There was a time when my social media feed was flooded with virtual assistant content. The videos typically talk about how lucrative the career is, especially for a remote position.
For the uninitiated, virtual assistants are exactly what it sounds like—assistants that provide help to clients remotely, typically with tasks in the professional administrative, technical, or creative realm.
As not everyone can afford a full-time admin in the office, virtual assistants have become more commonplace as a solution for entrepreneurs.
Established in April 2021, Heartworks Solution (Heartworks) is a local company providing such services.
However, Heartworks’ goal isn’t to turn a quick profit. Aside from serving its clients, there’s actually a deeper reason for its existence.
A tale of perseverance
Fiona Tan was born and raised as someone living with Epidermolysis Bullosa Dowling Meara Simplex Type—also called EB.
“Imagine it like the bricks of a wall in my skin, and unfortunately, the mortar isn’t as sturdy,” she explained.
She further elaborated that the ‘glue’ holding her skin layers together wasn’t as strong as it should be due to a genetic issue. Her fragile skin meant even the friction of clothes can cause blisters and wounds. Until age 12, she couldn’t stand for more than 20 minutes and had to crawl or be carried.
Due to challenges with mobility, Fiona’s parents didn’t send her to school when she was younger. Yet, her thirst for knowledge could not be denied. She requested for a private home tutor at around age 14 so she could attempt the UPSR and SPM exams.
Unfortunately, before she could take the exams, her family faced a financial crisis. At age 16, she began working as an office admin in the family business, where she was the sole administrative person for nine years. She eventually left the company, despite opposition from family.
Fiona went on to gain experience from various companies, but things took a turn for the worse during the pandemic, when she had to leave her job due to the company’s poor finances.
Things didn’t get better after the first MCO restrictions were lifted. With the possibility of the lockdown returning, many companies focused on sales-based positions instead of administrative roles, Fiona explained.
“Additionally, due to my skin condition, some judged me by appearance and even ridiculed the idea of me being an admin, suggesting that I might need to be at the front desk and facing clients, which my physical appearance may not seem desirable for,” she shared.
Given her condition and the desperation for a new job, some companies even lowered her salary to a mere RM1,500. Feeling humiliated for being lowballed, Fiona began questioning the worth of her experience and skills, gained over many years in the workforce despite all the challenges.
It was during this low point of her life that she came across an MDEC programme that would change the trajectory of her career.
Identifying a glowing opportunity
Called Global Online Workforce, or GLOW, the programme was one designed to help aspiring Malaysians become digital freelancers.
Through it, Fiona learnt about platforms like Upwork and Freelancer, where she would gain experience in fulfilling administrative tasks remotely. It was here that she learnt of remote assistance workers, also known as virtual assistants.
Furthermore, she began noticing that many new entrepreneurs and startups were unfamiliar with the importance of HR and accounts.
“Their focus on product development and sales often led them to start solo or with fewer than three employees, assuming little to no need for proper HR and accounts documentation,” she elaborated.
It’s only during the yearly compliance submissions that they realise these inadequacies result in penalties.
Hearing about these challenges from entrepreneur friends and those working in HR and accounting firms, Fiona conceived the idea for a solution—Heartworks Solutions.
With the support of the community
Essentially, virtual assistants and personal assistants are pretty much the same—just that VAs primarily operate virtually.
Virtual assistance is a pretty broad term, but Fiona markets Heartworks as being a “virtual business support specialist”.
“We address the challenges of daily administrative operations neglected by new business owners, busy individuals, and SMEs who lack the time to manage these crucial tasks,” she explained.
While their services are tailored to suit different clients’ needs, the common services they offer include:
- Payroll and HR management
- Invoicing
- Client and vendor liaising
- Payment-related tasks
- Research
- Email management
- Social Media admin assistance
They also occasionally offer on-ground services in the form of event coordinating, bank visits, and certain government compliance licences and application submissions.
Starting a venture of her own was tough, but Fiona was persistent and would approach various entrepreneur groups to showcase her portfolio.
“Fortunately, I caught the attention of Daniel Cerventus, who kindly gave me a few shoutouts,” she said, referring to the creator of Nextupasia, a popular entrepreneurship Facebook group with over 137k members.
“This positive reinforcement made me realise that I could succeed.”
Today, Heartworks has a team of about nine VAs, with half of them being full-time.
Given her personal struggles, Heartworks doesn’t just solve entrepreneurs’ pain points—it serves as a solution for its own employees. A number are actually single or stay-at-home mums who especially benefit from flexible, remote jobs so they can care for their children better.
“Although I am not a mother myself, I understand the challenges of being unable to commit to daily work,” Fiona pointed out.
As of today, Heartworks has worked with around 30 clients. At most, they’ve worked with around six to seven active demand companies at once.
“Currently, as I am still building my team to be stronger and more capable of serving additional clients, I haven’t run any ads,” she revealed. “Our growth has been primarily through word of mouth and networking sessions among the entrepreneur groups I am part of.”
Maintaining a competitive edge
The good thing about providing remote assistance is that you can technically work with anyone you want from all over the world.
However, Heartworks sets itself apart from all the alternative options by being a localised solution.
Fiona explained, “While others outsource abroad, we stay rooted here, ensuring a deep understanding of local compliance and systems.”
That’s on the client-facing side, but why should VAs work with Fiona rather than find opportunities themselves?
To that, Fiona said that attempting to secure jobs on global platforms like freelancer.com and Upwork isn’t easy.
“It demands dedication, consistency, and the ability to stand out in a crowded marketplace where some individuals offer incredibly low hourly rates,” she said, speaking from experience.
At Heartworks, things are simpler, as it’s basically the same as applying for any job. Interested individuals just need to submit their resumes and undergo a probationary period to ensure they have the necessary skills to be a VA.
“While I may not be able to offer high salary packages at the moment, as most positions are on a contract and hourly rate basis, I provide various monetary incentives and reimbursements to encourage dedication.”
Working towards the future
Fiona shared that currently, the average monthly revenue for Heartworks is in the range of RM10,000 to RM15,000.
“The growth has been deliberate, as I’ve been conservative in accepting new clients, prioritising quality over quantity,” she explained.
These days, Fiona has been working to secure a grant from Mereka’s Women in Entrepreneurship programme, where she has been selected as the Top 20 entrants.
She’s also collaborating with Flexi Associates, which focuses on training women in career breaks to re-enter the workforce, either in corporates or as virtual assistants.
The big goal with Heartworks is to grow it into a trustworthy one-stop business process outsourcing (BPO) service provider, catering to the entire Malaysia and even beyond.
- Learn more about Heartworks Solution here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.
Featured Image Credit: Heartworks Solution
