One of the biggest challenges solopreneurs must overcome is playing every role across their business.
When you try to do it all, it’s tough to build up your inspiration and stay in the solopreneur race.
I empathize that you may not have the bankroll to hire a full-time employee, which means it’s time to collaborate with a virtual assistant (VA).
When you delegate client support and basic marketing tasks to a smart VA, you’ll get immediate impact in two big areas:
First, your energy will improve since you’re working on projects you know how to do well.
Second, your clients will receive more attention, which creates a positive customer journey.
In this article, we explore how virtual assistants help solopreneurs make money.
In addition, there is a dynamic interview with Brianni Walker, founder of Assitme VA.
The 5 Ways
- VAs live in every part of the globe, and you can find quality candidates in multiple places within your time zone
- VAs work from home with their own IT and equipment, saving you money on typical employee expenses
- VAs can fix problems you can’t solve and let you use your skills to build solutions and find more clients
- VAs give your clients the fast, accurate support they deserve
- VAs offer flexible pricing plans to max your return on the investment
Virtual Assistants Live Right Next Door
Years ago, it was difficult to discover a VA who could help you excel. These days, there’s no excuse not to discover an ideal candidate.
One source you can consult to identify top VA candidates is BOSS Assistants.
Virtual Assistants Bring Their Own IT and Equipment
It’s expensive to rent a workspace and provide PCs, laptops, and furniture. Today’s VAs have their own equipment.
They can connect with you via digital workspaces, and you can assign tasks back and forth.
Project management is seamless, and invoicing is easier with a wide array of fintech choices.
This business model lowers your costs and improves your margins. In addition, you can delegate tasks that are not in your area of expertise.
Virtual Assistants Fix Problems Outside Your Comfort Zone
Stop trying to master it all.
Assign a VA the SEO, email, and marketing outreach tasks you don’t do well.
Focus on one skill to solve 1 BIG client problem.
You may feel nervous about asking a VA to dive into new projects. This is natural.
In my experience, a solid VA will learn the ins and outs of your business and climb the learning curve in short order.
Once you and a VA are on the same path, your productivity accelerates, and your clients receive more attention.
A Virtual Assistant Helps Your Clients
The reward for your good work is more clients. All clients deserve A+ service, yet VAs can solve 90–95% of client requests.
Empower your VA to be a client service advocate.
When a VA attends to your clients in rapid succession, their appreciation for your business excels.
This A+ service encourages them to recommend your firm to their friends and associates.
Virtual Assistants Have Flexible Payment Plans
Full-time employees are a sensational investment, yet the costs are high. The VA model has a lower cost structure and is a good intermediate step.
When you hire a full-time employee, you have to account for payroll, taxes, and benefits to help attract and retain a top full-time employee.
A VA may not need these extras, which keeps your expenses lower and your margins healthier.
When I started my finance business, I was hesitant to hire a virtual assistant.
When I made the choice to bring a terrific VA on to the team, my business productivity went up by 30 to 45%.
Learn from My Firsthand Experience
I launched my first solo business with an MBA and 8 years of finance and marketing expertise.
For 14 plus years, I led my finance firm and convinced myself I could tackle each project on my desk. Big mistake.
I hit the wall of exhaustion with presentations, research, client emails, and looking for new business.
The single best decision I made was to hire smart teammates who could tackle and solve problems faster and better than me.
The VA model gave me valuable time to prospect and increase sales.
Interview with Brianni Walker, Founder of Assist Me VA
When Brianni Walker started her virtual assistant agency in 2022, her timing was right on the mark.
The solo business model took off in the pandemic era, and Brianni was in position A to meet demand for VA assistance.
I discovered Brianni on LinkedIn and was impressed with her journey and corporate approach.
I interviewed Brianni to learn of her ups and downs in starting her virtual assistant agency and the benefits of this dynamic business model.
Following are excerpts from my video interview with Brianni, which took place in early 2023.
Erik: “Brianni, what was the genesis for you to go down this road?”
Brianni: “I started my virtual assistant business by myself in January 2022. My first client, who I still work with, <was a good friend>.
She <built> a virtual assistant agency in the beginning of her career, and she gave me the idea of starting a virtual assistant agency.
The funny part about it was that I didn’t know anybody else who had an agency.
I <conducted> research and did a lot of studying. I’ve seen millions of virtual assistants all over the internet.
But I didn’t see many who were operating under an agency model.”
Erik: “How did that process work for you when you were weighing the pros and cons of going out on your own and building this?”
Brianni: “I was terrified. I was very apprehensive about the idea of interviewing other virtual assistants and having them represent me and my brand to other businesses.
It was uncomfortable for me.
My friend told me, “if you feel that way, when you get new clients, you should work with them initially.
So now, if <a client> wants to work with us, they <work> with me as their virtual assistant for the first 6 to 8 weeks.
This time gives me an opportunity to really get into their business <model> and understand what they need, their pain points, and the steps to creating processes that will be effective for their virtual assistant.
That part makes me feel better about it.”
Erik: “If a reader is curious about the benefits of getting a VA on <the> team, how do you work with a new business owner?”
Brianni: “Many folks say a virtual assistant helps grow a business.
Virtual assistants don’t help with growing a business.
I feel virtual assistants should be one of the first hires for any business.
Business owners don’t understand how much work they’re doing that they don’t have to be doing.
We have onboarding calls with all of our clients, and we talk about their main pain points.
I always say, “Let’s start with your pain points.”
Once they offload those pain points and realize how much space and opportunity they have to put back into their business, it gives them more time to be creative.
It gives them more time to create on social media.
It gives them more time to generate, <and> it gives them more time to do the things that they need to do as CEOs.
They can get more clients, bring in more sales, and increase revenue.”
Erik: “How do you help clients tackle <multiple> projects in the right way?”
Brianni: “One of the services we offer is email management. Many agencies offer email management because they feel it’s so easy.
But when you have a client who has 20,000 emails, many will say, “I don’t want to do that.
Once you get to a steady state, you get to a place where you say, “Okay, this can be managed.”
And getting to that point is stressful.
When you have clients who don’t have enough time to implement the system that you put in place, you go back to the drawing board.
We have to start over.
Email management is a bigger beast than people think.”
Erik: “Any other topics you’d like the readers to know about you, the business, or what you provide for <clients>?“
Brianni: “When you are interested in hiring a virtual assistant, do your research.
There are people who <claim to be> virtual assistants who probably shouldn’t be virtual assistants.
There are so many different places where you can find support. Go with your gut instinct. If you feel it’s not going to be a good partnership, it’s probably not going to be a good partnership.
Do your research when sourcing virtual assistant help.”
**End of Interview**
If you operate a solo business, consider the VA model. When revenue starts to arrive, you might also consider collaborating with a bookkeeper.
Remember Brianni’s recommendation to conduct your research on the VA agency and the individuals with whom you work.
Chat with your accountant and attorney to understand important financial and legal issues when you add teammates to your organization.
FAQs
Do virtual assistants make money?
Every virtual assistant can decide if they want to work on their own or through an agency.
If you work on your own you can set your hourly or monthly rate. You are responsible for billing your clients and handling your expenses.
If you work with an agency then the agency may help with your expenses.
In return, the agency may set your hourly or monthly rate and then compensate you accordingly.
When is the right time to hire a virtual assistant?
The obvious answer is ‘sooner than you think.’
In my experience, folks wait six months too long before they hire a VA.
You should take a look at your revenue and financial resources before you hire a virtual assistant.
You can talk with your financial advisor or get some basic help with building a financial projection to better understand the costs.
Which tasks should you ask a virtual assistant to complete?
Focus on your business operations for the initial task list.
This may include emails, client correspondence, organizing your calendar, and research.
If your VA understands basic search engine optimization, you can ask them to create a simple database (Google Sheets) of keywords for your blog posts, newsletters, or website.
You can also ask your VA to conduct simple market research on buying trends and updates in your industry.
While you’re selling and working on business development, your VA can be your ‘part-time’ marketing and research division.
Helpful Resources
The solopreneur newsletter, Solopreneur Doorway, arrives each Wednesday to turn your challenges into more clients and higher sales.
Each issue has growth ideas and answers to common solopreneur problems.
When you’re ready, discover your custom, 90-minute coaching session that fixes your biggest business challenges.
Your business is unique, and the custom session puts together a personalized set of recommendations to get your business moving.
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