There are two answers to the question ‘is being a Virtual Assistant financially sustainable?’. One is No and the other Yes.
Here’s the answer to both. No gatekeeping as always!
Being a Virtual Assistant is NOT financially sustainable if..
…you do any of these things:
Have one client
Imagine if that one client suddenly went out of business. You’ve no recourse even if your contract says ‘a month’s notice is required’. They’ve got no work for you, they’ve got no money. You’re effectively out of business too!
Rely solely on associate work
A Lead VA could take the work back at any time, their client may no longer need you and you’re being paid a lot less as an associate but still have to pay the same software costs, insurance and 30% Tax and NI.
Have lots of clients but one takes up more than 20% of your time, or your income
That’s just like having one client. What if they went out of business, or wanted to stop working with you because, I dunno, a member of your family gets (God forbid) really poorly, it causes you unimaginable stress and it’s been affecting your work. You lose that client who takes up all your time, and income, and you’re stuffed! Find out why I know this further down in the blog.
Stop marketing yourself
The number of VAs who get themselves into this situation is HUGE! They get to capacity and stop marketing themselves. They lose one client for whatever reason and, well that’s fine, no rush. But another six months go past without any marketing and another client pops off! Now they’re up that stinky creek without a paddle! Marketing has to be constant EVEN WHEN YOU’RE AT CAPACITY!
Keep growing an irrelevant audience
If your audience is largely other VAs how is that going to get you clients? YES, we do all support each other but building your audience full of people who don’t need your services is a fruitless task. More on that below.
Being a Virtual Assistant IS financially sustainable if..
…you do all of these things:
Do not rely solely on associate work
As above, associate work is lower paid (more on why here if you’re unsure) so your business has far greater longevity and income if you seek out your own clients because:
a. You’ll be earning more
b. You have more control
Ensure no one client takes up more than 20% of your time, or your income
I only created this saying, and wrote my second bestselling book, – The 20% Rule – after falling into the trap of having one client who took up more than 20% of my time and my income. She was also an utter nightmare and I used to dread seeing her name come up on my phone, or in my inbox, so I had to get rid of her. BUT… it meant I would not be financially sustainable or stable and I had to get an employed job for a few weeks!
No one, once they’ve had a taste of being a Virtual Assistant, wants to go back to employment. So I made damn sure that I never had to again by ensuring (repeat after me)… no one client takes up more than 20% of your time, or your income! You’ve got it.
Now, this rule is impossible when you first start out but please, please have it as a top goal to achieve.
Never stop marketing yourself
It’s so easy to run out of time or even ideas (the latter can be solved here*) when you’ve been in business a little while and you’re at capacity. But, tough! If you want your business to be sustainable you must never stop marketing.
Let’s look at Amazon. Who doesn’t know about Amazon’s existence? Everyone knows about Amazon but they keep marketing themselves every single day. If the big guns need to do it, then it means you definitely do.
And when you get enquiries that you can’t fulfil because you’re too busy you can either:
a. Add them to a waiting list
b. Start growing your business and take on associates
Keep growing a relevant audience
Okay, so I often get stick from at least one person when I say… stop connecting with so many VAs, stop asking other VAs to like your business page. People assume I’m telling them to not support other VAs. HELLO! I literally dedicate every day to helping women become Virtual Assistants so that’s definitely not my aim.
The reason I say don’t make your audience full of Virtual Assistants is because; they’re not your ideal client. It’s really unlikely they’re going to need your services. If you keep connecting with VAs, you’re telling the cookie algorithm thingies that’s who you’re interested in. It’ll therefore keep showing you VAs and also show your posts to other VAs!
Asking other VAs to like your business page is fruitless too. Why? Again, you’re telling the algorithm to show your posts to VAs, to invite other VAs to like your page. You’ve got to start thinking like a business owner.
Conclusion
Put these things into practice and the answer will always be YES. Being a Virtual Assistant IS financially sustainable.
I’ve covered everything you need to do to ensure your Virtual Assistant business is always financially sustainable in my second bestselling book, The 20% Rule. Grab your copy over on Amazon.
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