Farley was dead; to begin with.

There was no doubting this, as the clergy, the clerk, the undertaker & the chief mourner had born witness to it. No doubt, Farley was as dead as a door nail.

Ebineasor Scrounge was an over worked Accountant, but never spent a penny more than was needed for any business expense. His clothes were thread bare & his socks darned over darning. His offices were small & meagre & never once were the windows opened in the heat of summer, nor the heating put on in the depths of winter.

Scrounge’s long standing & only employee Bobby Clacket, had worked for Scrounge for many a long year, as Scrounge had put him through his apprenticeship in years gone by & Clacket felt a duty to remain in his employee, even though the wages were poor & the conditions were hellish. Even at the festive time of Christmas, Scrounge didn’t let his guard down & no decorations adorned his offices & no charitable donations were made. Scrounge even begrudged having to pay Clacket for time off at Christmas to spend with his family.

Upon the afternoon of Christmas eve, Scrounge ushered Clacket out of the doors without even a Merry Christmas in his wake & shut the doors of the Accountancy behind him.

Upon his way home, he stopped at his regular eatery & ate a meagre meal, before trudging home.

On his journey he witnessed sights of such festive & seasonal joy it made him grumble. “Bah humbug” mumbled Scrounge as he hurried himself through the icy streets.

Upon his return home & as he approached his house, he thought he saw in the half light, the face of his dead associate Egon Farley appear as a ghostly apparition in the door. Thinking he was over tired, he shook the apparition off & trudged his way through the door & off to his freezing cold drawing room, to warm his misery hands over a meagre fire.

As he sat there mulling over the ways in which he could save more money the following year, he noticed, as if an everyday occurrence, his dead business partner Egon Farley casually walk through the wall & seat himself upon the chair before him.

Before Scrounge had the time to rub his disbelieving eyes; the apparition spoke in a booming & terrifying voice.

“Ebineasor Scrounge you have become the worst of yourself. You set up our Accountancy company to help those in need & to be a great part of the community. What has happened to you Scrounge? Where have your bright & brilliant ideas gone? I’ll tell you where. You have fallen foul of becoming a workaholic Scrounge. You have lost sight of what you wanted from your business & you can no longer see. Look, look here Scrounge”

At this point Farley opened Scrounge’s window & the air was filled with swirling spirit’s, all looking haggard & every one of them weighted down with a heavy safe.

Scrounge’s face was full of fear “What are these Farley? “ he said

“These are the spirits of all those business owners who lost sight of their business ideas, didn’t seek any outside help & finally died without knowing the value of business & business planning. Heed this warning Scrounge & prepare yourself for a visitation from three spirits” as his last words hung on his cold dead lips, Farley lifted in the air & joined the other swirling throng & disappeared.

Scrounge fell into a faint & when he awoke he was tucked into his cold hard bed. Just as he was about to shake off the whole experience with Farley as an illusion, his bedroom filled with an eary light & as he stared, a woman appeared next to his bed.

“Good evening Scrounge. My name is Katy Jane & I am the Ghost of Christmas past” Katy Jane proceeded to share a vision of joy & pleasure from Scrounge’s past, including how bright & marvellous his social media & website used to look. How he had blogged regularly, shared stories & engaged with his clients in a meaningful way.

“But, I didn’t have the time to keep up with it all once the business took off” wailed Scrounge “& Clacket is an accountant & doesn’t have the first clue about being online”

“I am a VA (Virtual Assistant) Scrounge & I specialise in maintaining social media & online content for businesses. You don’t have to employ me as I am freelance, which gives you so much more freedom as a business owner. You will be visited by two more spirits who will show the value of working with a VA & how VA’s can transform a business seamlessly & efficiently. Expect the other spirit soon Scrounge. Fare thee well”

As these last words hung about the spirts lips, Scrounge pondered if what she had said was true. Could such a thing exist? A remote worker who could help transform his business?

Before Scrounge could fathom a moment longer, the room sparkled to light again, this time accompanied by the sights & smells of a Christmas party atmosphere.

Amongst the sparkling lights, Scrounge could make out another young woman.

“Scrounge, I am the Ghost of Christmas Present. My name is Jane Wasley & I am a VA (Virtual Assistant) I specialise in event management & corporate travel.” With this, Jane shared visions of Scrounge’s past self attending Festive gatherings, travelling to seminars & conferences & engaging in business to business events, gathering new industry contacts & clients along the way.

“I founded the business, got the clients I needed & didn’t see the value in carrying on with any of it” said Scrounge. “I also couldn’t justify the expense of hosting events or attending seminars, what is the point?”

Jane smiled at Scrounge & simply said “Keeping in touch with your clients & staying on top of business trends is really important for any business & helps them remain current in a changing market. I could help sort all of your travel, Visa’s & even organise an event for your long standing clients as a Thank you for their loyalty & custom. You would only need to let me know your budget & a guideline of your expectations & I would take up all of the rest”

Scrounge again was dumbfounded that such a service existed. A remote person, able to undertake all of this work & no need to provide a desk, pension or even heating?!

Scrounge’s mind whirled with thoughts of business adventure & prosperity & while he contemplated, he hadn’t noticed that the Ghost of Christmas Past had slipped away quietly & had been replaced by another spirit.

“Scrounge, I am the Ghost of Christmas yet to come. I am Helena Parrott VA (Virtual Assistant) & Executive Assistant & I support businesses with all manner of business administration, policy writing, executive travel, legal paper work, office rescue, business mentoring, business planning & a whole host of individually honed skills to support different businesses”

As she spoke, Helena showered Scrounge with images of a future for his business. In the visions she showed Clacket finally leaving after being head hunted by a corporate accountancy firm. Helena showed how slowly but surely Scrounge loses touch with modern Accountancy ideas & his clients leave him one by one. In the vision Scrounge saw himself alone & isolated & ultimately with a sign above his accountancy door saying ‘Out of business’

Scrounge reeled in horror & fell at the knees of the final spirit & begged her to not let his future become as she had predicted.

“Scrounge, only you can make the decisions to help support your business” & as she melted into the walls, Scrounge fell into a fitfull sleep. As he slept, a Virtually Smart Ltd business card fluttered & landed by his head.

It was Christmas morning & Scrounge awoke with a start. Had what he had witnessed been real? Could he really transform his business with a team of remote working VA’s? As he rolled his head upon his pillow, he noted the Virtually Smart Ltd business card laying next to him.

Without further ado, Scrounge jumped from his bed, turned on his laptop & emailed Helena Parrott – Director of Virtually Smart Ltd, to arrange an online meeting as soon as was possible. Scrounge told Helena all about his visitations & how the VA world had been opened up to him & he knew that he needed to change his ways to ensure his company, including Clacket, could thrive & flourish with the Virtually Smart Ltd expertise.

As Scrounge walked from his house on a Chilly Christmas morning, he greeted all he met with a resounding “Merry Christmas” As he made his way to Bobby Clacket’s house through the icy streets & knocked upon his door; he presented him with a vast bonus saying “You have been there from the beginning & I have never recognised your devotion & your hard work. Please take this as a symbol of my appreciation, take the entire festive period off with your family & upon your return, we will discuss your pay rise. We’re working with a team of VA’s in the new year Clacket & things are going to change. Merry Christmas to all”

Written by Katy Jane for & on behalf of Virtually Smart Ltd