Early on in my practice, I only had a Mac. I worked my corporate job on a Windows PC and a Mac, but only had a Mac to use for my business. It wasn’t until seeing how Office 2008 for Mac played with ‘real’ Office that I determined I really needed to maintain a PC in my practice to be effective with clients who work in Microsoft land.
One of the things I hated about corporate was always being behind. There wasn’t always a willingness to invest in the latest and greatest, newest and fastest when it came to software and hardware. It made it hard to work. It definitely made it hard to work fast. I swore I would never cripple myself and my business with that mindset. I made it a part of my standards to always reinvest in my business so I had the best hardware and software tools that I could afford.
As time progressed, I grabbed an amazing Dell Precision M6500 mobile workstation. 
I invested in Office 2010 when it came out, and I was sitting amazingly well. I had all the power I needed on the PC side and worked lightning fast. Then, last year I jumped on the Office 365 bandwagon and began using Office 2013 with my PC, knowing I could access it from my Mac.
There was only one issue. My 2008 Macbook Pro was no longer very Pro. Time and the new OS had made it a doorstop. This thing was SLOW.
I added a couple Mac clients, using iCal, and suddenly I was not able to bill them for all the time it took me to handle things. I had a slow computer. I needed to rethink Mac. Did I really want to invest in another Mac?
The answer, a few months later was a resounding YES.
And, I am sharing this post with you via that new Mac.
To be a top-notch VA, tools matter. Speed matters. Skills matter, too… but you can have all the skills in the world and if you don’t have the software you need or the processing speed to keep up with you, it just doesn’t matter. I was at that point. I was ready to get back on that Mac bandwagon. And, I have to tell you, it feels good.
And, it’s funny… because my clients don’t care that I boot both ways, as long as I can do the work. I care, though… because to do the work well, I need the tools at my fingertips. And, now, I have those tools without waiting for an older computer to get up to speed. My clients might not see the difference, but I do. It’s another way I invest back into my business and therefore invest back into my clients.
Me being faster and happier makes me a better VA. It’s a win-win for my clients and me. And, they never had to spend a second dealing with it. My investments pay off to keep me happy as I work. They bring me less frustration and allow me to do more with my time and energy. It’s another #werkperk to have the tools I need, when I need them.
So, I continue my 30 years of Mac (well, Apple) from my Apple IIe in the early 1980’s, to my Mac Plus in 1993, to my Powerbook in 1995, then my Macbook Pro in 2008, and now another Pro with Retina display in 2014. I’m thrilled to have a history with such an amazing business tool, and to boot both ways.
How do you invest in your business infrastructure to help your clients? I would love to hear about it.
Love your images so much, Amy. Well done post. I’m “bilingual” too. I use a PC in the office and I travel with the Mac. Three cheers for booting both ways! ~Kristy
Dear Amy,
Your blog resonates with me. I have all things Apple and Office 365 for Mac.
I acquired my first Apple which was a MacBook Pro in February 2011, the Snow Leopard 17″.
I had to shift from a PC mindset and it was a hard first 3 months, their concepts are so different I thought I would throw the MacBook away, I actually did not use it for months until I had to start using it for university assignments in September 2011. I was forced to learn how to use it and discovered its hidden wonders and one of the most powerful machine I had ever worked on.
I purchased an iMac 27″ Lion in March 2012, I was like WOW, more power. I upgraded my iMac to Maverick 10.9, though Apple streamlined the features I still cannot do without a Mac. The good news is, Apple is reinstating the missing features at every update. It is an absolute delight creating templates, documents, IDEs, and all sort of applications on the Mac.
After 3 months an iPad was generously handed to me as a gift, what a fabulous tool. I cannot live without it.
I am an overall Apple girl, it is great to see I am not the only one. With today’s Cloud based software it is even faster executing projects and providing support to others.
Kind regards,
Brigitte.
Hip, hip, hooray!
Awesome, Brigitte! I love my iPad, too. It makes life so much easier!
I too, boot both ways and love it! I think both PC and Mac have their place. There’s certainly a lot of good cross-use, but when I want to work on graphics, I always turn to my Mac. But, I like the interface of Office 365 on PC better.
I had an old 2006 MacBook Pro that JUST went belly up. I had already purchased a new MacBook last year and given the 2006 to my daughter, but it finally croaked. It was a sad moment even though I had moved on. 🙂
It is so sad when they go… like losing an old friend. 🙂
I’m a 99.9% Windows Girl (0.1% for the iPad I just recently got, lol).
The important thing here is that you found out what works for you best! 🙂
No shame in that. We should Facetime soon!
I’m an Apple lady. Worked in corporate with PCs, but used an Apple at home. I purchased an iMac back in 2008, had it upgraded to 4GB memory and still use it. I also have a 17″ Mac Book Pro that I purchased in 2012. I use both!
<3 Apple... Someday... iMac!