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Honing new skills

Many VAs, particularly those new to the industry, are so keen to get clients that there are times when they will accept a job only to find they really don’t have the skillset or experience to carry out the role.  They then end up in a quandary – do they tell the client or try to find out quickly how to do that particular job?

The questions asked at VA forums often show a tendency for the latter, rather than the former, or perhaps they have already told their client, but are going ahead with the job too.

I encourage VAs not to bite off more than they can chew (rather than bite off too much and chew like hell!) and spend time developing new skills on their own time.

There have been times when clients have asked me to do something for them that I have no experience in – but this is with their knowledge and we already have an existing business relationship.  I remind them I know little of the subject but am willing to explore it for them and report back.

Sometimes I will take the job on after having experimented on a project of my own (which is how I got into blogging) but other times I have declined and offered to help them find the right VA for the job (through my own team of VAs).

So, when and how do you hone or develop these new skills?  On your own time – not the client’s.

If you think that running a VA business means you can set your own hours and then do nothing business related afterward, you are vastly mistaken.  You do set your own hours for client work but there’s a lot of ‘after hours’ work done too.  Your own admin, bookkeeping, website maintenance, marketing and promotion are just a few things  (if you’re not outsourcing some of these to another VA), that need to be done. But if you also want to keep up with technology and become familiar with the new tools out there (Twitter is a good example) then it’s important you set aside time to learn and ‘play’ to find out how these things work.

If, after a period of time, you find you really enjoy playing with these new tools and you are doing well with them, you now have a new service offering for clients – both existing and future. So exploring and practising is worth the effort – on your own time and without the pressure of time constraints for clients.

Number 4 Mistake Some VAs Make cont.

I had written about who your target client base should really be and Kylee had commented about volunteering to get experience.  This is something I’ve often written about in the past and I’m glad Kylee raised it.

As business owners to learn new skills and software packages there are costs incurred over and above the learning time and purchase of software.  We often need to find time to practice new skills or try them out but still need to be working and earning an income. Often the answer is to volunteer our services to a worthwhile club or association so that others can see what we’re capable of and we get the opportunity to practice and enhance our skills without charging for it, till we feel confident in our abilities.

Voluntary work is often done outside of our normal working hours and allows us to meet and mix and mingle with new people, many of whom could become prospective new clients.

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Taking Your Business To New Places

As your Virtual Assistant business grows and develops a routine you will begin to wonder where else to take it. You will be feeling confident in what you are doing and looking for opportunities to add to it.

I have done this over the years. They might not always look like opportunities at the time, and occasionally had the appearance of nuisance value. But because I wanted to please the clients I had, because I enjoyed the majority of their work, I would take on the extra duties they gave me and explored what needed to be done. Many times this helped me to develop new skills and add to my services. Sometimes it just proved that I wasn’t capable in a particular area and I would find someone I could refer my clients to, for that particular need.

Whilst there has been a large focus on developing a niche for VA businesses I do believe it’s important you don’t close your eyes to possibilities. That doesn’t mean to say you should take on something that is well outside your skillset, but it does mean you should be willing to explore and try something out and let your client know whether of not it’s something you can continue long-term. If you don’t enjoy it, don’t continue it. If you don’t do well at it, don’t continue with it. But if you find that it’s something you are enjoying and improving at, then it’s worth persevering and getting it right and practicing that skill on your own time – not their’s. It is a worthwhile investment – your time. I’ve learnt many new things that I’ve been able to add to my business offering, but more than that, I’ve been able to develop myself as an ‘expert’ in various areas, because of my willingness to experiment and practice a new skill or service.

Be prepared to give it time – one week or one month may not be long enough for many things and so it’s important that not all your time is taken up with client work and activity, some of it should be reserved for learning, practicing, developing, experimenting. R&D or research and development is an important aspect of growing businesses. And it is through this R&D that you can take your business to new places.

About

A Clayton’s Secretary T/as VA Directory was established in March 1994 by
Kathie M. Thomas.

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