Experiencing corporate burnout in 2022.  With a passion for delivering exceptional customer service and years of administrative expertise.  Tammie was inspired to start a Virtual Assistant business. This decision stemmed from a desire to work on her terms and free herself from corporate employment.

Start a Virtual Assistant Career: No Experience Needed

Inspiration

Tammie lives in a small town called Laidley in rural Queensland and experienced corporate burnout in 2022. Her passion for delivering exceptional customer service and years of honing her administration skills inspired her to start a Virtual Assistant business. Tammie’s decision stemmed from a desire to work on her terms, freeing herself from corporate employment. Her primary goal is to alleviate business burdens by facilitating task delegation, enabling clients to concentrate on revenue-generating activities. Beyond her professional endeavors, Tammie is a devoted mother to a son and a dog and tends to a lively flock of 22 chickens.

Where to Start

You might wonder how you can confidently start a Virtual Assistant business without experience. But… I can guarantee that you have experience – and a lot of it. When starting (and while still working in my corporate job), I looked at and identified skills and tech tools that I was currently using in my job role and pinpointed transferable ones. Tasks such as general customer service, managing schedules, writing correspondence (letters, emails, responses to clients), inbox management, data entry, and problem-solving were just a few. These tasks could easily be turned into a business. Are you using tech tools such as Excel and Canva? What about a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system in your job? These are also great skills that can be turned into problem-solving tasks for clients. Going a bit further, I looked at everyday life skills and admin skills such as budgeting, personal accounts (bills) management, and organization (how many of us manage our family and their activities or are the coaches on your children’s sporting team?). It is easy to leverage these personal experiences into money-making tasks. The key point is that you are setting out to solve someone else’s problems. Turn your skills into solutions.

Resources

Resources – don’t reinvent the wheel. There is a minefield of resources out there that can assist you with starting your business. Virtual Assistant starter kits or checklists are gold. There are lots of checklists and guides available that set out some of the key tasks to do when starting a Virtual Assistance business. Some fabulous resources I found available were from existing VAs or coaches, were lists such as 101 Tasks a VA can do for you, or Tech stack guides for VAs. These can be repurposed into a resource for yourself but also help identify tasks you can do for clients. Blogs like those found on the Virtual Assistant Advantage website are excellent sources of information.  Many have stepped along this path before you, and the beauty of the Virtual Assistance community is their willingness to share their knowledge. Many Virtual Assistant start-up courses cover a wide range of topics to help you get your business off the ground and thriving.

 Getting Clients

Have lots of conversations, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Tell everyone what you are doing. Networking is an amazing way to meet fellow Virtual Assistants and potential clients. I met my very first client at an International Women’s Day luncheon. Personal recommendations can often lead to your first client. The Virtual Assistant Advantage goes into more detail in their blog post ‘How to Get Clients as a Virtual Assistant.’

Talking to people will help you understand business pain points and start crafting your offers to suit your skills and the problems businesses have. This will also help you decide what to offer, general services, or niche down to a particular area. Are you an expert in one skill? Do you have exceptional skills and are passionate about content creation? Could you offer that as a specific service to a targeted client base?

Join Groups

Joining groups such as the Virtual Assistant Advantage Facebook group is key to connecting with other VAs. These communities are full of helpful questions, answers, and support where everyone helps everyone.

Knowing Your Worth

Knowing your worth is important and can assist you in setting realistic price rates from the outset. Research your market, and don’t undersell yourself. If unsure where to begin, start with an hourly rate and move to packages as you gain experience. Pricing yourself too low to gain clients is doing you a disservice. The first place to start to ensure you are not running at a loss is to understand your outgoing costs. This includes wages, tax, superannuation, e.g., insurance, website and email hosting, tech stack, etc. Create a profit and loss calculator and run the numbers to ensure that you will create profit.

Another part of knowing your worth is creating clear boundaries for yourself and your clients. Decide your work hours and stick to them. Avoid the “always available” trap by setting clear expectations with clients.

Branding

Branding! This is how you are known to your audience. Use what people know and love about you in your branding. I love butterflies, so they were the first thing to go into my logo. People connect butterflies with me. Share your stories about your journey, lessons learned, and how you have helped solve problems in the past. Use professional but approachable photos (these can include things that people connect with you, e.g., your favorite color or flower. Most important be yourself.  Also, be genuine and relatable in your messaging.

Other Considerations

Other considerations for you to think about are systems, contracts, and branding. Setting out clear standard operating procedures and documenting from the start can help you manage clients consistently while helping you scale your business. The blog “What are Systems and Why You Need Them” takes a deep dive into what systems are and the types of systems to have in place to ensure your business runs smoothly. Contracts are integral to everything in your business, your client and yourself. Contracts clarify the agreed scope of work, outline important details, like hours & availability, communication methods, and boundaries, establish legal protection, and state a pricing and payment schedule. This also shows that you run a well-structured business and demonstrates you are serious and organized.

Conclusion

Finally, building your confidence and a successful business comes down to your mindset. Focus on what you CAN do, not what you can’t. Track your wins no matter how small and reward yourself. Seek testimonials from clients – positive reviews will go a long way to boosting your mindset. Above all else, practice self-care. You can’t look after others if you don’t look after yourself.

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