I had an interesting comment from someone last week regarding The VA Magazine which I co-founded with Lucy Brazier.

They said they thought it was odd that I (and Lucy) created a platform on which I was promoting my competitors, fellow VA trainers and coaches/trainers. They thought that this would surely take business away from me.

Perhaps a few years ago when it was more about my ego or my head dictating what I did, I would have agreed with that statement. However in recent years I think with my heart.

Firstly, I am not worried about competition. I couldn’t train everybody, I’d be exhausted for a start, but not only that, I don’t want to work with everybody. I only coach and train corporate PAs making the transition from PA to VA and I have a very particular style of training which doesn’t suit everyone.

Why is it that all the trainers around the world, including Cindy Greenaway, Craig Cannings, Kathie Thomas, Tawyna Sutherland and the many others, are doing so well? It’s because, like me, there is something unique that we all bring to our clients. We all have different life and business experiences, different schools of thought (although some similar ones also).

None of us are alike – yet we do have some things in common: we are collaborators, we are passionate about what we do and we love the people we work with. Most of all, we have the spirit of generosity.

Therefore, if you are worried about your competitors…STOP! It really does not matter where you are in the lifecycle of your business. People are buying into YOU. There will be clients who believe in you but also in your values and ethics, your style and passion. Of course it does also help having a niche market, therefore making you stand out from other VAs in that sense.

There are a few particular VAs who have an amazing spirit of generosity, who share and are happy to collaborate with their competitors. They do whatever they can to support their VA community and are never worried about losing out to other VAs. These VAs are Angela Dawson of Admin Doctor, Michelle Poole of Virtual Hand, Jackie Forster of Jaxstar Solutions, Jade Pluck of Virtually Anywhere, Sue Boys of The VA Partnership, Debby Marcy of Viva La PA, Helen Stothard of HLS Business Solutions. Of course there are many more to mention…

I believe that this makes them very attractive people, and ones that I know attract them to their ideal clients. It also gives an impression of confidence about them, that they understand their worth and value that never needs to be compromised.

I’d love to hear your comments. What you do feel about your competitors?