Want a successful VA business? STOP doing these 3 things!
Do you want to have a high level Virtual Assistance business where you make 6 figures a year working from anywhere you please?
I think that’s the dream for a lot of us who got into the Virtual Assistance industry…
That we can earn 6 figures and work from our laptops on the beach. {Total side note: the thought of sand near my keyboard gives me major anxiety. ;) }
And I’ll be the first to admit that 6 figures and the laptop lifestyle is really appealing.
It’s the dream we’re hit with every time we log onto facebook and see people’s fancy facebook ads shouting things at us like… “You can make 6 figures in 30 days!” … “Have your first 5 figure month!” etc, etc.
And while I totally believe these things are possible, I also think a lot of times the online gurus don’t show the behind-the-scenes of what it takes to make this happen.
And as a VA who has worked with clients in the past who promote the big numbers they're making, I know first hand that some business owners sacrifice a lot to earn those 6 figures.
They’re giving up all of their free time to “hustle” and “grind” their way to the top. They’re sacrificing time with their family, their marriages, vacations, their evenings and their health in some cases… All in the name of making 6 figures while being a high level [insert whatever their role is here].
And while I definitely want to make 6 figures, I don’t want to run my VA business that way or run myself into the ground in the process.
I want a high level VA business that makes me a great income while also allowing me to live a great life on my own terms.
And I want the same for you!
You deserve to have a Virtual Assistance business you love, a business that makes you great income while you support your ideal clients, and a business where you feel like a true CEO, not some second-rate assistant...
So today I want to share with you...
3 Things Virtual Assistants Should STOP Doing
(if you want to have a successful, high level VA business!)
1. STOP DOING STUFF YOU HATE JUST FOR THE MONEY!
Confession… I have been really guilty of this in the past. A client would ask me to do something I really hated (such as tracking down late payments) and because I wanted to make them happy and because it meant more hours which meant more money, I’d agree to do it. And ugh, was it frustrating! I would end up dreading doing the task and be really resentful for having to do it even though I was the one who agreed to it. It would be like pulling teeth to get myself to finish it. I was also guilty of working with any client who wanted to work with me regardless of if they were ideal or not… Because, again, I wanted the money.
All of this made for a very unhappy Kelly. It’s not possible to have a VA business you love if you are doing work you hate. And no amount of money in the world is worth it if you don’t love (or at least like) what you are doing on a daily basis.
2. STOP GIVING YOUR CLIENTS ALL THE POWER!
Another thing I have been guilty of in the past is giving my clients ALL the power in our relationship.
What do I mean by this?
This is basically a fancy way of saying that I had no standards or boundaries and found myself acting more like an employee and less like the CEO of my company!
Now, was this my clients fault?
NOT.AT.ALL!
As VAs, it’s OUR responsibility to teach our clients how to treat us and to stick to our standards and boundaries so we are able to support them consistently while also making sure we aren’t sacrificing ourselves in the process.
A perfect example of this is around email! If your client is emailing you after hours you should only be responding during your office hours. Have a tight boundary around when you are available. Because if you email them outside of your office hours, you begin to set the expectation that you are *always* available. And you don’t want to be always available. ;)
3. STOP CHARGING $20 AN HOUR!
If I see one more VA on facebook asking if $20 an hour is a good rate for VAs or if she should discount her hourly rate from $20 to $15 because the client doesn’t want to pay that much, I am going to SCREAMMMM.
You cannot run a profitable business charging $20 an hour, let alone, $15. And while you might disagree and think you can get more clients at $20 an hour versus $50 an hour, I want to point something out… You might get a ton of clients quickly at first charging this much, but you’re eventually going to max out the number of hours you can work and might even burn out!
You can have a VA business you love, full of clients who you charge $40, $50 or even $60+ an hour too. So pleaseeeee stop charging $20 an hour. PLEASE!!
I feel like I could share so many more things I wish VAs would stop doing… but I’ll leave it there for now because I think this gives you a really good place to start to make changes if you are doing any of the above.
I'd love to hear from you... Which of the above are you guilty of doing, and how do you plan to STOP? Drop me a comment over on Facebook!
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PS: One more thing before I go... If you want more info on changes I made in my own VA business that have helped me to have a high level VA business, join me for The Empowered VA Series, my 7 day email series to help you improve your current VA business so that you really can have a VA business you love and one that earns you great money! Click here to sign up.
