Prices at the pump have been growing higher and higher, with the national average hovering at $1.74 per gallon according to the AAA. “The federal government has warned that gasoline prices could increase by an additional 30 cents to 40 cents a gallon this summer because of new formulation requirements,” said Rayola Dougher, senior policy analyst with the American Petroleum Institute. But, home-based entrepreneur, Cheryl Allin, owner of VirtuAllin Administrative Services isn’t worried at all.

Prices at the pump have been growing higher and higher, with the national average hovering at $1.74 per gallon according to the AAA.

“The federal government has warned that gasoline prices could increase by an additional 30 cents to 40 cents a gallon this summer because of new formulation requirements,” said Rayola Dougher, senior policy analyst with the American Petroleum Institute.

But, home-based entrepreneur, Cheryl Allin, owner of VirtuAllin Administrative Services isn’t worried at all. With today’s economy, it makes more and more sense to skip the commute and run a home-based business. Ms. Allin states, “I used to drive at least an hour a day, but now my commute consists of walking from my bed to the coffee maker.” Cheryl is one of millions of entrepreneurs who has taken the plunge and started a home-based business. Experts feel the huge growth of the SOHO (Small Office, Home Office) phenomenon in recent years is a result of the poor economy, lack of traditional jobs and parents who want to be home for the children while still earning an income.

Thanks to advances in technology and the internet, it’s easier than ever for anyone to start a home-based business. Ms. Allin has been a Virtual Assistant (VA) for over three years. She says, “I had just given birth to my third child and was contemplating returning to my job at a dotcom. I realized I just had no desire to return, I wanted to stay home with my children.” So what Ms. Allin did was jump onto the net and start researching her options. She found the Virtual Assistant industry, started www.virtuallin.com and never looked back. “It’s just been so wonderful. I come from an extensive background in executive assistance and I also had some background in real estate. Now, I serve the real estate industry exclusively as a PREVA (Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant) providing website design, search engine optimization, desktop publishing, technical support and more! I work with clients all over the country,” says Allin.

Ms. Allin is not alone. The Virtual Assistant industry accounts for nearly 1500 US home-based businesses and is showing no signs of slowing down in growth. Companies that hire virtual assistants get the help they need without shelling out employment taxes, health benefits, or even so much as a computer, phone line, or office space. They also get the flexibility of contracting only for the hours they actually need, rather than a full 40 hour work week. Virtual Assistants get the flexibility to avoid a commute, choose their own hours and can even work in their pajamas.

“A great many businesses today realize that to compete, they have to focus only on their core competency,” Ms. Allin explains, “the rest, they outsource to expert Virtual Assistants. If they don’t have an assistant, they *are* the assistant. My clients see their productivity increase by 200 – 400% within the first month. They also want to use technology to grow their business, but don’t want to have to master those technologies themselves.”

Ralph Tiz, of www.Avalon-Dream-Homes.com and a VirtuAllin client says, “Cheryl is always there for me, despite our being separated by thousands of miles. She’s available via phone, instant messaging or email and she often accesses my PC remotely to show me how to work software, to backup my files or help me configure my email accounts. She keeps me focused, on task and her expertise is invaluable to my business.”

If Cheryl were one of Ralph’s employees, she’d have to drive from Tacoma, Washington to Avalon, New Jersey every day. Talk about a gigantic gas bill!