A Virtual Assistant (typically abbreviated to VA) is generally self-employed and provides either professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients remotely from their own home office.

Virtual Assistants come from a variety of business backgrounds, but most have several years experience earned in the "real" (non-virtual) business world.

Yes, we ARE different because not only do we provide an individual end to end startup solution, but we are here for you on each step of your Virtual Business journey. Our program actively work with you to strategise and implement the actions you need to take to build a successful Virtual business.

Our goal is to get you launched in 90 days or less…

This means we DO things like:

• Build your website (yes – we actually do this for you as part of the program)

• Provide all the essential business templates you need, AND THEN make sure you know how to use them

• Make you accountable – in other words, we are invested in your outcomes, and so we ensure that you do the things we need you to do in order to launch successfully

• LIFETIME access to our Student Facebook Group for ongoing support and monthly virtual drop in sessions.

• LIFETIME access to your program on our learning portal

• PLUS much, much more...!

• Very important that you have a good background in the service area you are wanting to offer as a Virtual Business (e.g. if you are wanting to provide administrative support services, then a background in administration is essential);

• Great communication skills

• Proactive and solution focused

• Go-to person

• Self-starter

• Entrepreneurial mindset

There’s no hard and fast rule about what business will engage the services of a Virtual Business. In fact, with the growth and affordability of technology in recent years, along with the exponential growth in the number of solo-preneurs, has come an ever increasing demand for skilled virtual support staff.

The benefits for businesses who choose to engage the services of Virtual Service Businesses include:

• Flexibility

• Scalability (the ability to scale up and down as their workflow peaks and troughs)

• Working with experts regardless of their location, age, race, religion (i.e. there is no room for discrimination in the world of Virtual Support – it’s ALL about their ability to provide the expertise required

There’s really no hard and fast rule about what services a Virtual Business can or cannot provide – it’s really only limited by the Virtual Professionals experience / background.

Of course there are certainly some standard services that we see Virtual Businesses provide, including:

• General Administration

• Executive Assistance

• Virtual Reception

• Bookkeeping

• Data Entry

• Social Media Services

• Websites

• Graphic Design Services

• Content and Blog Writing

• Grant Writing

• Online Business Management

• Event Management

• HR and Recruitment Services

• Transcription Services

• Research Services

• Legal / Paralegal Services

• Allied Health / Medical Admin

• Property Developers / Real Estate

• Financial Services Support

• Speaker / Author Support

• Podcasting Services

• Online Course Services

• Marketing / Advertising Services

• Automation / CRM Support

And much, much more...!

This is difficult to say, however, recent VA Institute’s research shows that hourly rates for Australian VAs range from $45 per hour to $70 per hour for standard skill services, with specialised skills attracting higher rates.

Virtual Professionals are self-employed business owners, and like other business owners, they need to invoice their clients on a regular basis.

In Australia, payments are generally received via one of the following:

• Direct bank transfer

• Credit Card payment

• PayPal payment

• Cheque

You definitely don’t need to quit your full-time or part-time job to get started. In fact, if you’re employed and really NEED the income, then absolutely DO NOT QUIT…. yet!

You can set up your Virtual Business while you’re still working in an employed position. You can take on work in your own time and build your startup business that way.

This makes the option of starting a Virtual Business extremely low risk, and very attractive to many people for that very reason!

Virtual Professionals, as self-employed business owners, need to be committed to sourcing clients – and it’s very important to have a good plan in place BEFORE you get started about how you’re going to tackle this aspect of your business. It’s definitely NOT a matter of “build it and they will come”. Virtual Businesses need to be entrepreneurial, and understand that work doesn’t just magically appear.

That being said, it’s not difficult to achieve – and to be honest, you really only need a couple of clients to get you off and running…

We suggest the following as being a good place to begin (and we work with startup Virtual Professionals to strategise on precisely this area):

• Get clients, friends and family to recommend you to suitable networks for business as well as specifically female audiences.

• Allocate time to invest time in finding local (f2f) networking opportunities –actively build and generate connections within those groups.

• Build your online presence via social media platforms

• Join existing Virtual Networks to gain potential client Leads and Networking

• We also have our own lead network membership called "Virtual Momentum" which VA Institute students have a minimum of 3 months FREE access to upon successful completion of the program

Most clients communicate their tasks and projects using email, phone, sms, messaging platforms, and this is the way that work is sent through. It’s not very different to working in a traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ office really.

As long as you have access to the internet, you won’t be disadvantaged in terms of getting work. There will be networking options online and offline that will definitely be available wherever you are located (and we actively work with you to research and identify those avenues, and build your networking strategy).

There’s no rules about what you do or don’t offer, but it can be a good move to try and offer a specialised service that you love and have great experience in only because you can potentially earn more in the long run because you can really set yourself up as “the expert” in that area.

But, seriously, it’s no great problem if you’re going to offer “general admin” to kick off your Virtual Business.

What’s more important is that you are offering skills you are comfortable with and experienced enough to deliver.

So many startup Virtual Businesses are fearful about this aspect of their business journey!

Our advice – STOP WORRYING… Selling yourself is as simple as having a conversation (yes, you know, that thing you do with your mouth) with someone new.

We work with you to explain networking, and how best to network so you are focusing first and foremost on building relationships – not going in for the sale as soon as you meet someone – honestly, that’s not what it’s about.

By building relationships, and being generous with your conversation – offering advice when asked, or just a friendly ear to talk to – in a business networking environment, you will definitely reap rewards.

Let’s face it – people buy from people they know and trust… and that should be your goal when networking… not smarmy sales talk which no one is interested in!

Let us be perfectly clear here; offshore VAs are providing support to businesses all over the world, but we absolutely do not see them as competition.

Why?

Simply because we, as experienced professionals in your own countries market, understand in great detail the business climate and culture, rules and regulations that are unique to each country.

We also speak the same language as our country, live in the same time zone, and can have a conversation with our client’s customers as if we were sitting in their office.

You’re an online business, so YES, you do need a website! (don’t worry - we build a beautiful website for anyone who undertakes a VA Startup program with VA Institute as part of the course).

At the very least, you should be on LinkedIn to build relationships and network with potential clients and colleagues, and Facebook so you can collaborate with other Virtual Professionals. If your clients also hang out on social media, then you seriously need to be on there in some way, shape or form.

Yes, you definitely need to have your client sign an agreement BEFORE you start working for them. It should set out at the very least:

• Services you are going to provide for them

• Your agreed hourly or package rate

• Payment terms

• How to terminate the agreement

Again, we provide all these important templates to our VA Institute Student as a standard part of their VA Startup Program.

Depending on the sort of services you are providing, you may need to take out one of the following:

• Public Liability

• Professional Indemnity (recommended)

• Cyber Insurance

We encourage our Virtual Business Startups to seek advice from a professional financial adviser.

Most of us have the basic equipment to start a Virtual Business. You should have at the very least:

• PC or good laptop

• Access to reliable internet

• Mobile phone

• Multi-purpose printer/scanner

If possible, we suggest a dedicated office space set up so it’s WH&S compliant.

No, you shouldn’t need to invest in a separate phone for your business.

The only exception would be if you are providing Virtual Reception services, you may end up buying a VOIP phone that is dedicated for provision of reception services.

Our industry is an amazing one, full of amazing professional development opportunities.

The VA Institute provide ongoing business development training via their Virtual Momentum membership! Check www.vainstitute.com/virtual-momentum for further information

VA Institute hosts a VA Summit annually - check www.vasummit.com.au for further information

Again, we have some amazing opportunities for upskilling. There are some very reputable and affordable Virtual Professionals-centric training / upskilling resources that we can recommend to our Virtual Business Startups.

If you are interested in being kept up to date with upcoming skills training events, register your interested HERE