Do You Have What it Takes?
- Do you have a desire to achieve?
- Are you willing to take risks?
- Do you possess self-confidence?
- Do you have a “passion for the business?”
- Can you accept challenges?
- Do you strive to be the best?
Next, consider the following personal traits
- Are you a self-starter?
- Do you like to work with dynamic people?
- Are you confident about your ability to get the job done?
- Are you creative?
- Can you adapt to rapid change?
- Do you have good problem-solving skills?
- Can you set goals and follow them to completion?
- Can you handle multiple tasks at one time?
- Can you anticipate the needs of others?
- Are you a leader?
- Can you learn from your past mistakes?
- Can you work through problems and not dwell on them?
How did you do? Now would be a good time to ask yourself what additional positive traits you have and how you can best put them to use.
Here are some things you might ask yourself when you’re contemplating whether or not to start a VA practice:
- Are you a good time manager? The impact of those two words will amaze you. Talk to any virtual assistant in business today and they will tell you just what an impact it can have on your business. You have to know how to manage your time. DEADLINES!! INTERRUPTIONS!! FAMILY CRISES!! SHOPPING!!! (Only kidding, just wanted to see if you were listening!) It’s crucial to have your day planned out in advance. You need to be the type of person who can do this.
- Do you have excellent typing and proofing skills? This is very important to your business. You are your business; therefore, you want to do your absolute best in ensuring that all documents are as close to perfection as possible. That includes correspondence with potential or existing clients, as well as your VA associates. Don’t feel that you need to be a super fast typist – that’s not necessary. The main key is to be a good typist and a good proofreader. Your speed will increase with time.
- Do you already know several people who could utilize your services? Many VAs are fortunate to already know clients who want to utilize their services. It can be past employers, friends or acquaintances at church. This is definitely an added plus because you then have money coming in immediately.
- Are you capable of making a great income and will stop at nothing to make it happen? I always knew when I was working at my secretarial positions that I should be making more than I was, and I wanted to make more. However, in the typical secretarial jobs you were lucky to get a $1.00 to $2.00 raise a year. I loved it when I was finally able to tell people that I was making $30.00/hr. Now that’s what I’m worth. How about you? With your skills and experience, how much do you think you’re worth?
- Do you enjoy helping people? What a wonderful feeling it is to help other businesses succeed. I have always targeted new businesses and in doing so I am able to see them grow and become great successes. My experience enables me to help develop their business image in a positive manner.
Naturally, the more skills you have, the better off you are. However, keep in mind that you can customize your business to fit your individual skills. The good thing about owning your own VA business is you get to choose your clients. What clients could best use your particular skills?
If you are re-entering the workforce after an extended leave, you might find that a few of your skills are a little rusty, but you still excel in other areas. Start off by offering only those services you excel in while you catch up on those rusty skills, and learn some new ones.
You may find that your skills are right but you’re just not sure how to approach the virtual assistant industry without the proper training. There are a great number of training resources dedicated to becoming a virtual assistant. We recommend Virtual Assistance U. More on Training…
Page 2 of 2 | Previous page