I’m so excited to finally sit down and share with you all more about the virtual assistant industry. After experiencing what it’s like to be a business owner for over two years, I can share the good, bad, ups and downs. In this blog post, you can expect me to touch on how I stumbled upon the virtual assistant industry, why I believe it’s one of the best work-from-home jobs (especially for stay at home moms and those who aspire to have location freedom), and what you can do to get started. But first, let me explain what a virtual assistant is so you will have some background knowledge.
What is a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant is an independent contractor who provides administrative, creative, or technical support services for online business entrepreneurs.
A virtual assistant can work from anywhere as long as there is access to wifi. However, some there are virtual assistants that have clients that own brick and mortar companies, but work virtually.
As a virtual assistant or freelancer, you provide a service and get paid for that service. You can charge an hourly rate or charge by the scope of work.
What lead me to start a virtual assistant business
I never thought I would be an entrepreneur at the age of 23. You hear about people starting their own business, but it seemed as if these people had a special talent such as doing hair, coming up with the perfect hair product they made, or specializing in graphic/web design. I did not fall into any of those categories. I always thought my skills were made for me to be in a corporate environment. I was great at managing projects, assisting others, providing great administrative support, and ensuring all procedures were in place to get a job done. Who would have thought that you could start a virtual assistant business with these skills!
In 2018, I had recently left my corporate job. We moved further away and I needed/wanted to be home with my daughter more. Because of the move, our expenses had lowered, but we would still need a way to bring in a little more income. I spent the summer applying for many work from home jobs. Many of the jobs I applied to either required a lot of years of experience or were sales jobs. I wasn’t interested in being on the phone all day or wanted to do a sales job where my income was based on how many sales I made. I came across an ad on FB (this ad was actually life changing, FB ads work!) and a woman by the name of Lauren explained how you could make money from home as a freelancer. I watched the free training she provided and it was like a light bulb went off!
WHAT?! I can actually make money from home by doing what I already enjoy?? You mean to tell me there are people out there that hire others to help them stay more organized, manage their emails, and brainstorm content for their business?
After watching the training, I knew I could do this. I had this burning fire inside of me. A confidence I hadn’t always seen. I just knew I was going to start this business and nothing would stop me. I shared it with my husband and he was on board.
I started to research more about the virtual assistant industry and decided to seek a mentor. I knew if I wanted to be great at this, I would need to reach out to someone that is currently doing what I want and successful at it. I decided to reach out to a woman I found in a Facebook group and asked if I could have a phone call with her.
We talked and she gave me some wonderful tips! She gave me tips on how to stand out and told me how important it was to be visible on social media. I took those tips and ran with it!
After the phone call, I sent her a thank you email and let her know what action steps I had taken after our phone call. She was so impressed and told me she wanted to hire me as a subcontractor in the future!! How amazing right? She became one of my clients.
We still keep in contact until this day and she’s referred many clients to me. Within 3 weeks of implementing everything I learned online, I made my first 2 thousand dollars!! I was so shocked.
People were really paying ME to do simple services such as researching, answering emails, and brainstorming content for their business.
From there, it was history.
I’ve had times where I took on too many clients and felt burnt out because the load was too heavy. It defeated the purpose of why I started. My purpose for starting my virtual assistant business was to become a stay at home mom. That purpose was fulfilled, but a lot of times we can put too much on ourselves and get lost on why we started. After God, my family is my first priority and I mean that. A lot of times we say God first, family, and then business, but the way we spend and prioritize our time doesn’t reflect that. I’m a lot more intentional about spending my time with God, making sure my family’s needs are met, and then handling my business.
Why I believe it’s one of the best work from home jobs
Starting a virtual assistant business is one of the BEST work from home jobs! Let’s state the facts of starting a virtual assistant business.
- You’re able to set your own hourly rate
- You can decide what type of clients you want to work with (health coaches, photographers, medical professionals, etc)
- You set your own hours (some days, i’m not able to start work until 1 or which is nap time for my youngest)
- You can work from anywhere as long as you have access to wifi
- You can build the business while having a 9-5 or being a stay at home around your kid’s sleep hours
- You can set up contracts to where you know where your income is coming from for the next 3-6 months (I have clients on 3 and 6 month contracts)
- If you see that you aren’t a good fit for a client, you can decide to not continue your contract with them after it’s over
- You can literally make a career out of it! (Many of my friends in the virtual assistant community make 7-10k/ month) This is more ideal for those that are able to commit working 5-8 hours a day like a regular job.
- Low startup cost! All you need is a domain to start so you can create an email. It’s about $10.
Is starting a virtual assistant business right for you?
Here are some questions to ask yourself if you’re interested in starting a virtual assistant business!
Am I willing to learn about a new industry?
Am I willing to put in the work that’s needed to start a new business?
Do I like using the computer and researching online?
Am I good at helping others stay organized and communicating with others?
Am I willing to put myself out there and share with others that I have a virtual assistant business? (Not being salesy, but sharing about what’s new in your life. When people know what you do, they can refer you)
Do you have a gift in administration or any other tech related skill that online business owners need?
If you answered yes to these questions, then I think starting a virtual assistant business would be a great fit for you.
How To Get Started As A Virtual Assistant
Here are some tips I recommend to help you get started.
- Know WHY you want to start and your purpose
Once you realize why you want to start, whenever you feel like quitting you will refer back to your purpose. Your purpose will keep you grounded and motivated. - Decide what type of client you would like to work with
Here’s an action item for you. Reach out to an entrepreneur that you know. Ask them what are some of the tasks they need help with in their business and what they hear other entrepreneurs need help with. Once you understand what challenges entrepreneurs have, you can identify with their pain point and communicate how you can add value. - Decide on what type of services you want to offer
Now that you are familiar with what type of services your ideal client needs, write down services you would like to offer. Here are some examples of services you can offer as a virtual assistant:
Email management
Online Research
Content creation
Social media support
Pinterest management
Customer Service Support
Data Entry
Appointment Setting
Calendar Management
Flight Booking
Website Updates
Video Editing
Email Marketing
Now these are individual services that you can offer. What you want to do is create 2-3 packages so if someone is interested in working with you, you can show them the packages you offer and they can choose a package that’s a good fit for them.
Here’s an example of an administrative package I offered when I first started.
After you have created your package, you need to decide on your hourly rate. A good rate to start at is $30-$35/hr. You may find that some people are hiring at $15/hr and that’s okay, because you’re able to learn a lot and get your feet wet. I just wouldn’t recommend taking on multiple $15/hr clients unless they are purchasing a lot of hours and you’re able to reach your income goal without working more hours than you would like.
How does payment work?
Clients that are interested in working with you will purchase packages from you and they get charged a retainer fee. This means that they pay upfront for the amount of hours they need. If they want to purchase 20 hours and you charge $30/hr, that’s a $600 package.
If you have 2 clients at 20 hours/month on a rate of $30/hr, you’re already bringing in over $1000/month! That’s working 40 hours/month which is around 10 hours/week..which is 2 hours/day. You see why this is perfect for stay at home moms that need a legit way to make extra cash? You can work one hour in the morning and one hour at night or just knock out all of your work before your kids wake up.
4. Decide on your business name!
We decide on the business name after we figure out what kind of services we want to offer.
5. Create a service portfolio guide
I did not create a website until I was in business for a year. I wanted to focus on income-producing activities. I created a flyer in canva and used that to advertise my services. Here’s an example of what I used when I first started.
6. Decide how you will market yourself.
When I first started, I used social media to market myself. Now I don’t need to because most of my clients come from referrals. You can market yourself on social media, emailing people in your network, creating a referral network, or visiting local businesses and asking if they need a virtual assistant. I recommend that you create a FB business page where you provide your email so people have a way to contact you.
7. What to do when someone is interested in working with you
Okay, so you’ve figured out what you wanted to offer, the type of clients you want to work with, your business name, and created a flyer to market yourself. Here’s what you need to have in place next.
- A way for clients to contact you. (Set up an email for your business or you can set up a scheduling link such as acuity.com)
- A contract in place and a way to bill clients (You can find a contract on rocket lawyer and send invoices via Paypal.)
These are some of the essential steps you will take when it comes to launching a virtual assistant business!
I pray that this was helpful and that you have a better idea of the industry and how to start! I’m going to share more resources that helped me start my virtual assistant industry below and Facebook groups I recommend.
Great resources to start a virtual assistant business
You can get started with your virtual assistant business today for just $97. In this e-guide, I teach you everything you need to know to start a virtual assistant business from A-Z. Purchase your copy here.
Use the code BLOG to get 50% off!
Join FB Groups
Here are some FB Groups I love
The Confident Virtual Assistant
Women Helping Women Entrepreneurs
Let me know if this helped and what questions you have for me 🙂