Have you always dreamed of being your own boss and having the flexibility to work remotely (and on your own time!)? No matter what your background is, becoming a virtual assistant is such a great option! The virtual assistant industry is rapidly growing and businesses everywhere are looking for remote support to get the things down they simply don’t like or have time to handle.
Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, work a 9-5 and want more flexibility, or want to work while traveling the world, I’m sharing all of my tips and the things I wish I knew when I became a virtual assistant so you can create a profitable business.
How to Become a Virtual Assistant
Name Your Business
The first step (and one of the hardest!) in starting a business is naming it. The key is coming up with a name that’s easy to remember and not too complicated. Aim for two to four words to help avoid people forgetting your business name and having to look it up constantly. The goal is to make it short, sweet, and to the point so that it’s easy for you and your clients to easily say it when talking about it.
A few tips for coming up with a business name:
- Make it clear what you do and the services you offer.
- Utilize words that describe that industry.
- Consider where you live, your hobbies, and important aspects of your life.
- Use a thesaurus!
Make Things Legal
Before starting your business, you want to make sure you’re protecting yourself, your assets, and your business. While making sure everything is set up legally can be a pain and take some time, you’ll be thankful you did it in the future. There are three steps to making sure your business is set up legally.
- Apply for an EIN number. You can do this through your government website, fill out the form, and you’ll get your tax number in seconds.
- Register your business. Your business isn’t a business until you register it! There are a few different options when registering your business but I recommend registering as an LLC or sole proprietor to start.
- Set a reminder to pay your quarterly taxes. Since the government won’t be taking taxes out of your paychecks like at a corporate job, you’ll have to set the money aside yourself and pay taxes quarterly to avoid taking a big hit when you file your taxes each year.
Determine Your Services
Now that you have your business set up, it’s time to determine your services!
Make a list of things you’re good at and enjoy. From here, you can create services and offers that a business owner would be interested in. This might be social media management, content writing, admin tasks (calendar and email management, data entry, etc.), and email marketing just to name a few. Once you have a list of tasks you’re good at and enjoy, you’ll want to shorten this to the top three to five tasks you’re proficient at. Once you have that list, you have your service offerings, and don’t forget, you can always adjust these in the future!
For your service offerings, I also recommend creating three different package options for potential clients to choose from since everyone will need something different!
Price Your Services
One of the most frequently asked questions I get from individuals in the VA industry is how to price their services. For this, you’re going to want to work backward.
First, consider your ideal salary. Is it more or less than you were making previously? From here, break down all of your monthly costs, how much money you’ll have to put aside each month for taxes (30%!), and how much time you’ll be spending doing your services. From here, you’ll be able to determine your pricing.
Another thing to consider is whether you want to charge an hourly rate or set a retainer for your packages. No matter which way you go, make sure you’re charging your worth because, at the end of the day, you are the expert.
Determine Your Ideal Client
Once you have your services and pricing laid out, you’ll want to determine who your ideal client is. Start by making a list of the industries you’d like to serve and niche down from there, and don’t be afraid to get specific. Once you have an industry you want to work within, outline the specifics. Let’s take photographers for example. From here, you can work with brand photographers, family photographers, wedding photographers, boudoir photographers, and newborn photographers (just to name a few!).
When I started The Social Icing, I knew I wanted to have the ability to work on creative projects so working with content creators was the perfect option for me.
To make pitching potential clients even easier, you can also put together an ideal client avatar. Outline WHO your ideal client is. Do they have a name? How old are they? What are their likes/dislikes? What are they struggling with in their businesses?
Start Pitching Your Services
Now comes the fun part – pitching your services! This can be overwhelming, especially when you’re just getting started but after doing it a few times, you’ll be a natural. Plus, your VA business can’t run without clients! Before pitching potential clients, make a list of businesses you’d love to work with, how you can help them, and their contact information. Once you have this list, start reaching out!
Other places you can find clients are through Facebook groups and Instagram. Start connecting with other business owners, offer free resources to show off your knowledge, and get to know them so that when they are looking for support, they’ll immediately think of you.
Finding the first few clients is always intimidating, but I promise it gets easier! Before you know it, you’ll be getting new clients via referrals from existing clients, which is such a great feeling.
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