If you have just discovered the Virtual Assistant industry, it may sound too good to be true. Can you really make a living working from home?
The idea of working from home, setting your own schedule, and being there for your family sounds great when you are slugging it out every day at a job you don’t like.
But it’s a scary leap, to leave the comfort of collecting a regular paycheque, to being a Virtual Assistant, isn’t it?
I get this question all the time from women who want to know… can you really make a living as a VA?
The answer is, of course, yes. However there are many factors that come into play to come up with that YES.
Being a Virtual Assistant means running your own business. It’s not as simple as just working from home. You have to do all of the work. You have to find the clients, you have to do your own admin, you have to pay your own taxes and expenses.
But the good news is that with a little training and planning, it’s really not that hard to replace your corporate salary with a great VA business.
What do you need to learn?
You need to learn the business foundations that it takes to run a business. How to set up your government stuff, how to set your rates properly, how to choose your services and how to find clients. A good business plan will help you to make these decisions.
You need to learn how to work virtually with clients. It’s not terribly different from working with clients in person – you just use the Internet and the cloud more – but there are security, confidentiality and privacy issues that you must consider. Things like using password and file sharing systems, keeping your work computer away from other family members.
You also need to learn how to connect with other business owners. Building your business will be easier when you get used to networking and simple marketing.
When you set up the right foundations, you make things much easier for yourself as you get started, and as your VA business grows.
Whether you want to create a small part-time VA business or a full-time busy one, the principles are the same.
The sky is literally the limit for you – because you do the planning. If you need to replace a corporate salary with your business, do the math to figure out what that looks like – how many clients you need, how much to charge them, what to do for them. It’s all about planning and decision making.
The most important thing to do is get help with what you don’t know.
That could be a free training, or a paid course, or working with an expert like a coach or trainer.
Learning what you don’t know is key to moving through the issues that can keep your VA business permanently in the research phase, or spinning your wheels once you do begin.
But can you make a living as a Virtual Assistant? Absolutely – thousands of VAs are doing it now. I’ve been doing it for over 23 years. And you can too!
Learning how to set up your business right is a huge part of your success as a VA. If your business doesn’t have a solid foundation yet, start there. My Getting Started as a VA program takes you through all of your business foundations – business planning, goal setting, choosing services, setting rates, marketing message, networking, and much more. Check it out here to get your VA business started on the right track today.