So you want to become a Virtual Assistant and you’re wondering how …? Well my friend, you are in the right place! I am an Online Business Manager and run my own Virtual Assistant Agency from home and have been doing so since April 2018. I am also a Virtual Assistant coach & mentor and help you to understand exactly how to set up a Virtual Assistant business with no experience, right from your home.
Benefits of being a Virtual Assistant
First up I am going to start with the benefits of being a VA and running your own business – just to get you excited about the journey you have coming up if you are starting your own biz.
You get the freedom of choice – you can choose:
- Where you work from
- When you work – what days and times
- How many hours in a day that you work
- Who you work with
- What tasks you work on
And with all that freedom of choice – you get what is most people’s ultimate goal = MORE FREEDOM.
Your earning potential is much higher than being in an employed job – because when you run your own business, there is no cap to how much you can earn. With the right strategy and the right team, the earning potential is endless.
Downsides of running your own business
Not to be a negative nelly, but I couldn’t run through all the benefits without touching on what the possible downsides might be. Because I always promise to be honest and genuine about business life!
For the most part, being a Virtual Assistant and being your own boss is amazing (due to all the reasons above). But …. entrepreneurship is hard and it is not all about sipping cocktails on the beach watching the money roll in, or being able to take a 2 hour lunch every day.
You do have to work hard to build a successful business and sometimes that does look like working past 6pm or working at the weekends, but the beauty in it is that it’s all for you!
So what are some of the downsides?
- Sometimes you have to work long hours
- Clients can be difficult to manage
- There is no one to turn to when things go wrong
- There is no one to pass problems to – you are the number 1 problem solver
- You wont receive constant praise for your work
So … entrepreneurship is not for everyone. But, in saying all the above – do I love what I do? YES. Would I go back to an employed role? NEVER!
Can you set up a Virtual Assistant business for free?
Now when I was doing my research for this blog, one of the things that gets searched is “how to become a VA for free” – so I thought it would be a good place to start to tell you that it is not completely free, but if you have a laptop and around £150 – £300 for insurance, ICO registration and a contract – then you’re good to go.
As far as setting up businesses goes, it is pretty much the cheapest business model you will ever find.
So let's get into it ... how to become a Virtual Assistant:
8 Steps to Setting up Your Virtual Assistant Business
1. Deciding what services you can offer
There are multiple different types of services and VA roles you can do as a Virtual Assistant and of course infinite industries you can work with. Some advice out there will tell you that you have to niche into one type of service or one type of industry to be successful, but my mentees and I are living proof that this just isn’t true.
What I recommend to all VAs that I work for is that – if you have a particular interest in a certain area or industry that you do want to work with, then absolutely work towards that. But … if it is holding you back because you don’t have a set answer, then there is absolutely no harm in starting off by offering everything you are comfortable with, to different types of businesses and you will figure out what services are the best ones for you and your business.
You can read more on my 10 pieces of key advice that I have learnt and passed on after 3 years in business here.
And to give you an idea of the different types of services you can niche into, here’s a list of task-based niches:
- Admin VA
- Tech VA
- Creative VA
- Marketing VA
- Personal Asisstant VA
- Social media VA
- Systems VA
And if you want to get your hands on the list of 100 services you can offer as a Virtual Assistant – that download is available here!
2. Setting your rates
After you have decided what services you will offer, next you need to decide on your pricing. The average Virtual Assistant in the UK earns £27 per hour* but rates can vary from anywhere between £20 – £100 per hour (which means your earning potential as a VA is amazing!).
So how do you decide what your costs should be?
A good place to start if you are just beginning is around the £25 mark. I would never recommend setting your prices any lower than £20 per hour as that does generally attract the type of clients who will undervalue your work and treat you with less respect. And one thing I always say is that £20ph might not be the highest rate you can charge, but at the beginning of your journey, everything is experience, income and builds your confidence.
You should decide on your prices based on factors such as:
- How much experience you already have
- What skills you have
- How much knowledge you have in a particular area
And if you’re wondering whether you need to know all the new tech to stand out – the answer is, no. I cover this in more detail in my FAQs on becoming a Virtual Assistant.
3. Getting the legals in place (VA contract, insurance & ICO registration)
Virtual Assistant Contract
Now some of you may be wondering whether a contract is actually needed to get going? The answer to that one is yes! Having a contract in some form is essential to get started, even if it’s just your friends uncle that you are helping out. A contract protects you but it also to protects your clients. It also allows you to set out your boundaries and gives you a place to refer to should anything ever go wrong (which is very rare!).
If you’re looking for a VA contract template to use, I recommend checking out Koffee Klatch as they are written specifically for VAs by a legal team.
Insurance
Insurance is also essential to get started – we need professional indemnity insurance to cover ourselves and our business in the unlikely event that something goes wrong and a client takes legal action. Policy Bee are a great place to get insurance for your VA business.
ICO registration
If you process any personal information as a business owner (which we as Virtual Assistants do), you need to be registered with the ICO for GDPR purposes.
4. Opening up a separate bank account
This is one that is often overlooked when starting out, but I can’t stress how much easier it will make your life if you open a separate bank account from the start.
As a sole trader, you can open a regular current account, it does not have to be a business account. I use Get Coconut as it has a really handy tax calculator and you can easily store receipts with a photo, so you don’t need to keep the box of receipts anymore!
5. Choosing your business name and branding
My biggest piece of advice on this one is … do not to get bogged down in the decision. I know that this is agonised over by a lot of newbies and honestly … it doesn’t have to be.
Most people I know who have been in business for a while have rebranded, changes their business name, changed their logo and their colours – some of them multiple times. So if you don’t like what you choose, you can always change it down the line.
Someone will not choose to work with you because of your business name – think about it, have you ever decided not to buy something you like from a shop because you dislike their name (nope?) – if you like the item or the service you would buy it anyway.
If you are struggling to decide on a name, use your own name – my OBM business is called Megan Antoney (original right?!).
When deciding your branding colours, have a look around colour psychology because different colours do represent different meanings.
Canva’s colour palette generator and colour palettes are also an amazing resources to help you when picking what colours to use in your branding.
6. How to find your first clients as a Virtual Assistant
So … the most asked question is “how do I find clients” and understandably because without clients there is no business right?!
There are so many different methods that you can use to find clients in your business and it undoubtedly causes confusion, and sometimes even panic when you’re first starting your online business.
Each method comes with its own strategy, and its own pros and cons. Start with the ones you feel most comfortable with and see how it goes. Maybe some of them make you feel icky … you hate networking or you hate social media – well the good news is, you don’t have to do it! You can use the methods that suit you, your clients and what you enjoy doing.
The best place to start is to tell everyone you are a Virtual Assistant and what you can help businesses with. Don’t go in saying “I want to be a VA, or I am trying to be a VA” – be confident and say you are one!
And here’s a list of other ways to get you thinking about how you can find your clients:
👉 Build a social media audience
👉 Networking events
👉 Email reach out
👉 Facebook groups
👉 Freelancing sites
👉 VA agencies
👉 Working as an associate (the lead VA being your “client” here)
A full blog is coming soon on how to find your clients, because even though it’s scary, it’s not as hard as you might think it will be (I promise!).
And if you’re wondering where most of my clients have come from – check out this Instagram post from Jan 2021 to see where mine were from at that point.
7. Leading your Sales Calls
So you have found yourself your first client … and you’re thinking, well what the bloody hell do I do next?!
We offer them a call to get to know them and their business and decide if we want to work with them, because it’s just as much about them seeing if they like you as it is you to them.
Sales calls or otherwise known as discovery calls are not like an interview – it’s not about them asking you what your strengths and weaknesses are and what your previous experience is. Think of it more as a ‘discovery’ session, you want to find out what their business is, what their goals are and explain to them how your services can help them reach those goals.
Make sure you have the right questions to find out:
⭐ Exactly what their business is and what their goals are
⭐ What they will be like as a client (whether there are any red flags)
⭐ What they want help with specific to the type of VA you are
⭐ Whether they are happy with the way you work and it fits with their expectations
⭐ How many hours they would like you to work for them
And if you would like a roadmap that sets all this out for you, ensures you lead with confidence, gives you the questions you need to ask and how to wrap up the call to make sure you win the client, you can download the Roadmap to Owning your Discovery Calls here.
8. Getting the onboarding process right
Now comes the getting them onboard and working with them part …
I have a full blog on the onboarding process that you can read through, but one thing I will say early doors is you do not need a fancy pants system to onboard your clients like Dubsado for example.
Dubsado is great, but you have to weigh up how many clients are you going to be onboarding vs the monthly cost and whether it is really worth it – my (controversial) opinion is no.
The first step to onboarding your clients is a proposal – think of this as your first opportunity to impress them and to really detail you understand them, their issues and their goals, and showcase how your services will help.
Once they have agreed to work with you (YES, well done by the way!), a contract must be sent and signed before you start any tasks.
Every client relationship should then start with an onboarding call which is one of the most important steps to a good working relationship and can avoid lots of clunky to-ing and fro-ing of emails when you first get going.
- Make sure you get all the logins you need
- Ask them all the right questions about how they like to work specifically (and how they don’t)
- Show them the best ways to share work with you
Check out the full blog or my Ultimate Guide to Onboarding Clients for a complete done for you package.
*correct as of 2021 data