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What are the typical start up costs for a VA business?

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It really depends on what type of services you’re planning to provide and my answer below is fairly generic.

As a VA who provides general secretarial and administrative support, the initial costs were:

  • a reliable computer – most people already own this but didn’t when I started in 1994
  • a reliable printer – ditto above
  • somewhere to sit that is ergonomic to protect your back and neck from aches
  • suitable software for the services you provide. Microsoft Office is still the standard. But there may be other software you need
  • a good bookkeeping program. I use QuickBooks online but many are using Xero these days.
  • you will need back up storage. You can get Dropbox for free for up to 2GB but there are other services around too. I believe you get 15GB with Google Drive
  • a domain name for your business (around $35.00AUD for 2 years for an Australian domain and around $12USD for other domains per annum)
  • possibly a registered business name.
  • a website but you can start with a freebie at WordPress.com and then go from there (highly recommend WordPress as you can upgrade to a self hosted site and export what you’ve created without having to start the process all over again)
  • Social Media is a must these days too.

So going with the above – much of this is your own time in setting up and organising things with minimal cost. If you already have a computer and printer, then the software would just be a monthly or outright cost and the domain an annual or bi-annual cost, depending on if it’s a .com or .com.au.

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

 

I see, in various places, people asking if they should join freelancing sites like Upwork, Freelancer and others.

I can’t answer for all freelancers, but I can answer for those who call themselves Virtual Assistants and the answer I have is this:

Joining a VA Network or Directory means paying an annual or monthly membership fee. Generally engaging one regular client through these avenues more than covers your membership fee each year, anything else is a bonus. And the good news is, you don’t have to pay a commission fee for the work you receive. Everything you earn is yours.

So, in my way of thinking, belonging to a VA Network or Directory makes sense, don’t you think?

Jobs or roles? What are you seeking?

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I love hanging out in the different VA forums to see what is being discussed, what’s the latest trend, and what else I might be able to learn.

Along the way, I share of my own experiences and knowledge, and hopefully am helpful to a few, or many.

In a recent post a new VA told me (when asked) of how she was trying to find jobs. That for me, immediately, showed that she had the wrong mindset and I set about trying to get her to see things differently. Hoping this will help you too, especially if you’re a new VA.

The VA told me she’d been updating her resume and had good administrative experience. Here is what I told her.

Ok, STOP using your resume. You’re not seeking a job, you’re seeking clients. Do you have a LinkedIn Profile? That can replace your resume, but make sure you write it as someone who is in business seeking roles, rather than someone just listing all the jobs they’ve had.  Have a look at what others done, or even visit mine.

Next, create a Facebook Page – not your profile, but a page for your business. Doesn’t matter if you don’t have a business name, your name is fine.

When you are ready, consider setting up a website, but, for now, both your LinkedIn Profile and a Facebook Page are a good start so that people can read about you and what you have to offer.

Once you’ve done those things start hanging around where business people hang out – hopefully there are some business networks local to you where you can meet people in person. But online there are also business networks – LinkedIn and Facebook have them. Check to see if there are any business networks that are local to you on Facebook and try Meetup too. It’s important for people to know you exist so spend time just joining in – not promoting. And when asked, share what you do. If you have the opportunity to introduce yourself as a new member of a group, then do so, but first get your LinkedIn Profile and FB Page set up so people can click on links and check you out!

I hope the above is helpful for you too. I’d love to hear about your journey!

 

Managing multiple clients

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Saw a poll in a VA forum recently asking about juggling clients and how challenging it can be and then asking how many clients members had. The highest choice was in the 1-3 bracket. I was the only one (to date) who had more than 7.  I guess the real thing is about juggling time.

Perhaps the VAs who responded are still new in their businesses but it concerns me, very much, if VAs have 3 clients or less. And I’ll share the reasons for this:

  • If you have only 1-2 clients, the tax office could deem you an employee of those clients – this becomes a difficult situation for both you and the client/s in respect to taxes, insurances, sick leave, etc. Best you don’t put the client in that position.
  • Assuming that these 1-2 clients take up most of your time, this leaves you little time to build your business and increase the variety of what you do.
  • If one or both of those clients moved on, you lose half or all your income and where would you be then?

Believe me clients do move on. Some stay long-term, some stay short-term, but they do move on, eventually. They retire, they expire, their business fails or they tire of it and move on to something else, or their business explodes and they have to engage full time staff. I’ve had ALL of these things happen and more over the 25 years I’ve been in business.

Can it be a challenge managing them? Sometimes, but most of the time not all need something to be done urgently. Usually it’s only one at a time and so I can usually do things for two or three clients in a day – it’s rare I spend a whole day on one client. And I track it all in my diary using a To Do List which I mark off as I complete things. The key is always to ask your client when they need something done by.

Is there a magic number of how many clients you should have? No, I don’t think so, but I feel you would be much better off if you have a larger number of clients, with a smaller number of hours. Or some that are add-hoc. Not all my clients are weekly, some are monthly, some just pop up when they need something done. They’re not all locked in to a guaranteed (for me) set of hours per week or month.  All I know is that if I lose one of them, it’s much easier to replace their income than it is if I only had, one, two or three clients.  Worth thinking about, isn’t it?

How I began

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This is a question that is asked in VA forums from time to time.

I had worked in the corporate world for 22 years, starting out just typing envelopes all day long and building my way up to being a PA to a Director of a government department.

      Kathie in her early business days

Eventually I became an EA for a group of 8 Project Officers which gave me perfect experience for working with several people at once and sorting out what needed to be done first and how to work with different personalities. From there I began my own home based secretarial business in 1994 – no real idea about running a business so I joined a local business network so I could mix and mingle with other business people. I would ring up secretarial services to get quotes for what they would charge for something to get an idea of what I should be charging.

The Internet came along about 18 months later so it was pretty much a ‘feel-your-way’ thing for me as I learned about what it meant I could do, meeting new clients online and learning new technologies.

Running your own VA business is always about learning new things but you should always start first with what you know well so you can build confidence in dealing with clients. And likewise, the clients can build confidence and trust in your own abilities. From there, you can grow and increase your service offerings.

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