Planner Bee VA Services is turning FIVE! It’s absolutely incredible to think that five years ago I stumbled into working as a freelance Virtual Assistant almost by accident. Since then, the business has grown from just me, working at a little desk in the corner of my living room, to a small agency with a team of five Virtual Assistants who are all amazing at what they do.
Running a business is most definitely not a solo sport, and Planner Bee VA Services would not be where it is today without our incredible team, clients, community and supporters. Thank you – truly, thank you.
Five years of Planner Bee VA Services in numbers
● 110 clients supported
● 16,500 hours of support provided to our wonderful clients
● 1st B Corp certified Virtual Assistant agency in Scotland
● 5 team members (up from just 1 when the business started)
● 1 new service launched this year: our recruitment service
5 lessons from 5 years of running an ethical Virtual Assistant business
1. Put yourself out there for opportunities
Planner Bee VA Services has benefited from so many incredible opportunities over the years, and many of them came about because I put myself out there and put my hand up. For example, in 2025 I spoke on the main stage at Ideas Fest, on a panel about young entrepreneurship – an opportunity I got because I saw they were looking for panellists and applied. In my experience, more often than not, opportunities don’t just land on your doorstep; you have to go after them. What’s the worst that can happen?
2. Prioritise time to work ON your business
In 2026, we’ve had a really solid plan for the year, which involved spending the first six months working behind the scenes on the business. This included completing our Cyber Essentials Plus certification, working on a new website and achieving our B Corp certification. We’re now using all of that behind-the-scenes work to really push the business forward in the second half of the year, with a focus on business development. Working with clients and growing your client base can feel like it should always be the number one priority, but making time to work on the business alongside working in the business helps you build a sustainable business with longevity.
3. Getting new clients isn’t always about selling
Making sales doesn’t have to mean being salesy. You can be great at sales by being a genuinely nice person and talking about your business in an authentic way, rather than selling to everyone you meet. If people know what you do and they’re interested, they will tell you.
4. If you want to grow, you need to have the capacity
As a service-based business, one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced is the Catch-22 that comes with being fully booked. We reach a point where we can’t support more clients without hiring more team members to do the work, but we can’t hire more team members without having the clients to pay for them. Over the last five years, I’ve learnt that you need to create the capacity first, then grow into it. That can feel like a leap of faith – hiring before you have the work – but if you have a proven business, you will fill that capacity, and you have to trust that.
5. Build your network
When I first started Planner Bee VA Services, I thought I could build the business completely by myself and didn’t need a network or community. How wrong I was! I wish I had learnt sooner the importance of getting out there, meeting people and growing my network. Building my network has been one of the key ways I have grown Planner Bee VA Services. But more than that, running a business can be lonely, and it’s so much more enjoyable when you have a support network of like-minded people you can lean on and learn from.
Looking ahead: what’s next for Planner Bee VA Services
Five years, 110 clients and 16,500 hours of support later, I’m more excited than ever about what comes next. With our B Corp certification, a new website and our recruitment service now in place, we’re heading into our sixth year with strong foundations and plenty of ambition. Our big goal remains the same as it was five years ago, to become the go-to business support service for purpose-led businesses in the UK and beyond. If you’d like to see how far we’ve come, you can look back at my Year 3 reflections. And if you’re a business owner looking for ethical, reliable Virtual Assistant support, we’d love to hear from you. Here’s to year six!