence in country B or C or D or wherever, country A will most likely continue to regard you as tax resident there. In practice it may be not too difficult to slip beneath the radar unnoticed but then what do you. You are likely to encounter problems if you try to offer professional services to reputable clients if your business is not registered anywhere, or to operate a bank account without your bank knowing where you are fiscally resident, or to obtain healthcare if no country considers you to be part of its social security system, the list goes on. Even finding a place to live in France would be difficult if you cannot put together a dossier. As soon as you start having any kind of official dealings in any country, be it with the authorities or with private organisations, they want to check you out to see who they are dealing with.
