| Deciding
Factors on becoming a VA: |
A legitimate work from home business |
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A love affair with software and getting to learn new
software to make money. |
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A need to manage my own time |
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A personal commitment to assisting entrepreneurs in
projecting a professional image |
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Ability to use all my skills |
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Ability to work and earn whilst being available for my
young family |
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Actually getting paid what I am worth |
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Always wanted to work from home. |
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As a military spouse, I needed a portable career. I was
tired of starting over every few years. I wanted to work
but couldn't afford to pay daycare with the wages in my
area. This way I can stay at home with my daughter. |
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Be home with my children |
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Be my own boss, and lay-off from my full-time job (with
a |
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Because this is my profession, and I love it!
I have over 10 years experience. |
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Being able to determine my working hours will allow me
more time to do things I've always wanted to do - i.e.
activities , personal development |
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Being able to move my practice when my military spouse
moves |
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Being able to work from home was ideal for me.
Enjoying what I do best |
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Being appreciated for my gifts |
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Being my own boss |
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Economy |
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Flex schedule - allows me to be home with child |
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Flexibility |
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Flexibility in my work schedule and the type of work I
do |
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Freedom to be creative in my work - office is so
confining and restrictive |
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Had over 20+ years of experience working independently,
managing various types of departments, office
management, accounting so I decided to work on my own
company offering my skills. |
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Have more time to spend with my family; |
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Having autonomy over my work |
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Higher pay and over all better than temping through an
agency; |
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I always wanted my own business. |
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I could be my own boss |
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I could have the freedom to spend with my family once my
husband and I decided to start having kids. |
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I could work when I wanted |
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I enjoy what I do and being able to assist others; |
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I especially like being able to work for people, yet not
have to meet them. |
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I need to spend more time with my 7 year old daughter |
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I started my VA business because it enables me to work
from home, to also be at home with my son. |
I wanted to test the waters of owning my own business in
a capacity I knew I already performed.
It came with minimal set up fees, and an
opportunity to
be constructive in a bad economy. |
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I was doing it for large corporations and said I can do
this myself without the big headaches |
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I was holding a managerial position and couldn't find an
equivalent with pay as I was making |
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I was laid-off for the 3rd time in 6 years. |
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I was retired (well, my husband was), with lots of
experience, too much time on my hands, and wanted to
keep busy. Might as well do what I know. |
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I'm not a game player and wanted my work life void of
any political office bullshit. |
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It is a niche market (not well known yet, especially in
Canada) |
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Its what I do best! |
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Job market too unstable |
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Lay off from 2 companies |
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Lay-off from my full-time job (with a generous severance
package). |
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Make my own decisions. |
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Market, Convenience, and Availability |
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More time to dedicated to my clients |
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My skills are more evident and accessible to my clients
as a VA. |
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No other VAs in my area. An open "field". |
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Opportunity to partner with my clients and really make a
difference in their lives and businesses |
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Over 25 yrs experience |
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Reached the 'ceiling' as a 'temp' and know that I have
the resources and skills to 'move up'. |
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Saw a gap in the market |
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Stay home with my daughter when got out of school |
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Staying at home. |
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The ability to do satisfying work at home. |
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The ability to run my own business while helping others
grow theirs. |
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The chance to do something I loved, make money and love
my job, all from home. |
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The excitement of being an entrepreneur |
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The freedom to control and define my work. |
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There is a lot of satisfaction in being the direct
contact and result producer for my clients. |
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Tired of working for someone else. |
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To be in charge of my own success (no one else was going
to do it for me) |
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To be in control of my own destiny |
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To have more creative control over my work. |
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To have my own business- working for myself, it is
extremely rewarding. |
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To reduce the level of stress in my life. |
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To stay home with my daughter, yet still be
professionally productive. |
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To use my education, experience and special skills |
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Using my skills to the maximum |
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Using the many skills I have and keeping them up to date |
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Utilize all our experience and equipment for gain,
eliminate the middle man between provider and client. |
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Variety of work |
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Want to use all my talents (hidden ones too). |
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Wanted my work life to be closer to my home life. (more
an emotional than proximal issue) |
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Wanted the flexibility it allowed. |
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Wanted to start my own business |
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Wanting to be home with my 5 daughters whilst still
earning an income - please note, I started doing this
before the term 'virtual assistant' was even named. |
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Work From Home |
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Work from home, my administrative background, and
self-employment. |
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Work I've done most of my life and I know. |
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| Start
up tips: |
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A great website is not worth much if no one can find it |
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A website is an important tool. |
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Advertise, cold call, fax fliers to businesses. |
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Being able to do the
tasks you advertise in your sleep |
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Believing in God and then self |
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Broadband Internet connection :-) |
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Build up your software as you need it which saves
start-up costs |
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Buy things as you see them on sale |
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Calculate the cost before you invest even a dime! |
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Check all the legalities involved |
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Check the market first and determine what your
capabilities are in relation to it. |
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Check to see if you require any special certs. |
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Check with your city, county, and state governmental
offices to see what you need for this business. Each one
is different. |
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Contact past employers, friends, friend of friends
network your business through those you know. |
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Create a realistic business plan |
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Crystallize your sales pitch. No one wants to read pages
and pages of stuff. |
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Decide how competitive you think you can be. |
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Decide your best skills and put them to work |
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Depending on your situation its NOT always best to get a
business checking account; I highly recommend that you
verify the client base income and NEED for Merchant
Credit Card account BEFORE being 'suckered' into buying
or leasing one vs. using on-line resources (third party)
payment acceptance; do market research and talk with
others BEFORE starting a business to make sure that your
time and energy is properly directed. |
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Determine your work environment ahead of time (hours you
will be working, how many clients you want to work with,
ideal tasks, etc.) |
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Develop a complete business plan. |
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Develop a public network. |
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Develop only those skills for which you have a true
affinity and love. |
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DO what you know, and what you like best! Take advantage
of WHO you know. Create your perfect job in your mind
and make it a reality! |
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Don't try to jump into your business, take your time
getting started |
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Don't use emails, they
don't get much attention or they get deleted. |
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Ensure that you have coordinating stationery and that it
is designed professionally. Your Company image counts. |
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Find a mentor |
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Find a niche and market yourself there. |
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Find your niche |
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Finding a great business coach to work with |
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First impressions are the most important, when starting
up (and always) give a positive professional message. |
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Focus focus and focus |
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Get advice from a "Start Up" Consultant |
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Get an Accountant |
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Get your office organized first before trying to solicit
business , because you will see that your mind will be
much more settled and business like, and last but not
least be patient. |
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Get your own Web site |
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Getting some training and possibly certification (just
shows to potential
clients and yourself how committed you are) |
Go LLC and not Sole Pri
It will set you up with less liability and has
more tax benefits. |
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Go slow. It
is less expensive and you don't absolutely need all the
bells and whistles to start with. |
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Have a complete collateral package prepared. |
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Have a good marketing base |
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Have a nest egg to fall back on. |
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Have enough money to be able to buy the
software/hardware/office equipment you need to run a
professional office. |
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Have good networking support |
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Have reliable hardware |
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Having a pool of money for the days when there is no
business |
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Having good equipment |
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Join a good networking organization |
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Join a VA group or two online for good to get and give
valuable information and support. |
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Join the local Better Business Bureau (networking
opportunity and shows you're committed to ethical
practices) |
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Join the local Chamber of Commerce (can't beat
networking |
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Keep a supply of business cards on you at all times, and
strike up conversations when appropriate with people. |
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Keep yourself available for consultation and support for
your clients and other VA. |
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Know that it takes a while to get established |
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Know what you really want to do. |
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Know what you want out of being a VA before you dive in,
may it be time with kids or a part time income, or a
full time income. |
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Know your competitors |
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Lots of research, and be sure you have the proper
software and office experience. |
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Make connections through associations and chambers. |
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Make my own decisions. |
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Make sure you have the skills for which you are
promoting |
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Market yourself well |
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Market, market, market. |
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Marketing classes are necessary |
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Money - so you can give yourself a professional
appearance by having nicely done brochures, business
cards, etc. |
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My business is slowly growing, but my patience is what
keeps me motivated. |
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Networking |
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Publicize and network |
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Read a lot about virtual assistants, their work, review
websites, contact them and learn the business before you
set out "shop", always be confident |
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Research others who are in the business.
Use what they don't have with what you do to make
your business stand out. |
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Research your market |
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Set goals and stick to |
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Set time aside to reflect on why you chose to do this. This will bring you happiness during the hard times. |
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Start your network with those that you know.
Word of mouth is AMAZING as a marketing tool. |
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Study your projected cashflow - can you live on what you
hope to earn? |
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Supportive family - and I mean supportive in the
emotional sense of the word. You really need someone who
is going to understand why you are putting in all the
hours it takes to do this successfully. |
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Take a Virtual Assistant class |
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Taken each step to starting the business a little
slower, spending more time working out the kinks before
they became bigger (yet overcome) problems.
Ounce of prevention IS worth a pound of cure! |
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There are some very good books on the VA industry.
Invest in one or more of them. |
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Tread everything, join everybody, trust your instincts |
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Use your contact base to grow your business |
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Avoid cheesy-looking animated graphics. (Like the old
circa 1960 secretary banging away at her typewriter -
I've seen this winner on too many sites). |
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Whatever you need to make you look professional (voice
mail, web site, brochure - not that you need all those
things, but make sure what you do use presents itself
well and professionally) |
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Write a Business Plan |
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Write a business plan and decide what your niche |
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| Things
done differently: |
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Advertise more |
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Be creative but not too creative with your co. name. It should be fun but briefly descriptive of your company
type and it's goal. |
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Be Dedicated |
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Be more proactive |
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Chamber of Commerce sooner. |
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Contact a few members of various VA organizations asking
them if they wouldn't mind sharing what they like/don't
like about their organizations. |
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Created a brand and marketing plan sooner |
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Don't Give Up |
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Ensure that I have enough promotional items for my
customers. |
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Established an office sooner |
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Gone LLC to start with. |
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Gotten a nanny for a few hours a day to be here with my
children sooner to give me a bit more flexibility. |
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Gotten into the VA boards from the very beginning. |
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Gotten my proofreader sooner |
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Had more working space at home! |
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Had someone do my website & logo from the start |
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Having a pool of money set aside |
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I don't specialize in one area of support. |
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I got my website out pretty late in the game. I would
have done it as
soon as I finished training |
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I specialize in personalizing every project undertaken. |
I think I would have put more money aside for the slow
time(s), which is
now |
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I took a part-time job when things got a little tight -
I wouldn't have
wasted that valuable time working for someone else. I
would have
spent it trying to drum up business |
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I would design a more organized and well detailed
marketing plan. |
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I would have done more marketing/networking earlier. |
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I would have identified my niche a lot sooner. It makes
marketing easier. |
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Its important to NOT advertise or say you have skills or
resources that you can not obtain or do not have |
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I've made a positive influence in the marketplace by the
type of administrative set-up of my own company. |
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Join groups who's ethics and intentions are genuine.
Avoid membership farms |
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Join more organizations |
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Joined the local Chamber sooner and started networking
earlier |
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Kept all financial (personal and business) as ONE
account; |
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Kept my full time job using that money to market my
business before I moved |
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Learned to stick to my daily goals - alot of time we
allow others to rearrange our schedules for us - learn
to say NO!! |
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Learned to stick to my daily goals - alot of time we
allow others to rearrange our schedules for us - learn
to say NO!! |
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Made sure I had on-line banking first year, not waiting
until last year for much easier accounting management,
etc. |
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Market |
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Marketed the business |
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More research on software and hardware before making my
purchases!! |
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Network, find a mentor, be patient! |
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Network. Talk
to friends, old co-workers, and listen out for anyone
not happy with the support they currently get. |
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Never advertised in a flyer sent to new homebuyer. |
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Not obtained LLC status for one of my two businesses -
retained Sole Proprietorship - schedule C; Stayed
with Money as my financial software rather than dealing
with QuickBooks hassles - Quicken would have been
preferred 'second' choice over QuickBooks because of
proprietary headaches |
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Not spent so much money so quickly |
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Often times you don't have to get an EIN, I made that
mistake, You don't have to obtain a separate checking
account - if filling income on schedule C and clients
expect to pay you by your name rather than company name
don't make life more difficult by having separate bank
accounts |
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Patience |
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Plan |
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Prepare |
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Prepared my forms a bit more before I got started. |
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Promoted more |
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Promoted myself harder in the early years. |
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Promoted myself more widely |
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Quit my full-time job before starting |
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Realize the political office bullshit in the real world
(unfortunately) exists in the VA world also. |
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Requested a 4-day week earlier (from my present
full-time job) |
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Research |
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Research and Research |
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Second and third year in business ACTIVELY marketed by
sending out follow-up materials; |
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Smile before you answer the phone.
It really does put you in a better frame of mind during
the more hectic times |
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Started earlier |
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Started sooner, trusted my instincts with potential
clients, get my family to take this serious from the get
go. |
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Started the business sooner. |
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Stayed focus - we want fast cash and there are
distractions. I was guilty of straying from the VA work
in order to get fast cash and fell pray to MLM. Also,
some will do "house cleaning" on the side.
Guess you must do what you have to but, it takes away
from what your original goal was. |
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Stuck with QChex or C2it rather than being 'suckered'
into a Merchant account when all of my clients insist on
paying by check; |
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Upgrade your skills and equipment |
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Upgraded myself earlier |
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Worked harder |
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Would have been better off billing services before
providing the finished product. |
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Would have been better off not listing prices. |
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Would have been better off with a more concise site. |
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Would have brushed up on my communication skills first |
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Would have got certified right away. |
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Would not do work I do not want to do just for the sake
of not saying NO! |
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Would not have bought computer equipment until 6 months
into the business as I now know what I should have
bought |
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Would not price myself too low to start in order to win
jobs |
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Would try and educate Floridians about the VA Industry
from the start. |
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Wrote more articles for publications |
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| Tips
on being a VA: |
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Always be willing to learn something new |
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Always carry business cards and always give them out. |
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Always strive to do a superior job. No matter how many
hours you need to put in, do it. Even if you're taking a
hit on your hourly rate, by learning an exceptionally
difficult task, you'll be able to parlay it into
something profitable in the future. |
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Be a great communicator |
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Be a professional. Skills and materials may be
impressive but true quality of work stems from the
individual. |
