Setting Up A Virtual Assistant Office

Internet Business Model Series
Service Business / Charge by Hour or Project

For a virtual assistant, being organized and having the right equipment to do the job is vital to success. Here’s a list of a few of the necessities to set up a successful virtual assistant office.

Computer with Internet Access – A computer is the heart of a virtual assisting business and the one chosen should be powerful. A state of the art computer will cost more than the ones advertised but is an investment in the future of the business and most often can be claimed as a deduction on to following year’s taxes. Even though the bottom of the line or outdated computer will not work for most virtual assistants, the highest end computer is not needed either. Just be sure to purchase plenty of RAM so multiple software programs can be run simultaneously and not cause freeze-ups. The computer with Internet access is the major means of communication with clients so a high-speed internet connection is most often a necessity.

Telephone - A separate phone line for the business prevents personal calls from getting mixed in with business calls. Children should be kept from answering business calls and having a separate line will help in this regard. For the virtual assistant, communication is paramount and quite often a phone call is needed to communicate with a client. An easy and inexpensive way to add a phone line is to set up a separate number with VOIP (voice over internet protocol) through a company like Vonage. VOIP accounts are inexpensive and allow you to add a toll-free number for just a few dollars. Additionally, domestic long distance is usually included at no extra charge.

Fax machine – Some clients will prefer sending documents by fax verses email, sometimes it’s because they don’t have a scanner, other times it’s just their preferred method. Specs for work and documents that need a signature are sometimes easier to deal with when sent this way and this method is always faster than snail mail. It’s not necessary to have a separate fax machine, the all-in-one scanner/printer/fax is quite inexpensive and a scanner is necessary anyway. If the VA office is equipped with a scanner, an online fax service like E-Fax can be used instead of a fax machine.

File cabinet – Most of the information a virtual assistant receives from clients is in the form of virtual documents. For privacy and business purposes, contracts and other documents can be printed and filed. A file cabinet needs a secure lock so all business communication is safe.

Comfortable desk and chair – Most of a virtual assistant’s time is spent working at a desk. The environment must be kept comfortable in order for the body to be able to work for long hours and to prevent physical problems that can occur. The chair must be a proper fit and the desk the proper height. Don’t over look the height of the computer monitor and placing it straight ahead from the chair will help prevent neck pain.

Separate work area – For tax purposes, it is essential that the home office be separate. With so much sensitive data coming in and out of your hands, a virtual assistant needs an area dedicated to the business and nothing else. Use a den, garage, spare bedroom, or construct a small office behind the house (if finances permit).

All-In-One Printer – Simple printers are a thing of the past for virtual assistants. A printer that has the capability of scanning documents, sending faxes, and copying documents is more of value and cheaper than purchasing each separately. A virtual assistant will utilize all of these features. Many printer manufacturers now offer wireless versions of their all-in-one printers, this is convenient if work is done on a laptop from varying locations in the house.

Software – A virtual assistant is nothing without the software to do the job. This includes website design software, desktop publishing software, Microsoft Office, accounting software, and the like. At bare minimum the most recent version of Microsoft Office is necessary but if the VA is considering any specialization, the software to facilitate that specialty is necessary.

The virtual assistant’s office is his or her main workspace. It not only must be functional but comfortable as well. It’s important to purchase quality products that will last and help project a perception of professionalism to the client.

Tweet This Post

Who Needs a Virtual Assistant?

Internet Business Model Series
Service Business / Charge by Hour or Project

A huge percentage of the marketplace today is made up of small and home-based businesses. Some of these businesses are so small the term solopreneur was coined to describe them. The owners of these businesses are quite often stretched to their limits to get everything done and administrative work is often left to be done last. These businesses are prime candidates for virtual assistants.

On the other hand, large corporations are good candidates for virtual assistants as well. With new technology and the internet, work can be completed and turned in by a person working in a totally different location than the person assigning the work. Many large corporations are taking advantage of this ability to use offsite workers and saving thousands on not only payroll but office space, equipment and benefits.

When it comes to home-based and smaller businesses where the owner is the person who handles most, if not all the work, a virtual assistant can help that business owner focus his or her efforts where they will be most productive. By allowing a capable virtual assistant to take over some of the administrative tasks, the business owner can add value to their own time by spending it on the tasks that will grow their business.  Time spent on marketing, customer service, and planning will have a much higher pay-off to their business than time spent on administrative duties. And smart business owners know this and understand the price of a virtual assistant is small in comparison to the alternative. These small business owners realize that spreading themselves too thin by trying to it all is not the wisest use of their time and as their business grows, either the marketing and managing of the business or the administrative duties will suffer.

In addition to the small business population, corporate clients are in constant need of administrative help as projects present themselves and growth occurs. The virtual assistant with the necessary skills to handle a particular project is the perfect choice for the same reasons it’s a good choice for a small business owner. The cost of a permanent employee goes way beyond the hourly rate paid to that employee. Although most large corporations are solvent and can afford to hire a permanent employee when the need arises, they are also held accountable for the bottom line and hiring someone permanently when the work could be done on a contract basis is not prudent. For this reason more and more companies are looking to the virtual assistant to handle projects and duties that used to be done in-house.

Basically many kinds of companies, from the “one-man show,” right up to the largest Fortune 500 company, are using virtual assistants. The market is wide open for the skilled professional to start and grow a successful virtual assistant business.

Now, just think how all your years of experience and the skills you’ve accumulated over the years will translate into a successful virtual assistant business. This is a business where baby boomers who have worked as executive assistants can really trump. As a boomer you not only have years of experience and the skills necessary to do the job, but you’ve had so many dealings with people in so many situations, that you’ve learned patience, time-management, client relations, and myriad of other things that will work to your advantage. What a great industry in which to grow a boomer business.

In my last post I told you about a program by Tawnya Sutherland that will help you break into the field and teach you how to start your marketing program to gain a clientele. Today I want to show you her other website and message board where you can go to learn and get your questions answered.

The link here will take you to a page on her site that sells her VA Insider Membership Club. I’m leading you to that page so you know it exists and you can see the differences between the free membership and the paid membership. The page is pretty clear showing in a table the benefits of the paid membership. Personally, I’d look around a bit, join the free membership board, and then later if you decide you want to start your own virtual assistant business, consider the paid membership only after you purchase the Virtual Business Start-Up System, well, that is, if you plan on buying the VBSS. The reason I say this is because the VA Insider Membership Club is half-price is you own VBSS. Do definitely don’t do anything right this moment, first use the free membership and then make your decision only after you’re sure you like what you see.

Next we’ll talk about the skills necessary to consider starting a virtual assistant business.

Cheers!

Reba

Tweet This Post

What is a Virtual Assistant?

Internet Business Model Series
Service Business / Charge by Hour or Project

All businesses from time to time need administrative help beyond their current payroll. Often an unplanned project will present itself and since the need for help is temporary, it’s better to outsource the work than hire more personnel. In the case where a business is small and doesn’t need much administrative help, the owner may decide it’s less expensive to outsource than take on the expense and benefits associated with an employee. Whatever the case, smart administrative professionals are capitalizing on the need in the market and starting businesses to fill that need.

So what is a virtual assistant? A virtual assistant, or VA for short, is the equivalent of an executive assistant but instead of working as an employee for one company has taken his or her expertise and created a service business.  VA’s usually work for more than one client on a project by project or retainer basis.

As the forms of communication and sharing of documents has been made easier by the internet, the virtual assistant industry has evolved and VA’s are offering a much more varied menu of services. In addition to word processing, some VA’s have branched out and started offering other services like bookkeeping, web design, and internet marketing.  Some companies are even forwarding their phones to their VA’s to handle customer service calls. Specialization in one particular area of expertise or industry is quite common and a smart move by the virtual assistant.

Virtual assistants normally charge either by the hour or by the project. Some allow a discount for customers that pay for a number of hours in advance. Since a VA is a business owner, growing the customer base in an effort to make a profit is essential. For this reason most VA’s have a website that outlines their skills and describes the type of work they are comfortable accepting.  VA’s who have internet marketing knowledge or offline marketing knowledge, will have an edge over those that don’t since sales and marketing the business is how their client base is built.

A VA’s experience can range from brand new to many years in the corporate world prior to going solo. Experience needed to start a virtual assistant business doesn’t matter as much as the skill level in the area of expertise of the VA along with the ability to keep the customer happy. Building a reputation of not only quality work but ease of relationship and communication is important for getting and keeping customers. Even though a VA will normally work for many clients, they work hard to give the perception to each client that they are the only one.

If you are interested in starting a virtual assistant business and think you have qualities that would make a good virtual assistant, you can find help breaking into the industry. Tawnya Sutherland not only started her own virtual assistant business from scratch but built it up to the level where she now earns over $100,000 a year. She has assisted numerous corporate administrative workers and mentored various business people who are in career transitions working towards self employment. She also works directly with new and experienced virtual assistants.

If you want help starting your virtual assistant business check out Tawnya’s Virtual Business Start-Up System.

Next post in this series will cover “Who Needs A Virtual Assistant?”

Cheers!

Reba

Tweet This Post