Virtual Assistant – THE Blog About Our Industry

About the Virtual Assistant industry for VAs and for clients

Category Archives: Mistakes VAs make

Don’t stop!!!

It’s a busy time of year isn’t it?  Here in Australia many businesses are winding down for the year with Christmas/New Year and Summer holidays just around the corner.  And let’s face it, if you’ve had a busy year with barely a break, the need for rest and relaxation is most important. I am taking time off too, with my husband, so we can enjoy our home, our surroundings, sleep in, go for drives and do some things around the house that we haven’t yet had time to do.

So, what is my title about?  I came across a great article via a Twitter daily news called “No Room at the Inn”. The title caught my attention and it would for anyone familiar with the Christmas story.  So what was important about this message and how does it relate to business?

This is Paul’s story about how he was so busy he was knocking back work. And how a kind client jolted him into the realisation of what he was actually doing.

I have often told my VA team (and other VAs via this blog) how important it is to never stop marketing.  Never.  Because the work dries up a few months later and then you have to start all over again. Better to keep doing, than to stop and have to wind back up again. I know, been there, done that. Read Paul’s story here to find out what I’m talking about.

The Challenges of being a VA

We had our weekly IVAA Oz Coffee Chat last night.  A new event now happening Monday evenings, Melbourne time @5.30pm.  All VAs are welcome – you don’t have to be an IVAA member to participate.

The discussion last night was really good. One of the VAs spoke of a major client who had gone bust and not only had she lost their business, but so had the 30 other VAs who were providing support to this client too.  A red flag shot up in my mind’s eye and I started to ask questions.

The VA speaking is an experienced VA and she still has other clients to support, although it does hurt to lose a client who was providing regular work, and therefore regular income.  However, she did mention her concern for many of the other VAs, who were new and didn’t have other clients.

This is something I’ve often written about here and speak about to other VAs entering the industry.  It is so important to make sure you don’t relax after getting your first client and work towards getting more.  There are a few reasons for this:

  1. If you lose the client, you lose your income
  2. The tax dept may well view your circumstance as being an employee and not a contractor or business owner.  This will have repercussions for both you and the client.  You will need to check with your accountant to find out what the rulings are in your region, state or country.  But it’s probably safe to say that if 80% or more of your income comes from the one source you may be scrutinised.
  3. If you have only the one client you will lose out on the opportunities of developing new skills and keeping up with what’s happening out there – complacency can set in.

I am sure some readers of this blog can add more reasons.  I know it’s hard getting your first client and easy to think that it will be just as hard to get the second and third, but that’s not the case. The reality is as your confidence grows in yourself and your business, that does show when speaking to others over the phone, through your written emails and in meetings face-to-face.  It’s a bit like the employee thing where it’s easier to get a new job if you’re still employed, rather than having been unemployed for a period of time.  Except, in this case, you’re not an employee – you’re self-employed.

Mixing and mingling with other experienced VAs through the VA forums will help you grow in your knowledge of the industry and how to run your business.

One other thing – if your first or only client demands a lot of time from you, i.e. more than 15 hours a week, you may also be in danger of the above problems – especially if it makes you feel you don’t have time for any other clients.  There is time to be spent marketing, doing your own admin and keeping your books. But you need to make sure you have time for other clients too. So, if the one client is taking up all of your time, then it’s worth considering subbing some parts of the job to another VA or two, so you can take on other clients too. This will help to spread the workload, and spread your income across several clients.  So if you lose a client for whatever reason, it’s less likely to hurt you, your business and your bank balance.

When you start a business

There seems to be a wave of new Virtual Assistants entering the industry that have an inaccurate understanding of what a VA is and what they’re supposed to be doing as a VA.  Which is a shame as this just adds more confusion to clients as well.

Let’s get it straight. A Virtual Assistant IS a business owner/operator. They are NOT employees. As such they are responsible for their own taxes, insurances, software, hardware and other expenditure relating to running a business. Oh, and that means being responsible for their own marketing and PR.  What a surprise!

Running a business does mean that it’s going to cost money to set up a business.  Yes, almost everyone has a computer and internet connection at least in those countries where it’s become a normal way of life.  But that doesn’t mean that’s all you need to run a business from home.  Apart from having a good skillset (or should I say excellent skillset) in the services you plan to provide, you also need to be prepared to pay out for things to get that business running.

Things such as:  web presence in one form or another, business cards, phoneline or mobile phone for your business, space in your home that can be turned into an office – you might actually get clients visiting sometime, a post office box if you don’t want to tell the world your home address, membership of industry based groups that are designed to help you develop yourself and your business, updated software and the occasional training courses to use that software, and perhaps even some advertising in local phone books, newspapers or other avenues.

It amazes me that people decide they’re in business and then actually start asking questions about taxation, or commenting they can’t pay for something but expect it to be given to them free, and so on.  Wake up!  You’re in business. It’s going to cost you not only time and resources to run it, but money also.

So, if you’re not yet ready to operate as a Virtual Assistant fulltime (and that means, actually making an income and that means you must have clients already) then either don’t quit your job, or find a part-time job or register with temping agencies until such time you’re bringing in sufficient income to quit and work from home fulltime.

If you don’t have clients yet – you’re not in business.  It will happen and you need to put in the effort to network LOCALLY as well as online.  There are clients living around you too, in case you may have forgotten that. They aren’t all online.  So many ‘VAs’ claim to only want clients online so they don’t have to go out but the reality is that there are people local to you who need your services – why cut off your nose to spite your face?  Make the effort and go out and meet people locally. You can’t stay indoors 24/7 you know – you need to go out, get fresh air, meet people, and learn from locals who know more about your local business laws than those on the internet on the other side of the world from you.

So, if you’re planning to run a business, then make the effort to really make it work. A half hearted effort will only land you with less than satisfactory results and you will become one of the many statistics who say that ‘working from home doesn’t work’.  I’m telling you it does, as can many others who have put in the time and effort (that means months and years) to make it work.

Commitment – it’s a big word

I get really concerned when I hear about Virtual Assistants that let clients and their fellow VAs down.  When you’re in business the buck stops with you – there is no-one else. And so when you take on a commitment to support a client or fellow VA the onus is on you to get the work done.

Recently I had a client contact me who was desperate to get some work finished.  She had engaged a VA, paid for the project in advance and the job was only half done before a family emergency on behalf of the VA arose. The project stopped and the client had her own client to respond to.  She didn’t know what to do but as she knew I’d been in the industry for sometime she contacted me.

Turned out I knew the VA she’d engaged and was surprised that this had taken place. I told the client that VA had access to other VAs and ideally, she could have outsourced to another VA to complete the work, while she handled her family crisis.  The client’s response to this was of total surprise. She didn’t know this could happen.

None of us are infallible.  Things can change quickly, go wrong, we can have a day that is totally unplanned and filled with disasters, but as business owners we have a responsibility to our business and our clients to keep a level head and make alternate plans.  Otherwise our business goes down the gurler and our reputation is ruined. It just takes one disgruntled client to bad mouth you, or the VA industry in general because of an unexpected happening.

This also applies to any industry really. The internet allows us to collaborate, join forces and make friends with others of our own industries via forums and groups.  If we have accepted a job for a client, with a deadline, and particularly if we’ve already been paid for it, then it is really important we keep our end of the bargain. If we can’t personally fulfil the job then we must do everything we can to bring someone else on board to complete the job.  Yes, that means we have to pay someone out of the earnings we were getting, but isn’t that better than gaining a bad reputation and losing business?

Think about it. Commitment is a big word when you think of everything it entails.

How to get your first client as a Virtual Assistant

One question that is often asked on VA forums is ‘how do I get my first client?’ and the answers are always forthcoming from those who have already been there.  When the new VA gets the answers they nearly always balk at the prospect of having to go out and meet people and network.  I believe most of them think that in working at and from home means they will never have to go out into that big wide world again – wrong!

You might be operating as a Virtual Assistant but that doesn’t you mean you can’t or shouldn’t be out and about mixing and mingling with other business owners locally. After all, they are your potential client base.  The work can still be done virtually – but meeting people? That doesn’t have to be done all online and often people like to work with those they’ve met and trust.

So many say that they are shy, or they are not social people.  But I have to say the reality is, you’re in business. Social or not – you have to get out there and let people know you exist. I know lots of people think that working at home means you don’t have to go out and mix and mingle, but the reality is you do. People won’t know you exist unless you let them know. And on a local level that means going out physically and not just being available online. You’ll find that many local people won’t realise you exist and hadn’t even thought to look for you online.

Networking isn’t really that hard at all but it helps to be prepared. Dress appropriately for business events.  Take business cards with you (and NEVER go without them).  Ask people what they do and how they got started? People like to talk about themselves and it will take the pressure off you. They will almost always ask ‘and what about you?’ and that is the perfect time for you to share what you do, and even how you can help them, if what they said gives you any clues in that regard. Make sure you don’t suffer from verbal diarrohea – they don’t need your life story, so keep it short and sharp.  Swap business cards and make sure you follow up when you’re back home, either by mail, email or phone a couple of days later.  The first contact has been made and who knows where it will lead?

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