How hard are you prepared to work?

How much do you want this VA business to work?

Are you doing it for you, or for some other reason?

Are you prepared to sacrifice a few things to get to that ideal work / life balance.

Do you think being a VA is easy because ‘it’s only admin’?

Being a VA is being a business owner.

Whether you’re running a law firm, a call centre, an airline, it’s hard work. It takes time, investment, you need to build a reputation, you need to be known, you need to market yourself ALL THE TIME

Yes you can start with just a laptop, insurance, ICO registration and some terms and conditions.

But, then how will potential clients find you?

How will they know what services you offer, and how much it’s going to cost them?

You’ll need to get your name out there A LOT, and keep getting your name out there.

You’ll need to niche your services or your ideal clients, you can’t offer everything.

The most common reason I take on clients from other VAs is because their initial VA has said they can do something, wings it, fucks up and costs the client unnecessary time, money and stress – all the things we’re supposed to be saving!

This gives the VA a bad reputation and before they know it, they’re back in an office job.

But how do you make money if you don’t say yes to everything?

You wait. You be honest. You invest in learning – in your own time.

Yeah, but how long will it take to make money as a Virtual Assistant?

How much do you need to earn to survive every month?

So, how many hours do you need to work to earn that?

Don’t forget your expenses, plus you need to put 30% away for tax (correct at time of writing), then some for your National Insurance contributions too!

So now how many hours do you need to work then?

And don’t forget you need to spend time networking, getting your name out there ALL THE TIME – even if you’re busy!

Because, if you lose clients and you’ve not been marketing yourself, you’ll have to start ALL OVER AGAIN from the beginning, and before you know it… You’re back in an office job.

Anyway, your question was… how long will it take to make money as a Virtual Assistant?

I don’t know!

Because everyone’s goals are different.

What you need to earn is different to someone else, your marketing messages might need tweaking, your website might be too wordy, too hard to navigate, you might not be doing this for the right reasons, you might be charging too little, you might be offering services no one wants.

But know this, it CAN be done.

You CAN earn a decent living as a VA.

But it takes time, consistency, hard work and some tweaks along the way.

We all make mistakes. It’s how we learn from them that propels us forward.

You can do this. But it won’t happen overnight. I’m sorry.

If you need help starting or getting unstuck then there’s here’s three different things to help you:

I’m not yet a VA – start here.
I’m a VA but I am stuck – then let’s talk.
I’m a VA but I am ready to really make this work – you need this.