Hand up if, at one point or another you’ve felt a sense of failure in being able to balance both the professional and personal pieces of life? Work is work; you get home, evening routines commence, you fall asleep to that show that’s been waitlisted on your watch list for months and the rinse and repeat continues. 

I get it. I’ve lived that life. After riding this routine for years, I decided that being miserable was no longer worth the money I was making in the corporate model. I needed to create the life I envisioned for myself. Having a flexible schedule, choosing clients I wanted to work with and making money in a world without pay caps or dictated review parameters became my main motivators in building an online business. 

Well, my business timeline looks ALOT differently than I dreamed it would.

6 years ago, you would have found me miserable, living within a shell of myself as I worked up the corporate ladder.

3 years ago, you would have found me in better spirits as I was working within a small business accelerator program and finally felt some worth in my work.

1 year ago, you would have found me sleep-deprived but happy as I worked through my last graduate semester as a full-time student, worked full-time and was figuring out all the things necessary to launch my business.  I remember watching those self-made millionaire stories and thinking, will I ever even have enough money to leave my job?? And so the goal was set a year out to hustle hard and grow enough to transition full-time into my business.

Fast forward 3 months following launch and I had officially ditched my full-time gig. 

Now, you’re probably wondering,

What is a Virtual Assistant? I like to say we’re the new admins, office managers, project managers, designers, strategists, and online wranglers of the future. VA’s can be broken into two groups: Generalist (which many may start out as) and specialist who have niched down skill sets. For example, I provide Pinterest marketing strategy to creatives as well as backend operational support. I could have a WHOLE blog on the services in which you can provide as a Virtual Assistant, but don’t worry, I’ll save that for another time.

Back to business! Here are 5 ways building a virtual assistant business can change your life.

 

1.) Build the life you want:

What’s important to you? What do you value? Is it travel? Time with kids? Time with your fur babies?

Writer Annie Dillard famously said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” For many of us, a large portion of our days is spent at work; in fact, the average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. It’s safe to say your job can make a huge impact on your quality of life.”

If we’re going to spend that many hours at work over a lifetime, might as well do it at home in slippers and elastic waisted pants at a time that works best for you, am I right? Building this type of business gives you an opportunity to deconstruct the details as to the types of services you can and want to provide virtually, the types of clients you’d like to serve as well as the schedule around when you will provide service to them. This type of professional and financial control can, in turn, provide opportunities for experiences, adventures, or whatever your standard of “quality life” entails.

 

2.) Put the F in Flexibility: 

Autonomy is SUPER important to me. I’m just not my best self under micro-management styles plain and simple. I believe in being self-directed and providing exceptional service in return for trust in my ability to complete the task at hand. By building this type of business you can identify your “productivity power hours” or time frame in which you are most focused, and in turn, build a schedule that works best for you and all of the things that you want as well as, have to do in life. 

 

3.) Make the money you deserve:

Tired of waiting for a promotion? Over yearly reviews? When first starting this business, I was focused on just making enough money to supplement my income and expenses. Once I met that mark, it was kind’ve like alright, “game on!”. There are too many online tools and not enough experts. Everyone is trying to fight an algorithm and the ways in which we work together and with customers is changing. Thus, virtual support roles like a virtual assistant are gaining in demand and the price tag isn’t so bad either.

 

4.) Work with whom YOU choose:

I primarily work with creatives because I LURVE them! We vibe well due to our structure meets carefree collaboration style. For me, I’ve never been able to back a product or person I don’t believe in, so finding clients I can really get behind was a big one for me. Now, this doesn’t by any means just happen from the start; but with experience and evaluation, you’ll be able to identify client characteristics that you want more of and those you absolutely do not.

 

5.) Learn, grow, and continue to challenge yourself:

From creating packages to designing your logo, setting up your project management system, connecting with your first client, and preparing your first invoice, you’ll be learning every single step of the way. It’s uncomfortable, sometimes overwhelming, yet extremely validating every time you find the solution all by yourself [virtual high five].

 

Stop scrolling through the “what if”s or “I wish”. They won’t do you any good love. Building an online business whether it’s a virtual assistant, graphic design, or coaching business takes time, a strong foundation, and a bit of strategy. There are TONS of “e-preneurs” in this space, so building a  sustainable + scalable plan is going to be your first step in building an e-based business that can grow as you do.