The Gritty Virtual Assistant Blog

This is the question I get on an almost daily basis.

That’s a huge question, and it’s far too general. It’s really hard to answer because you just can neatly sum something up something like that.

If I were to answer as generally as the question was posed, I would say that you start up a Virtual Assistant business the same way you do any other. You spend months researching, reading and doing your homework. You do a business plan to make sure you are fully aware and conscious of all that is involved.

And you need to be realistic, too. It often takes new Virtual Assistants 12-14 months before they land their first client. The more preparation you do in establishing a firm foundation for your business, the better you are at marketing and networking, the quicker your chances of establishing your client base.

Of course, you first have to have a high level of administrative experience and qualification. Anyone who doesn’t have that, doesn’t have any business taking people’s money. To decide if you are a fit for this profession, here’s an article I wrote a couple years ago: So You Want to Be a Virtual Assistant, huh?

Beyond that, you need to talk to your state and local agencies to find out what they require from you and what your obligations are as a business owner. You may need to get registered, licensed and pay business taxes.

One of the biggest obstacles to Virtual Assistants finding success is the lack of business sense and understanding. So many are stuck in employee mindset, often not even realizing it.

Running a business, any business, is more than just providing the services. You have to know how to deal with clients; you have to know how to devise operations procedures and processes that contribute to the smooth running of the business; you have to understand how profitability works.

As far as general small business information and resources, the Small Business Administration is a great place to start. And my organization, the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, has lots of information on its pages to help you understand what the Virtual Assistance profession is all about.

My organization also offers low-cost Virtual Assistant business forms. These are the very best forms in our industry, and cover all the concepts involved in working with clients. In and of themselves, they offer some of the best education and information for starting a Virtual Assistant business.

We’ve even got a Virtual Assistant Business Plan template which is probably the single-most important document to get your Virtual Assistant business started.

If you have more specific business questions about starting up, send them to me at word@grittyva.com and I’ll post my answers here (all names are kept strictly confidential and initials are disguised).