Are you ready to dive in and start up your very own Virtual Assistant Business? You can get going fairly quickly if you follow these steps…
Determine what type of clients you want to work with
Before you do anything, you need a good understanding of the type of people you want to work with. This is how you can narrow down your niche. Maybe people choose the service first, but the best way is to choose the audience, then choose how to solve their problems with your services.
Write down a list of your skills
Now that you know what type of service(s) you’re going to offer and who you’ll offer it to it’s time to determine what skills you have. Write down the skills you have that can be used for services. You can also use the skills of others to help if you are able to outsource some of the work.
Match your skills to the audience and the type of business you want
Once you know what skills you have, you can match the skills with the type of clients you want to create a service that your target audience needs and wants. Now you have the beginning of your business idea.
Write a business plan
Even if you only have a one-page business plan, it’s important to write it out. You will need to know who your audience is, what services you’ll provide. You’ll need to explain all aspects of how you plan to do it. Plus you’ll determine how much it costs, and how much you’ll charge. You’ll also study your audience and see your prices during the business plan phase.
Set out a start-up budget
Determine how much money you need to get your business started. You won’t need much to set up a VA business. Set aside the money to use for the rest of the planning phase of your business. You may want to set up a business bank account but if it isn’t in the budget yet you could set up a separate free savings account attached to your personal account.
Deal with legalities
You may need to get a business license depending on the rules of your country, state, city or county. You should be able to do a search for business licenses for small businesses within your city name to get more information
Get an EIN if you’re in the USA
This is very important because you really need it so that you can protect your identity. You can create a business name and get an EIN from the IRS very easily online for free, within seconds. In other countries they may have similar numbers for small business owners; check with a local business start-up center. Don’t be confused by the fact that EIN stands for Employer Identification Number. You don’t have to have employees; you just need a small business, and even if you’re a business of one, you can get the number. Apply for an EIN number with the IRS here.
Create a website with a blog
Now that you know your business name, what you’re going to offer and to whom, create a business website with a blog. The easiest way is to use self-hosted WordPress with a hosting account such as one from here.
Set up Social media accounts
Set up separate social media accounts for your business. Make sure to fill out your profiles completely. Set up a Linkedin profile, a Facebook Business Page, a Twitter profile, a Google+ personal and Google+ business page. Don’t feel as if you need to be on all social media network; just choose the ones that are relevant to your business. Be whenever your target audience is.
After you’ve completed all of these steps you can start marketing your business. None of this should take more than a month from beginning to end.
Good luck!
