Dear Gritty VA:
Do you ever work on-site for clients? –MR
Working on-site defeats the whole purpose of being virtual.
In the beginning, I had a few clients where I would go on-site once a week to check in, pick up and drop off work. What I eventually realized is that even though I charged for my time and mileage, going on-site incurs a cost far beyond the mere billable hours.
It depletes the time you need to focus on client work, as well as marketing and taking care of your own administrative needs. It also affects the quality and level of consistent service you provide to existing clients who are completely virtual.
When you start clients off with on-site visits, it’s extremely difficult to wean them from that expectation once you realize it doesn’t work for you.
On top of that, it just really disrupts your "flow." You have to consider the prep time, travel time, and getting mentally and physically settled-in time. I found that on days when I knew I had to go somewhere, my brain wouldn’t mentally shift into doing any in-depth work because I knew I’d have to stop, and not necessarily at a convenient spot.
I just found it completely unproductive and energy-draining.
I quit doing on-site meetings a long time ago, and don’t even consider taking on any new client who wants on-site work. I only provide virtual services and it is so much easier and stress-free. (Plus, I’m not a temp or an employee, thank you very much!)
As you refine your client profile, you can eliminate anyone who can’t work under the conditions you set such working completely virtual, but I do recommend learning from my experience (and saving yourself some growing pains) by not taking any non-virtual clients on in the first place.
Thanks for commenting. Yeah, the virtual assistant term is really completely idiotic to...
