Ask the Master Newsletter Archives

Welcome to the previous editions of the Ask the Master newsletter. On your left you will find links to tips and the how to’s of running a Virtual Assistant practice. We hope you enjoy your stay and if you have a question you’d like answered send it to submission@vatp.ca.

Financial Information

What are your dreams? What are you goals for 2003? What do you need to do or whom do you need to be to get there? What daily action can you take to get there? Have you written them down?

One of the greatest fears of being self-employed can be financial, especially for those who come from a corporate environment. Building a business takes time and money and you do not usually see an immediate return on your investment. Fortunately there are lower start up costs associated with this profession than a lot of others particularly retail businesses. When you know what to expect you can plan financially. The following is an idea of what to expect. Plan your future.

Warmly,
Mary-Lou Ashton
Master Virtual Assistant

Questions In This Edition
(Click on the links to go to that question.)

• How do you charge for services?
• How do I estimate the cost of a job or project?
• What can I expect to earn as a VA?
• How many clients will I need?
• What about subcontracting work?
  

There are several ways to charge for Virtual Assistant services and you may use only one method or a combination, depending on the work you are doing.

The most common method, especially when you are starting out, is an hourly rate. You have to decide if you will implement a minimum number of hours required along with what your billing increments will be, such as per 1 minute or per 15 minutes. As you gain experience, success and a reputation you can increase the hourly rate to reflect your skill level. Some clients may provide a budget with a fixed number of hours per month.

Another option for charging of services is project based. This involves providing an estimate or costing of the job based on the desired end result. Be very cautious when providing the estimates as unless you have lots of experience with the work you will be doing. You can easily under estimate the amount of time it will take and this can be costly to you.

The other way of getting paid is to go on a monthly retainer or stipend. Be sure to get clarity of the number of hours attached to the fee and you may want to track the hours initially to make sure it is a win/win situation. The method makes invoicing and budgeting easier.

Make sure you have all the information and details on the job so you can accurately cost it including your expenses if any. Notice how long it takes you to do certain tasks; edit and format one page of text, enter one contact into a database, process 20 email etc. Ask if any VA's in your community have done a job like this and can offer some insight. Consider adding a safety margin to the total, it is better to come in under budget.

My rule is to double it!

It really depends on what your business looks like, such as are you doing it part time or full time, how much you needed to invest to get going etc. Most businesses do not make money in their first year however this does not always apply to this profession and you can make $10-$12,000 working full time. You can usually expect to double your income in the second year and in the third year reach the $30,000+ mark. By the fifth year expect $50,000.

Once again this is not true for everyone and depends on a lot of different factors. My purpose for sharing this with you is so you do not have unrealistic expectations about your income capacity. You alone will determine your success so dream big!!

This depends on income goals, number of hours per client and hourly rate. Figure out what this needs to be for you. The average VA has between 4-5 steady ideal clients once they are established. It may take 2-3 years to get there.

This can be a source of passive income for the Virtual Assistant however you also need to be ready to manage and be held accountable for the results. Keep in mind that you will be the party in between your client and the person doing the work so communication and trust is key. Some services such as bookkeeping are not recommended to outsource but provide the resource to your client.

You can set it up so that you charge your client a higher hourly rate than what you are being billed or you can set it up that you get a percentage of the fee being paid. If you prefer to just provide the resource you can also consider charging a flat rate referral fee or the percentage referral fee as well.