IS WORKING AS A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT FOR YOU?
AVOID THESE 5 PITFALLS WHEN BECOMING A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT (VA)
This guest article is written by Manette Aquino, virtual assistant.
In this 3 part series learn how to become a virtual assistant:
Part 1: The job description of a virtual assistant
Part 2: How to market yourself as a virtual assistant
Part 3: Is working as a virtual assistant for you? (today)
Want to be a virtual assistant?
You’ve read the job description of a VA, learned about marketing your business, now it’s time to learn about what can go wrong and decide whether to take to plunge.
Final Decision; Is Starting a Virtual Assistant Business for You?
Study the VA job duties, examine the marketing plan, and now learn about the pitfalls. After today’s article you’ll be ready to decide whether starting a VA business is the right path for you. Although working as a virtual assistant gives you more freedom than a traditional office job, there are challenges and obstacles to overcome. Are you ready to face theses stumbling blocks and muster the discipline to succeed?
Common Mistakes of a Virtual Assistant
Before you jump into the VA business, make sure to define your mission, vision, goals, and objectives. All successful businesses have these in place. Next, examine the following five common mistakes of a new virtual assistant and learn how to avoid them.
1. Tunnel Vision
You may be considering a VA career to work at home, on your own schedule, in any location. Although it’s true that these are some of the benefits and perks of working as a VA, you also need to consider the problems. It’s a challenge to find new clients, replace those that leave, and deal with an unstable income stream. Recognize not only the advantages, but the potential difficulties when beginning a new business.
2. Lack of Unique Identity
Don’t look to others to define what you bring to the table. Your name, website, articles, logos, and banners must be unique. Determine your own skills and services. Don’t apply for a job for which you are unqualified. Build your profile around what you know and what you enjoy.
Realize that working independently also means there are no work colleagues with whom to chat and mingle. You may feel a bit lost without a company climate. Find environments to work where you can occasionally develop some “people contact.” The library or coffee shops offer a sense of companionship. Build relationships with others online as well.
3. Unclear Business Policies
When starting as a virtual assistant, it is tempting to modify your standard rates, services, terms, and policies to easily attract clients. Set your minimum hourly rate and don’t compromise. Do not devalue your time. Start a contract at a lower rate and it is difficult to increase your rate and change your terms in the future.
When setting fees, examine not only your skills, time, and energy, but the value of your equipment, utilities, phone, taxes, and internet expenses. These overhead business costs must be factored in to your fees.
4. Unrealistic Work Practices
A major challenge is looking for new clients. The excitement of gaining new client is followed by the pressure to keep the current ones. It is a skill to manage existing projects while gaining new ones. Overcommit and you will disappoint current clients with substandard work and sacrifice positive references for new jobs. Know your limits and balance your work time efficiently.
5. Inability to Provide Quality Work
When working as a virtual assistant, be clear in your services. Offering too many services to draw in new clients does not assure a steady income stream. Define and articulate what you can do well. Offer services you can’t deliver and you lose a customer and any future referrals she may have provided. It’s easy to think you can do anything, just to get paid, but if you don’t perform well, you sabotage your business and your reputatation.
How Much to Charge and Getting Paid
How much should you charge as a virtual assistant? There are several factors that affect the income of a virtual assistant, such as your skills, tasks, and location. For example, a newbie virtual assistant in the Philippines earns from $3 to $6 per hour. On the other hand, a qualified virtual assistant from the United States receives $10 to $20 per hour. Remember that you are competing globally, so if you are charging a higher rate, make sure to offer superior services, quality and value.
Get paid by keeping good records, invoicing your client as soon as services are complete, and following up until payment is made. Working as a VA is a business, treat it as such.
Since the start up costs are low in this business, it’s easy to get started. Give it a try and see whether working as a VA is for you. Let us know how it works out!
Don’t Miss How to Become a Virtual Assistant- Parts 1 and 2
Part 1: The job description of a virtual assistant
Part 2: How to market yourself as a virtual assistant
What pitfalls do you see in working for yourself? Any entrepreneurs out there want to weigh in?
image credit; google images from productivity 501.com
Staying on top of work can definitely be a downfall when you work for yourself. Most of my friends always say that they don;t know how I do it. They say they’d watch TV or play video games all day. Luckily for me this isn’t a problem for me. I like money and the more I work , the more I get paid.
Hi Sean, I think some folks are more self disciplined than others. Sounds like you are one of those individuals:)
One of the pitfalls of working for yourself is thinking you will always be able to do it all alone. Maybe in the beginning this is true but as time goes on and your business grows you are going to need help to be as productive and offer great service. The biggest problem I had in the past was saying no to new clients. Some clients are just not a fit for you and you have to know how to say no.
“You may feel a bit lost without a company climate.” This was a great point. Although, I don’t have intentions of being a VA, I wouldn’t have thought the importance of being in “company environment.” Because you tend to do a lot of work on your own you could be missing out on socializing which is important.
More importantly, you do have to have the discipline to work hard and not get distracted from working at home.
Great points. Like Sean touched on previously, I think a lot comes down to self discipline. We run our own business as well and the fact that it’s up to my wife and I is a HUGE motivator. I really like #2 as it can force you to market yourself and set yourself apart from the crowd.
There are so many jobs that one can do from their home on the internet. I think that is the direction we are going, more mobility and more possibilities.
@Thom, Your point underscores the need for delegating as well. That’s where hiring a VA can come in handy.
@Ornella-For some people it’s really important to have collegiality in a proper office setting, and for others it’s less important.
@Jon- It’s nice that you work with your wife. A great partnership.
@Krantc-Working from home is helpful for both companies as it cuts down on overhead and employees can forgo the commute among other things.