Is a Virtual Assistant Career Right for You?

If you think about it, this can be a controversial question, right?

Some people will automatically say yes!

Others will waver a bit before they answer,

…..and a few will admit it is not!

At first glance, many people may think virtual assistance is a simple career to break into but unfortunately, reality often proves otherwise.

Although in theory anyone with the right technical and administrative skills can become a Virtual Assistant, in practice, only a few really run a successful Virtual Assistant business.

For many, Virtual Assistance is a dream comes true, but for others, this dream sometimes turns into a horrible nightmare.

So, what can you do to ensure your Virtual Assistant business IS in fact a dream career?

Well, to start with, here are a few important questions to ask yourself before starting your own virtual assistant business:

1. Can you work independently? In a 9-5 job, you know what is expected of you and someone else determines how much work you do and when you do it. As a Virtual Assistant, you’re the boss and the buck stops with you. Nobody tells you what to do, nobody motivates you and nobody determines your pace.

2. Do you understand the VA industry? Do you understand that a Virtual Assistant is an independent business owner and what it all entails? Do you know what services you will provide and do you understand how to effectively communicate with your clients and deliver your services when you are miles or even continents apart?

3. Do you understand what it takes to run a business and are you ready for that commitment? As independent business owners, VAs run their own businesses and as such have to consider things like …

• Deciding on a Business name
• Developing a Business Plan
• Developing a Marketing Plan and Finding their own clients
• Developing a Website
• Determining a suitable rate to charge for their services
• Having an effective bookkeeping system for invoicing and collecting payments
• Developing contracts to protect themselves and their clients
• Protecting their business via insurance and effective back-up plans

4. Do you have marketable skills? If you’ve had experience as an administrative assistant, you most likely have the skills needed to get started. But you may need to add new skills to really stand out from the crowd since the number of Virtual Assistants competing for jobs has increased tremendously. Thus, in order to be really successful it is necessary to have a unique, desirable skill set. In other words, skills that are in high demand and that are not freely available. Skills which can solve a client’s needs and skills that you can charge a premium price for.

5. Can you wait for your first client? In most cases, clients will not line up for your services the minute you open your doors for business.  Growing a business takes time and often you don’t find that first client for several months. Do you have enough financial resources as a back-up when you don’t find your first client soon? Do you have your plans in place to go out FIND your first client?

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It is important to be patient and persevere during the start-up phase and to continue marketing your business on a daily basis. Face-to-face marketing to friends, family, colleagues and new potential clients and spreading the message via “Word of Mouth” is usually the easiest and most common method of finding your first solid client.

As I already said above, a Virtual Assistant career can be a dream comes true for many, but it can just as easily convert into a nightmare for those who are not sufficiently prepared for the challenges that will come their way.

If you cannot answer positively on the questions above, but it is still your passion to become a Virtual Assistant – don’t despair. There is a lot of information on the VA industry, what it takes to become a Virtual Assistant and how to have a successful Virtual Assistant career. Read as much as you can, join VA organisations, speak to existing VAs, start your business part-time, get a business coach if you want and develop your skill sets until you feel more comfortable.

Remember: Anything in life is possible – but only you can decide how to live your dream!!

At Be Virtual Assistant Wise, we are really passionate about helping you to succeed in your virtual assistant career.  We would also love to hear about the challenges you experience in starting your VA business . You can use the comment box below to tell us more about it.

Virtual Assistant Success Secrets

How do you define Virtual Assistant success and what (if any) is the secret of successful VAs?

Well, Virtual Assistant success can be defined in many different ways. For some, it can mean financial riches. For others, it mean reaching the top in their field. Some simply define success as living a fulfilled and contented life.

Whatever definition you choose, we all know that real success depends on a combination of different factors, coming together over a period of time.

Although there is no real shortcut to success, I believe there is a secret in becoming a successful VA: a secret so simple that it is often overlooked….

The secret is: Start with the “basics”.

Please share your thoughts and add what you believe can contribute to Virtual Assistant success.

As a Virtual Assistant, the World is Your Office

Today is the first day that I am working in my new home office in Doha Qatar. Our family will be living in the Middle East for the next couple of years as my husband was offered a position with an Engineering company in Qatar. We have a beautiful villa with large sun filled rooms and my office is overlooking a peaceful row of palm trees – a welcoming patch of colour in the otherwise light brown desert landscape.

View of our Villa

Living in the Middle East can be peaceful, mysterious, breathtaking, intimidating and exciting all at the same time and in only a week, I’ve already experience all of these emotions.

Qatar is quite an interesting country with a few unspoken laws of do’s and don’ts. For example

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Becoming a Virtual Assistant | 7 Virtual Assistant Tips

Becoming a Virtual Assistant is almost as diverse as the colours of a beautiful sunset.

Watching a beautiful sunset the other day I couldn’t help thinking about the wonder and diversity of colour.  Yellow, orange, pink, blue … actually numerous colours danced in synergy on the horizon to give pleasure to its spectators and I was really thankful that sunsets are not only different shades of grey and white and that they differ from day to day.

While sitting in astonishment, virtual assistant marketing crossed my mind.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to adopt a different approach when doing business?  What if the virtual admin assistant business approach has a sunset effect on its clients?  Will it make a difference?

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Become a Virtual Assistant | Work from Home

Do you want to become a virtual assistant?

Start your own business and work from home? With the fast growth in internet technology it is all possible and various administrative tasks can be performed from the comfort of your own home.

What is a Virtual Assistant? A virtual assistant is practically the same as a personal office assistant. Some differences however are that when you become a virtual assistant, you do not work for only one boss anymore, but you can perform administrative services to a number of different clients. You are also not working face-to-face with your clients, but conduct these services from a remote location (your home office) and communicate and interact with your clients mostly via the internet.

Who will hire a Virtual Assistant? In our current economy more and more entrepreneurs are looking for ways to have time on hands to focus on their business’s core activities, increase their own productivity and ultimately their business profitability. This opens up the opportunity Read more »