Are you now thinking of leaving your job to become a VA?

Perhaps you’ve been made redundant and looking for a new, flexible career option and say goodbye to being the employee!!

Have you procrastinated because you don’t know where to start or how to get clients?

Are you worried about not making enough money or matching your salary?

Do you wonder if it’s a viable and sustainable business or should you just stay where you are?

There is so much to think about before making the decision, isn’t there. However, do remember that (as my friend Rob said of me recently) that ‘fortune favours the brave’!

Napoleon Hill, Author of the infamous book ‘Think and Grow Rich’, states that ‘What the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve’, and therefore, in reality can accomplish.

No doubt you have lots of questions, you have been conducting lots of research, you are feeling quite excited about this possible new venture, and yet, you are hesitating slightly…due to the ‘What If’ questions.

These may be affecting your confidence in yourself, perhaps, in taking the first adventurous step in this world, which is so new to you.

This is a perfectly normal feeling to experience as it’s stepping into the unknown. Well, by reading on it will help you to start to feel more confident about this new journey. You just need your questions answered by an expert who can give you an honest outlook and realistic advice about what you need to know. Follow the leaders not the followers, as many millionaire mentors I know tell me.

Perhaps you are just so excited about this and realise now, that this is DEFINITELY something you do now want to pursue, and yet you are not complacent enough to think you can do it all on your own.

Of course you want and need to do this right first time…after all, why would you want to make all those costly mistakes or perhaps take much longer to achieve your particular goals? You want the valued guidance and support don’t you? Well you have come to the right place on all accounts you’ll be delighted to know.

Before identifying how to actually make the transition, I would like you to think about the following first:

  • What it is that you want and what’s your reason for wanting to become a Virtual Assistant?
  • What will it actually give you? Is it freedom and flexibility you are looking for, more independent, perhaps you’re fed up of the commute?
  • What will happen if you were to now experience being in charge, being independent, and working how you want to work and with who you love working with?
  • If you were to stay where you are, in your comfort zone, in your current job or temping roles, what will stay the same for you and what will not happen?
  • By starting to think about what you want and what you no longer want helps you to focus on your vision, your ideal situation that can positively affect you, both professionally and personally.
  • What do you need to earn?
  • Are you willing to make some sacrifices and REALLY commit to making stuff happen?

It’s not all easy but it can be simple

Whilst you are setting up a business, especially when you are still at work, I’m not going to tell you that it’s all going to be very, very, easy.

This is something that you are going to have to make a commitment to, so I’m afraid, it’s not the case of coming home after a long day’s work and thinking “I can’t be bothered to do anything this evening, I’ll wait until the weekend”.

You are going to have to make some sacrifices, but I’d rather tell you the realistic story rather than try to fluff it up all pretty and nice for you, then suddenly you get into it and say, “Carmen this is not easy?.

However, it’s amazing how simple it becomes to make those changes when you want something enough and can see the end result.

The actual process or model is simple, and by following the simple model, especially the one so many of our graduates have followed with us, and you commit to it, and you’re making sure you get relevant support, well then, there is no reason why you can’t make that transition.

I do always advise that, before you make the transition, before you actually leave your job, make sure that you have saved up enough money that will sustain your living. It is generally suggested that you should have enough money to at least to cover the basics in any case and this is where the sacrifices might have to come into play, to cover you for at least three to four months.

Why? Quite simply, because you will have a mindset of desperation and worry if you leave your job and you have no money to survive. There is nothing worse than smelling ‘Eau D’esperation’ from a new business owner. And of course, it means you can concentrate your efforts on building your business and enjoying the journey, without worrying about how you will pay your bills. So, work out exactly what you need to cover your essentials!

What do You Want?

As I asked you earlier, why do you want to set up as a VA and what do you think it’s going to give you?

Now for many people who are successful at their VA business, it gives them flexibility, independence, freedom in many ways, confidence and a sense of true accomplishment.

How many hours a week you want to work is completely up to yourself, you may wish to work 10 hours a week or 30 hours a week or only 5. You may be a parent and you have young children, therefore you want flexibility around the nursery or school runs. And of course, you may be in the process of even retiring and the reason you want to become a VA is because you still want to keep your mind active and ensure income is still flowing in.

Some people just want to become a VA because they want to be in control of their earning potential, in control of how they spend their time and in control of whom they work with.

If it’s because you want to become more successful, because where you are now you’ve reached the ceiling in your career and without a degree or relevant qualifications and skills you can’t move further up the ladder in your company. The great thing about becoming a Virtual Assistant is that the sky is literally the limit.

How and When Will You Work?

One of the best ways of ‘trying’ to fit it all in, is simply to plan. By creating a timetable of when you will apply your attention to your new business, detailing in your diary what specific actions you will take in that time, having your business strategy in place, will help.

You know that you can start working on developing your business whilst you’re still at work. However, please never make use of your employer’s facilities – it will mostly be against company policy and not only that, if you use your company computer to carry out work, especially for your clients, then you could be in breach of confidentiality as the work is shared via this system! So invest in a laptop or tablet and take yourself off at lunch times or when you can, sit in a cafe and do what you need to do. And you know what? SO many people have done this before you, so you CAN do it. ‘What the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve’, remember that!

Create a PLAN

We have had many clients who have come home from work and sometimes it’s late because they’ve got the tube, or the train or perhaps got stuck in horrible traffic and the day they wanted to get home early there’s been an accident on the road etc. But they have still made that time for their business. Because they want it badly enough!

You have to believe in yourself. Have faith. Take Action.

I would suggest that you create a timetable, because I don’t know about yourself, I know for many, that when they tell themselves that they will do two of three hours work of an evening, they get home, they cook the dinner, they eat dinner, they might watch half an hour of TV and then think ‘oh I did say I was going to do two or three hours this evening, I’ll just get round to doing that in a few moments’ and then a few moments become longer and longer and it gets harder and harder to actually approach the work and it then becomes a chore. Sound familiar?

If you create a timetable for yourself, it’s very simple yet really effective, and be strict with yourself to say right on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday, between 7.00pm and 9.00pm I’m going to be doing something to build my business, to work at my business etc.

What could you do in that planned time?

This time could be focused on attending an evening networking event, it could be meeting with a prospective client, it could be networking online or doing some fee earning work. With the availability of social networking today, it has created a huge opportunity for business marketing online, opening up huge opportunities to connect with other business people anywhere in the world at any time of day.

If you have questions about setting up your VA business, why now download our VA Essentials which answers the commonly asked questions.