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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.

What is the typical start up cost for a VA business?

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I was asked this question recently on a forum and thought it a good one to share here too.

I didn’t know what type of business the person asking was going to operate but I shared on what I do and what is now possible for VAs. I should add that it’s important you provide services only in what you have experience in doing – don’t try to learn on the job with new services. You can learn these things for your own business, over time, and then, when confident, offer it as a service to others.

Initial costs:

  • a reliable computer – most people already own one but didn’t when I started in 1994.
  • a reliable printer – ditto above.
  • 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.
  • broadcast email program – this can come later but worth exploring as you’ll need to keep in touch with your list as it grows. I use both MailChimp (free for <2,000 subscribers) and Mailerlite.
  • a domain name for your business (around $35.00AUD for 2 years) and possibly a registered business name too.
  • and a website but you can start with a freebie at WordPress.com and then go from there.
  • Social Media is a must these days too – no cost unless you’re advertising.

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 cost and the domain an annual or bi-annual cost, depending on if it’s a .com or .com.au.

I do, however, recommend you join a VA Network or group, or groups. This way you can learn from your peers but also have the potential for getting sub-contract work from other VAs and get clients of your own.  There are usually costs involved with many of these networks – they spend time marketing and promoting the network but if you weigh up the cost of joining, versus doing your own advertising, you’ll find this to be excellent value. And you’ll learn a great deal too.

Which website platform should I choose?

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I see this question so much on Facebook groups and elsewhere. ‘I want to build a website – what tool or program should I use?’ Or variations of ‘I don’t have much money and I want to use something that doesn’t cost a lot’.

The answer to me, is quite straightforward, but I need to give some information – it’s not a simple one word answer.

First of all, I want to acknowledge there are several platforms out there that can be used:  Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, Joomla, WordPress amongst others. And for the short term some of these could be ideal. I do believe, however, when building a website for a business, you should be looking at the long-term and big picture for your business.

I get that not all can afford to pay someone else to design so they want to use a program that’s easy to manage and get a site up quickly. My first preference and recommendation is always WordPress. There are default themes you can use and you can literally have a 4 page website up within an hour – if you already have your content prepared. Then it’s just a case of searching through themes for a look that suits your needs for now. Themes can be changed quickly so it’s the content that is important, in my opinion – then you can change the look again later.

Some reasons I prefer WordPress over the other programs:

  • It is easy to create in the free WordPress and export to a paid hosting version later on, without having to recreate the site.
  • It’s SEO friendly – that is, easier to manage your SEO on the site.
  • Google and WordPress are a match made in heaven. Google loves WordPress.
  • WordPress started as a blogging platform but is now a powerful web design platform. You can keep y0ur blog and website in the one space which is ideal for SEO purposes.
  • There are tons of plugins you can use on WordPress to increase the things you want to do, such as ecommerce, list building, social media connections, etc.
  • As your own abilities grow in handling the website, so will your website grow. I started with a one page website in 1996 – today it has over a thousand blog posts and hundreds of pages which are searchable.
  • WordPress has tons of themes, literally thousands, some paid and others free.
  • WordPress has a visual editor which makes it easy to use (I install the Classic Editor plugin for this).

When you begin with WordPress you can set up at the free .com version. I highly recommend you purchase a domain which is very low cost. This will help with your branding.  When you’re ready for paid hosting, you can get a hosting account (cpanel option I use) and export from the .com version of WordPress to the paid hosting version.  Hosting accounts have the ability to install WordPress with just a simple click and then it’s just a case of importing the export file from the .com version. From there you choose or install the theme you want and you’re live again – once you have re-pointed your domain name to the new server (the hosting provider or domain name provider can help guide you in this). Usually takes an hour or two for it to redelegate. And you won’t lose the audience you’ve built because they know your domain name already.  Sounds great, doesn’t it?

This chart below shows you why I prefer WordPress over the other platforms:

 

 

Do the research!

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I feel saddened when I hear about VAs who have set themselves up as a trainer, or coach, or mentor or something and then start giving inaccurate advise.  It’s so important for you, the one who is wanting to learn, to do the research and make sure that whomever you’re going to pay for advice, is qualified to give you that information.  Or that the information they are giving is accurate.  This includes how long they’ve been operating as a VA. Generally if it’s less than five years – they’re still getting established even if they have years of experience behind them working in the corporate world. Operating as a self-employed business operator is very different to being an employee.

So, if the advice relates to legalities, taxation and other important matters, check with an accountant or legal officer in your region, to make sure that what you’re being told definitely applies to you. It’s possible that generic information might apply to some, but not all.

And for those sharing information, please qualify if it relates to your region, state, country or otherwise. For example, talking about contracts probably should be very much country or state driven – make sure you explain that when sharing your post. If talking about rates, start sharing which currency you’re talking about. No one rate fits all and can vary considerably depending on the cost of living, currency and experience of those who want to be VAs.

Likewise, if you’re giving advice, make sure you’re qualified to do so, or have verified it with those who are in a suitable role to do so, i.e. accountant, tax officer, legal officer, copyright advisor or similar.

For those wanting to learn and those who want to share what they’ve learned, always do the research to ensure that you or others are not being led astray, no matter how good the intention.

 

 

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