When you are considering starting a VA business, this is often the first question that you ask someone.
Can I really make a living as Virtual Assistant?
Of course you can! Thousands of women (and men!) and doing it worldwide.
It probably seems to good to be true – working from home, setting your own hours, setting your rates – and the clients just roll in. Right?
Well, not quite.
Being a Virtual Assistant is often much more difficult than just getting up and going to a job every day.
Yes you have the luxury of not having the commute, or that crabby boss, but you really need to set yourself up for success if you want to be a VA long term.
That means doing the work. Setting up the foundations. Making the decisions. And working really hard every day to keep it going.
Commitment is one of the biggest things you need when you decide to start a VA business.
But let’s talk specifics.
If you want to ‘make a living’ you need to identify what that means to you.
How much money do you need to earn?
If you want to replace your entire corporate salary, then you have to start there – with your gross pay being the more important number than your take-home pay.
You will be responsible to pay your own expenses, including taxes.
And while you can write off some business expenses, you need to realize that your prices will need to support the revenue you need. That math sometimes scares potential VAs off.
The rate you set will need to support your salary and your expenses.
For example, if you are earning $50,000 (gross) right now, you will need to earn at least that to keep your business going. $50K a year is about $4K a month.
But that money is not all yours – you have to reserve around 30% for taxes (which your employers pays for you), plus your expenses, and your own salary.
When I teach VAs to price out their services, I get them to start with how much they need to bring in – and we go from there.
It’s fairly simple math, but it’s really important to do so you can be sure that you are charging the right amount.
And then there is the ‘finding clients’ part.
No matter what anyone tells you, this part is not usually easy (at first).
You don’t put up a website and then people call. You don’t just join a job board and get work.
Building a good VA business takes a lot of connecting and network building – to get great clients. Hint: it’s also the quickest way to get clients!
Many VAs, if they are charging appropriately, only need to work with 5 regular clients to earn what they want in their business. And that’s easily doable when you set your foundations up right.
So we’ve covered rates and clients.
Now we come to boundaries.
This is one of the biggest issues that I see new VAs struggle with.
Although we are working from home, we still need to set clear boundaries so that work gets done when it needs to (it’s the reason we are able to be at home, so it needs to be a priority!) and then personal obligations like family and household chores come second.
Now before you jump on me to say family comes first (!) listen to what I am saying. You need to set boundaries for each to balance them.
Set regular business hours and tell everyone you will be working during those hours.
Your clients and family will feel better knowing when that is, and they will all adjust. Hold your boundaries for yourself as well – it’s often us that breaks our own boundaries, and then the wheels fall off the wagon.
To really make a go of your business, you need to find that balance and hold your work time sacred – not squeeze it in around being a housewife and mom.
Your business is like a job where you are your own boss – you need to treat it as such.
And when you do that, the sky is honestly the limit.
I started working during regular business hours many years ago. I put my son in daycare even though I worked from home. I got to get client work done during the day, as though I was at work at a job – and then when my family came home, it was family time. I didn’t work evenings and weekends.
Many VAs I know try to work with their kids at home during the day and they end up burning out because they have to work late into the night or early morning because they have to spend all day hanging out with their kids and making meals. It takes its toll, and there really is a better way.
Instead of worrying about the babysitter bill, just get another client that covers it. Do all of your work during the day when the kids are occupied – and enjoy your family in the evenings!
Burning the candle at both ends is not my idea of fun, nor why I started a business. It was so worth it to have my son in daycare (half days to start!), for me to work during the day and have my evenings completely free. And then when he started school it was even easier.
And when you charge appropriate rates (please don’t charge $20/hour, it’s not enough to sustain a business – speaking of burnout!), you can bill your clients fewer hours a day and still make the money you need to. Planning is essential to make sure that starting a business works for you in the way you need it to.
Can you make a living as a VA? Absolutely you can – make sure you do your business plan and set those foundations in place first. Your expectations will be set and you’ll have a great plan to hit the ground running!
To get a jump start on your Business Plan, watch this training video Building Your Business Plan. There are more than 40 free training videos for VAs on my Youtube channel!
And if now you really know you want to start a VA business, have a look at my Earn 50K as a VA group coaching program that will be running LIVE in September! www.50kvabiz.com