Rural Business Support: Why Farming Life Needs a Virtual Assistant Who Gets It.

I visited a new networking group the other day. In my introduction, I said, “I work with other rural based businesses because I get the extra challenges that being rural adds to a business.”

One of my clients was also at this meeting, she said to me after it’s that understanding that makes my support so valuable to her.

Because whether you work in a rural location or your business has a rural focus, there are challenges involved that businesses in towns and cities don’t face.

In person networking is the perfect example, it’s logistically harder to attend. Meetings are rarely close by meaning that it costs more time and money for the business to go along. The group I was visiting was online, which was a large part of its appeal. But that shows how reliant we are on the internet in rural locations to connect with people. (The challenges of rural internet is a blog for another day.)

Unlike other businesses where potential customers might go past your premises or see a sign regularly, your remote location means you don’t benefit from passive footfall, so it takes extra work to draw people’s awareness to what you offer. This puts extra importance on your marketing activities, especially the online ones. I know using tech is not naturally popular for many rural people, but it’s where your customers are looking. You need them to be able to find you and be compelled to come to you.

Dealing with the unexpected

 Unpredictability is another challenge of countryside life. You're at the mercy of the elements and nature, especially if animals are involved.

It’s harder to plan working hours because the outside jobs take longer when it’s hot, cold, raining, or the livestock have escaped. Or if you’re on an arable farm like us, you make plans, have sorted who’s doing the school run, then the weather shifts and suddenly it's all systems go.  The plans gone out the window and your work time has disappeared because you're back on school run duty.  

You’ve got your hands full (Literally)

 Farming is physical work, and the animals needs come first and rightly so. Stopping to take a photo for content is not the first thought in your head when you're wrestling sheep for drenching or untangling the broken fence for the fourth time this week. When you come in at the end of a long tiring day, it’s understandable that creating content isn’t appealing.

Many service providers operate on office hours, and whilst that’s not wrong, it can be difficult to work together when your lives operate on different time structures. It reminds me of the struggle to make it to a bank during opening hours when I lived in Somerset. If you need to make hay while the sun shines, that takes priority.

Rural life is not 9-5, trying to work with someone who doesn’t have an understanding of that adds to the strain you feel. Which defeats the point of having outside assistance. I understand the lifestyle challenges because I’m living them too, meaning support becomes more accessible.  You don’t have the hassle of explaining how every aspect of your world works. You need someone who fits naturally on a personal or professional level. One of my other clients always says, “Whoever I work with needs to fit around my kitchen table.”  I like that.

And whilst I don’t actually need to sit around your kitchen table to help you. If you are tired of sitting at that table and struggling with your content creation alongside all your other jobs on your list, let's chat and see if I’m the right person to support you.