How to Start a Virtual Assistant Service Business – The Complete Guide

You don’t need to have a ton of experience to get a VA job but you can become a virtual assistant, earn substantial income and make a living working from home, regardless of your location.

The reason behind this is not far fetched. Advancements in technology and remote work has increased the demand for Virtual Assistants in virtually all sectors of the economy.

Compared to twenty years ago when it was nearly impossible to work with individuals without formally employing them, today; most companies and businesses in need of staff without the commitment of full time employment are increasingly demanding for Virtual Assistants.

In fact, according to a recent report, the virtual assistance industry is set to reach the 5 billion dollars bench mark globally, between 2021 and 2025.

With such statistics, and its very unique side attractions, not only has virtual assistant services become a very profitable online business, it is today, one of the top online businesses you can start, either from your home or elsewhere.

So, if you’re thinking about starting a Virtual Assistant Business, in this guide, you’re going to learn how to get started, grow and evolve a successful Virtual Assistance business, regardless of the level of your experience.

What is Virtual Assistant

A Virtual Assistant is a self-employed worker or entrepreneur who provides specialized services to clients from a remote location.

The primary role of a Virtual Assistant is to work remotely with clients like companies, individuals and businesses to provide specific services for them in exchange for a pay.

Why You Should Become a Virtual Assistant?

Over the years, growing adoption of technology by businesses and individuals has led to a surge in the demand for virtual assistant service providers.

Unlike many years ago, today many businesses prefer to cut cost in some areas by employing virtual assistants over permanent staff.

With this increase in demand for VA roles, many have stepped in to provide Virtual Assistant services either as a full time job or part time job and they are getting paid for it.

Also, the flexibility it offers in terms of working hours, work-life balance, choice of jobs etc. are some additional factors that attracts people to take up VA roles.

What a Virtual Assistant Does

Initially, the job of a virtual assistant was typically administrative in nature. But with advancement in technology, the most in-demand virtual assistant skills recently are in the areas around technology.

And some of the popular jobs available in the virtual assistant industry are: Social Media Assistance, Email Marketing Expert, Content Writing, Audio & Video Editing, Digital Marketing etc.

There are also some less popular tasks which include: Payroll Management, Proof Reading, Editing Documents, Database Entry, Email management etc.

Although these are some of the top in demand virtual assistant services, there are still a lot more and you can always create a niche and market your own unique services, based on your competence and market need.

That said, the following are the practical steps you can take to become a virtual assistant…

Sorting Out your Skills

You don’t necessarily need to have a specific experience before you can become a Virtual Assistant. But, to get started, you’ll need some skills.

In fact, the first thing you need to do before starting a Virtual Assistance service is to sort out your skills. Find out, what skills do you have? And if you don’t have any relevant skill, find out what skill(s) you want to learn and how long it’ll take you to gain mastery in that skill.

Doing this will get you all set on choosing the right kind of skills and being able to identify the kind of target audience you want to focus on with your services.

Where you think you don’t have the right kind of skillset, you can always pay for trainings to brush up your skills, get the right certifications and get yourself all prepped to get started.

PS: Even where you already have the requisite skills, it is still important to brush up your skills as this will give you more confidence in your work.

Choosing a Niche

Choosing a niche is a very important aspect of your journey to become a virtual assistant because your success to a large extent is going to depend on the niche you choose.

So, before you choose a niche, you need to take note of certain things like,

• The actual market demand for the skill. Are there a decent number of people currently in need of this service you’re planning to offer?
• Your level of Expertise in that niche. Do you have enough competence to work in this field or will you have to attend some training to build on your skills? And if you have to embark on trainings, how long will it take you?
• The level of Competition. Are there a high number of already established experts in this niche? If yes, will you be able to compete with them profitably, as a beginner?

These are some of the key things you need to consider before deciding on any particular niche. As whatever you decide here will influence your success as a virtual assistant.

Creating a Brand

If you want to become that virtual assistant that stands out from the crowd, then you need to choose and create a brand that stands out from the crowd.

Starting with your brand name, you have to carefully select a brand name that will pass across the kind of message you want it to send across to your audience without mincing words.

I have seen VAs choose brand names like SEOExpert, Brandchick, SocialMediaBabe etc, based on their niche and target audience.

You can always do something similar or go all out to choose a brand name that suits you based on your own business name or whatever you want to use as such.

Remembering that branding is not only about your name and logo, you also need to be sure that your marketing paraphernalia, website, social media and other items are exactly on brand and people can recognize your brand, whenever they come across items that belong to you.

To further cement your brand, you also need to create and share content that positions you as the expert that you are in that niche.

PS: In whatever you do, be sure your target audience can actually relate to your brand.

Check out a complete guide on how to set up your brand here

Setting up your Business

As you prepare to launch your business, you may decide to become a virtual assistant as a solo entrepreneur or give your business a face by having it registered as a limited liability company.

Whatever you choose, it is always best you choose something that works for you based on your current realities and long term goals.

Usually, registering your business has a way of giving you that corporate outlook but notwithstanding, if you don’t have the resources to register the business immediately, you can always get started and then register your business at a later time.

While getting set to set up your business, also remember that this is a good time to decide where you’ll be working from. It’s a good time to ask the question, am I going to be working from home or an office space?

Of course you can always work from either of the places, provided you have all the needed resources that will make your work convenient at both locations but if you can afford it, it is always better to work from a personal or shared office space, where you get your job done without needless distractions.

After you’ve sorted out your preferred working location, the next thing you need do is to provide all the necessary working devices including the necessary applications, softwares and hardware that you’ll be needing.

Choosing a Pricing Model

Now that you’ve set up your business, the next thing you need do is to set up a pricing model and decide how much you’ll be charging clients for your services.

Usually, you can decide to charge you clients either collectively for all services provided if you’re providing more than one services to a client or to charge them on per hour, weekly or monthly basis. The choice is always yours.

As a beginner, if you’re offering more than one service to a client, it is always best you charge them collectively as this will give you the chance to give them a wholesome discount that can also serve as an incentive, in some cases.

Where you’re charging on a per service basis, you can offer to charge them on an hourly, weekly or monthly basis, depending on what works for the both of you.

In some niches, pricing is a big deal. And to become a virtual assistant successfully in such niches, you have to be very flexible with your pricing while giving your clients good value for their money.

Promote your Services

So, you’re all set up to become a virtual assistant. Your next goal is to get the jobs. And to do this well enough, you need to promote the hell out of your business. Yes! Get the word out so people know you exist.

Get a Website: The first step to promote your VA business is to get a website. The reason you need a website is to showcase your services, your portfolio, reviews, clients and content.

Getting a website and putting all these things in place will go a long way in building your credibility as well as getting you the visibility you deserve. And we can build a website for you, if you reach out to us here.

Get on Social Media: After setting up your website, the next step to promote your VA business is to get on the social media. Get your brand all set up on the important social media platforms that have a good number of your target clients.

Create & Share Content: Create content and share on both your website and social media handle from time to time. This content should include your work, case studied and other valuable content that will benefit your target audience.

Work on doing this consistently, so people can get to know you.

PS: Here’s a complete guide on how to promote your business online here.

Growing your Business

It is not enough to become a virtual assistant, it is important you maintain a consistent level of growth if you really want to be successful in this business.

So, the first step you need to take to grow your business is to promote it so you can get a better visibility and clients.

Apart from the steps I listed above, to further promote your business, you can use paid advertising either on social media or search engines like Google Ads, to drive traffic and visibility for your business.

As soon as the clients starts coming in, work on providing excellent customer service that will earn you both referrals and return clients.

Automate: Set up automation tools to automate certain aspects of your business and get the work off your desk.

Engage: Show up consistently to post and interact with your audience online. Also, join and share your content to platforms and groups with a good number of your target client.

Get Reviews & Testimonials: Finally, be sure to actively ask for testimonials and referrals. And when you get them, showcase them on your platforms and social media handles.

Final Word

In conclusion, starting a virtual assistant business is not just doable it’s one of the most popular online businesses that’s providing employment for a lot of individuals out there. And you can actually use these steps to start your own virtual assistant services business.

While at it, you need to always bear in mind that building a successful business will demand a consistent effort, time and persistence.

So, there you have the step by step procedure to become a virtual assistant. With these tips, you can start a virtual assistant service business, anywhere, with or without any experience.

Now, that you know the steps you need to take, do you feel you need to learn some specific digital skills so you can become a more confident virtual assistant? You can start right here.

Now it’s over to you. What do you think is your biggest challenge towards becoming a virtual assistant? Join the conversation in the comments section.