Are You Merely Existing in Your Virtual Assistant Business and Ready to Thrive Instead?

Starting your own small business is the definition of risk. There isn’t anything about business that isn’t. However, when you constantly hear that small businesses fail in the first three years, it makes choosing the entrepreneurial path seem like a crazy choice in comparison to finding something traditional and “secure.”

While it’s not untrue that small businesses run the risk of failure after the first year, it’s possible to survive. In fact, the Small Business Administration states that 80% of small businesses survive the first year. After that, it drops to about 50% of those who see or pass the five-year mark. Then, only one in three, make it to the 10-year mark. But that means half did see the five-year mark and one-third made it to ten years. 

The question for me, however, is not a matter of how long the small business is alive but whether or not they’re thriving, and not just surviving. Because you can scrape by and make it, but that doesn’t mean you are successful, or happy, or even meeting your own financial needs. 

I’m approaching this from my place in the virtual assistant space. Most of the women I train to set up virtual-based home businesses are considered small businesses. They have fewer than 500 employees; they are the one and only employee of their business. As such, they face the same realities as any other small business. 

Why Do Some Virtual Assistants Thrive And Others Barely Survive?

I believe there are two types of VAs:

• Those who choose to invest in learning how to build a business (and have a coach to hold them accountable) 
• Those who believe they can do it all on their own

Those who decide to embark on the VA career path and get trained by me at the outset -- have faster and more positive results.

Those who go it alone typically struggle for many of the reasons Forbes identifies as the common reasons small businesses fail: The business owners don’t understand the market, or their competition, or how to price themselves, or they aren’t offering the right services. I usually summarize this to say they don’t know how to find, get, and keep clients. 

Existing Virtual Assistants who’ve been spending their time, money, and energy for 3, 5, even 10 years, come to me for help. They’ve tried going it alone, taking advice from a multitude of free webinars, and guessing which step they should take next. They have put thousands of dollars into software they don’t need, skills training they don’t need, consulting that doesn’t work, networking groups that haven’t produced clients, or my least favorite, other training programs that promise ‘get-rich-quick’ formulas but skimp on the fundamentals of creating a solid business and take advantage of the VA in the process.

Meet Two Real-Life Existing VAs

Take Jennifer for example. For 12 years, Jennifer took the shotgun approach to running her Virtual Assistant business. She was lucky if she made $20K a year leveraging all her professional acumen in general admin and management to support other business owners. But this was not bringing her personal fulfillment nor was it bringing in a lot of extra money to the family income.

Or, Carrie. Prior to 2019, Carrie attempted to get her business to thrive on her own. She tried networking on Facebook within different VA groups and moms-working-from-home groups, but those efforts weren’t gaining the traction she wanted. She couldn’t find clients who would pay more than $11/hour for her services and $11/hour was not a reasonable wage for her value, her time, or her expertise. 

Virtual Assistants like Jennifer and Carrie work their tails off to get their businesses where they want them to be. They are smart too! But without the knowledge of how to price their services and how to find, get and keep high paying clients, they continue to merely survive.

Existing VAs Need Business Building Training 

When existing VAs realize … 

“Hey, I’m tired of trying to do this on my own. I think I need training and coaching from someone who has already been where I want to go.”

They become more willing to invest in themselves and their businesses. They get the support they need. What happens? Their businesses skyrocket quickly.

This is why my program focuses on business skills, not skills training. The women (and few good men) that come into my program already have years of experience and skills they can leverage into service-based businesses. So they don’t need to learn new skills. 

They need to learn how to run businesses. They need to learn how to market themselves, have sales conversations, network effectively, and more. As Forbes identifies, they need to understand the market, competition, and pricing. Many can’t know those things without the right training and guidance and certainly not without coaching. And many have no idea just how lucrative their businesses could be because they’ve been scraping by for so long they can’t imagine it getting better. 

The national earning average for VAs is $10,000 or less annually. But those trained in my program, on average, make more than that. We have VAs and VEs making mid-five figures and beyond. Some reach mid-five figures within their first year as a brand new VA, and some teeter into six-figures by their third year. Not only are these mid-5 to 6-figure earnings exceptions to the earning-average of VAs across the country, but they are exceptions to those small business statistics I mentioned at the beginning. The first couple of years that most see as the highest-risk for a small business’ lifespan, are typically only the beginning for the VAs in my program. For instance, where are Jennifer and Carrie now? 

Go From Surviving To Thriving

As a result of owning the title of ‘expert’ in her field and focusing her services, Jennifer has doubled her income every year since she joined my program. In 2017, she went from $20/hr. to $55/hr. She made more in the last six months of that year (2017) than she had the entire year prior (roughly $25K). In 2018, she went to $50K. And in 2019 she landed at $115K annually.

A year after enrolling, Carrie filled every spot in her client portfolio. She completed and received her Virtual Expert? Certification. She got G-Suite Certified and became one of the Virtual Expert? Success System Coaches. Carrie advanced her business so far, she began building her own team. And, she charges $45/hour (and refuses anything less). 

My passion is helping brilliant women like Jennifer, Carrie and YOU transform your VA businesses from barely surviving to magnificently thriving.

If you’re ready to turn your VA business into an income generating machine, and thrive in 2021, check out the new, free training I developed especially for you:

Your Path to a 6-Figure Virtual Assistant Business in 2021

Register today.

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Kathy Goughenour is an experienced and savvy business coach and trainer. From corporate marketing to Virtual Assistant to business coach and trainer.

Since 2008 she's been training and coaching women to build successful Virtual Assistant home-based businesses through her program Virtual Expert? Training.