What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

https://www.vahub.co.uk/, https://linktr.ee/nicolatheaker

The VA Hub, Marple (2026)

20/05/2025

Just doing our thing.... 😍

"Nicola has been an absolute godsend in my business over the last few months - and worth every penny.

She has an amazing ability to make sense of tangled thoughts and messy spreadsheets and turn them into efficient processes and tools that make my business run smoothly. It has been such a relief knowing she's got things in hand.

I also love Nicola's calm and non-judgemental approach to any chaos I bring to the table, and the fact that she's professional but fun as well!

I know how hard it can feel to let go of aspects of our business and to let someone in behind the scenes, but Nicola has made the process so easy and worthwhile. I highly recommend her to any small business owner!"

15/05/2025

It's been a while since I shared what we do in The VA Hub and what we are all about, and since I've made some new connections recently thought it was worth another share!

In a nutshell, we help business owners confidently let go of things that are holding them back in their business, and help them work out what operational structure and support they need to enable growth.

We work with clients across different sectors with businesses of different sizes. Creative to tech, solopreneurs to bigger businesses, but they all have one thing in common... They need to get stuff out of their head and off their to-do list. That's where we come in!

We offer operational services from admin support through to strategic planning and delivery, and lots of things in between. We work with clients on an ongoing or project basis, and flex the support to meet the demand of the business.

We pride ourselves in helping people achieve a better balance, reducing stress and overwhelm, and making things less complicated. And we like to have a laugh while we do it.

Sound interesting? Get in touch if you want to chat!

01/05/2025

Exactly 1 year ago today I opened my laptop as a full time business owner, and thought to myself WTF am I doing?! I said I'll give it a year, and if it's a total flop I'll get a job. What's the worst that can happen.

Cue lots of self-doubt, periods of procrastination, trying really hard to find my 'place' and my people.

"Just wait" everyone would say.
"Be patient, and it'll be a success".
"Stay consistent and don't give up"

I don't have any patience. But I did. And guess what - what they said was true, it worked!!!

I have built a business, and it continues to grow, and I LOVE it. So now (even though I'm only a year in), if I meet anyone who's starting out I say - be patient, stay consistent, don't give up!

10/04/2025

I was super chuffed to receive a Super YAB award for Professional Growth recently!!

I joined YAB quite early on in my business owner journey, and I'm so glad I did! It is an amazing community of awesome business owners and leaders supporting and championing each other on goals, opportunities and challenges. I've had so much great advice from people as well as making some great pals.

Very happy to be recognised amongst this inspiring and successful group of people for my progress so far.

Sorry that I missed the Super YAB event to get my award, but here is the wonderful Kerrie and I at a recent YAB event - look how happy I am! 😂

08/04/2025

What's the first thing to drop off your list?..

It's been a while since I posted anything on socials... I've just looked back and my last post was in January, where has this year gone!!

2025 has been a busy one for The VA Hub (and we are almost officially 1 year old!)

I've been focusing on working with my existing clients, bringing on new clients and building a team, so it's a really exciting time, but finding the time to do my social posting as well has been tricky.

If I'm honest, could I have found the time to do the odd post? Probably. It's a lack of time but also a lack of headspace to create!

When you get busy what's the first thing that doesn't get done?

13/02/2025

What do you do then Nicola? What goes on in the The VA Hub??

Well, in a nutshell.....

12/02/2025

This client and I worked together after they reached a breaking point, and they were left feeling completely overwhelmed by the lack of organisation in their business.

As an expert in their field (and in high demand), all they wanted to do was to focus on the thing they loved doing - delivering a service to their clients. NOT dealing with all the operational systems and processes!

With a lack of clear processes, the business was held together on various systems and spreadsheets, resulting in the client having a complete lack of visibility of what was happening when on a day to day basis, and also prevented them from being able to plan for the future. The client was stressed, and was struggling to see a way to move forward.

So we sat down face to face for a few hours and worked through together methodically each area of the operation to come up with some key actions. By prioritising what would have the biggest impact to them personally, the success of their business, and their client satisfaction, we were able to focus on several key actions rather than the client feeling like they needed to do 100 things.

We shared and worked through the actions, resulting in a smoother and well organised operation, taking the pressure off my client.

What I love about this is that while I still support the client with some bits on an ongoing basis, the way we simplified the whole challenge, and set up their operation in a way that they need me much less, and that's something I strive to bring into every client relationship.

Full testimonial in the comments - Happy days!!

30/01/2025

As we approach the implementation of changes to the Public Procurement Act, many SME businesses are curious about how these new policies will affect their ability to participate in government tenders.

The changes are designed to simplify processes, reduce barriers, and make it easier for smaller businesses to access opportunities that were once out of reach.

The promised benefits for SMEs include:

✅ Streamlined application processes
✅ Greater transparency and fairness in tendering
✅ Increased access to public contracts

I'm really interested to know.....

Do you know about the upcoming changes?
Are you still hesitant to source and apply for tenders?
Do you think these changes will actually make it easier, or are there still barriers putting you off?

23/01/2025

When I met this client they said to me, 'I think I need your help, but I have no idea what with'.

So we spent some initial time together looking at their vision, strategic direction, growth plans and financials to identify where the biggest gaps were and where I could add value.

My client is a creative and self-confessed chaotic person. They have amazing ideas, big growth plans, and a great purpose-driven business.

My client has a number of propositions in their business, so they implemented some new technology help manage and grow their business, but in truth getting their head around the tech was holding them back, wasting all of their time and blocking their creativity. This, we figured out, was where they needed the help the most.

It became clear as we started to work through it that the system could give them the support they needed to run, but my client had tied themselves in knots trying to set it all up with zero spare time.

I methodically went through what had been set up in the system, sharing with my client how we could improve the current set up to make it simpler and more effective. Bit by bit I have implemented the improvements, and now I support my client by managing their tech if they want to introduce a new service or offer, if there is a technical issue that needs troubleshooting, or general tweaks.

And this is what they have to say about working with me! ❤️

"I've worked with Nicola for a few months now, and I honestly don’t know how I managed without her! Being self-employed and not very tech-savvy, I used to lose hours falling down rabbit holes trying to figure things out. Nicola has been the calm in my storm—the sanity in my chaos.

I’m the least organised person ever, and my business is very personal and creative. I was worried about losing that personal touch by bringing someone in to help, but Nicola has found a way to make me shine while keeping things organised and running smoothly. We’ve found our roles, and I couldn’t be more grateful!"

22/01/2025

Are you equipped to deal with the unexpected?

Running a business means handling surprises on a regular basis. It could be an unexpected challenge like an urgent client request or a personal emergency that catches you off guard. Or it could be more pleasant - like a new opportunity to grow your business.

With the right set up, you can take some of the pressure off to help you adapt to whatever comes your way. Without it, you have manual workarounds, wasted precious time spent on laborious tasks, increased risk and a whole load of stress.

The set up you need depends on the type and size of your business, and may look completely different to when you started out - defining processes, cloud-based solutions, task automation and having easy access to your data can all help free up time and support quicker decision making.

If you feel ill equipped, choose one area of your business that feels chaotic and find a way to simplify it. It could managing your diary more effectively, challenging yourself to delegate more, or you might need to look at a CRM tool to help manage your business. If you need some ideas let me know!

What’s the one thing that you've done or implemented in your business that’s been a lifesaver in a tough moment?

📸 Very much not equipped for an (unsurprisingly) muddy walk in the Cotswolds last week….. no excuses 🤣

15/01/2025

Starting the year with a bang or a mild fizz?

Procrastination gets us all at some point. For me it shows up with a vengeance in January, my least favourite month of the year (which I'm sure is the case for a lot of people). I'm not sure what my favourite month is.. it's definitely the summer month for sunshine, travelling and festivals! 🎪

When I'm working on other people's businesses, I'm on it.

But when it comes to working on my own business growth and plans? Cue lots of staring out of the window, second guessing myself, and finding anything else to do except the thing I should be doing.

Overcoming procrastination is not a one size fits all solution, everyone has to find their own way. I've got my own strategies that help me get a bit closer to what I'm trying to achieve (but there is still lots of staring out of the window!)..

👩‍💻Break it down - I write what I need to do somewhere, and then break it into smaller, more achievable tasks - I'm a big fan of the satisfaction of ticking something off a list! I have lists of lists

👩‍💻Accountability - I share what I'm trying to achieve with someone, once I've said it out loud it gives me extra motivation to complete it

👩‍💻Dig Deep - If I can face it, I'll dig deep for the reason I'm procrastinating about it. Once I understand why (lack of knowledge or fear of rejection are common!) it makes it much easier to coach myself into finding the right approach

👩‍💻Change my Environment - I'm sat in a cafe this morning, with a specific task to complete for my own business. Changing my backdrop really helps me disconnect from the day to day

👩‍💻Progress is Progress - I (try) not to give myself a hard time if I haven't fully achieved what I wanted in the time that I allocated to it. Steps in the right direction is better than standing still!

What do you do to overcome procrastination??

# strategies

13/01/2025

When I first met with my client they were completely stressed and overwhelmed with the running of their business.

As a solopreneur for a number of years, they found themselves drowning in all of the tasks and responsibilities to stay on top of the day to day running of their business. Each day was a whirlwind of trying to get through the to-do list and paralysed by what to prioritise, with zero time to look further ahead than the next day or two.

My client was fed up of the constant pressure, and fearful of whether a ball was going to get dropped. They started wondering if it was all worth it and they were considering going back into employment.

The client knew they wanted support and when we met it felt like we were aligned in our values and approach, but the next challenge was what to outsource?? As they'd been running their business from their head for such a long period of time, it felt impossible for them to see what really needed their expertise and what didn't.

So we went on a bit of a journey together, slowly unpicking what happens in the business, what does the customer journey look like, where are their strengths, how do we get everything out of their head and into a structure and process. Bit by bit we peeled away the layers and the more structure we put in place, the easier it became to hand over responsibilities, which worked really well as we built trust into long-term partnerships.

Being a solopreneur can be a lonely and sometimes scary place, despite having the best support from friends and family. You can get so busy it becomes impossible to find time to take a step back and figure out how to bring some operational support into your business, and who to work with and trust.

I'm really happy that I was able to support my client work it out, and we continue onwards on the journey! It's been a total pleasure to work with them and see them step into their leadership role, and I'm incredibly grateful they trust me to manage their business and get immense feelings of pride that I'm having a positive impact (full testimonial in the comments).

Photo credit: With Passion & Purpose

The VA Hub

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Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm