This was the question I was asked by a lady recently, who is looking to become a Virtual Assistant. She is thinking of joining my Virtual Assistant Network and wanted some assurance that she would earn an income. This is not an uncommon question and I thought I’d share my answer with you all here on my blog.

In answer to that question – no, in the short-term and yes, in the long-term.  There isn’t a direct answer.

What I mean is when you join you might get a client straight away or it could be a few weeks. And no client will keep you engaged fulltime (otherwise you become an employee and they an employer), so you will need to get a few clients.  It took me between 6-12 months after starting to build up a regular client base. Some do it in quicker time these days. When I started in 1994 there was no internet and clients were only local. Things have changed considerably.

I would suggest you keep your job and build up your VA practice on a part-time basis. Or get a part-time job or do temping to bring in income till your business has built up.

I’ve been doing this for nearly 18 years and my income has been fulltime for most of that time.

We do have a chat forum linked on our website and you are welcome to join that to get a feel for the industry and how everyone manages.