Jack of all trades helps overextended professionals

West Windsor-based "virtual assistant" can tackle almost any task

By: Mike Mathis
   WEST WINDSOR — Ruth Fields Gatling is a jack of many trades, and she’s striving to be a master of as many as possible.
   Ms. Gatling is a virtual assistant, prepared to tackle any task that comes her way.
   She’s the founder and owner of adVAntage Virtual Assistance, a new business that provides administrative support, data management, consulting and personal-assistance services for overextended businesses and professionals, allowing them to focus on developing clients and building their businesses instead of spending time on routine — but necessary — work.
   The company’s work is done off-site through the Internet, e-mail, telephone and instant messaging.
   Ms. Gatling’s clients include lawyers, marketing consultants and property owners who are served by a worldwide network of contract employees she’s developed during a diverse career that has taken her from Princeton to Guatemala and back again.
   "It’s a flattening of the world, to take a project and have different parts of it done around the world," said Ms. Gatling, 44, who was born and raised in Princeton and now lives in West Windsor, where her business is based. "You need to build an infrastructure, and it’s a challenge for a lot of small businesses. They don’t realize what’s involved.
   "I can tailor my services to businesses and their needs," she said.
   Ms. Gatling started adVAntage last year after deciding to spend more time with her two children.
   Her return to Mercer County marked the end of a professional adventure that took her from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where she earned a degree in theater, to Guatemala, where she and her former husband designed and produced furniture and accessories.
   Ms. Gatling also managed a restaurant in Guatemala and worked as an editor for an English-language magazine before returning to Mercer County.
   Ms. Gatling said she started adVAntage because she knows how to manage a business, wanted to be her own boss and needed to spend more time with her children.
   Ms. Gatling subcontracts jobs through referrals and to people she’s met through previous business ventures. They include a graphic artist, paralegal, bookkeeper, technical writer and database expert. The firm’s services are offered on a part-time or per-project basis.
   Ms. Gatling’s clients include an Irish client for whom she has done property management, lawyers for whom she handled administrative tasks and a marketing consultant for whom Ms. Gatling’s firm is a personal assistant.
   The company also offers small-business consulting. The firm evaluates a business, its administrative practices and its marketing, client base, and standard operating procedures to maximize profitability.
   Ms. Gatling said she generates business through networking and referrals, and she relies heavily on satisfied clients relaying their positive experiences to others.
   "Not everyone is comfortable doing business with someone they’ve never met," Ms. Gatling said. "I think I have a pretty good way of doing that."