Day 2: Setting Up Your VA Business
Objective: Learn how to establish a professional and efficient virtual assistant business.
Today is DAY 2 of this free virtual assistant course. If you missed Day 1, you can WATCH IT HERE or READ IT HERE
Now, let’s get into it!
Why Set Up Your Business Properly?
– Builds credibility with clients: A properly built business builds trust and confidence with your clients
as it screams competence.
– Helps streamline operations for efficiency: A properlyset business organizes you and your team which
increases clarity on your task, invariably increasing productivity.
– Prepares you for scaling and legal compliance: Depending on the nature of your VA business and
location, the law might require you registering the business. Also, organization will enable you to scale it
to multiple figures
Choosing a Business Structure
– Freelancing: This is the simplest structure; you require no formal registration and can begin right away!… It is mostly for a one-man business
– LLC: This is required when you begin to scale the business to multiple figures as you will need yo work with a much more bigger team comprising of different departments. This will help to protects personal assets as you scaling.
– Check local regulations for requirements: Different countries have different regulations. So research and find out the rules based on where you are. In Nigeria, as a freelancer, you have no extra legal requirements
Action Step: Decide which structure suits your goals: When beginning this business, write out a business plan in terms of who you ideally want to serve, your desired income etc and then choose a structure that best fits it
Setting Up Your Workspace
– Essential equipment: As a VA, for increased productivity, you will need to set up your work space with all the equipments you need like laptop/computer, reliable internet, headset.
– As much as possible, choose And Organize a quiet, organized workspace. It is important for productivity
– In your office workspace, it is important to use furnitures / tools to enhance productivity (e.g., ergonomic/ comfortable chair, second monitor).
Action Step: Create a checklist for your ideal workspace setup.
Creating Your Brand Identity
– Choose a Business Name: Having a Professional name that align with your niche will make clients take you seriously
– Logo and Branding: Having a Logo and branding your business will also give you a professional look. You can use free tools like Canva to create a logo.
– Tagline: Having a tagine is standard for all business.. It should be Clear and concise (e.g., If your business is Meni Administrative Services, your tagine can be “Organizing Your Success”).
Action Step: Draft your brand name, tagline, and create a basic logo.
Building Your Portfolio
– Showcase your skills through samples: For example, if you are a content creator, write a blog on medium ( free), or if you are a social media VA, make a new social media account and start working on it while taking screen shots of it’s growth, the scheduled posts, the analytics and save them in a Google doc/ sheets
– Include testimonials if available and gradually build your record of testimonials by asking for them as you work with clients
– Store your portfolio on a website, or a PDF, but personally, I don’t like when it is saved on Google drive because the client will have to first login to get access. The best is website using free portfolio websites like content, contra etc
Action Step: Create 2-3 mock samples of your work and create a portfolio on the website above
Pricing Your Services
Choosing your pricing and package is usually based on the type of service you offer, tools you
need and time required
– Hourly Rates: Beginners usually charge between $10–$25/hour; While experienced VA charge $30–$60/hour.
– Examples of Packages you can make includes: Example: 10 hours/month for $200.
– Consider costs (time, tools) when pricing.
Action Step: Decide on an initial pricing structure.
Payment Methods
Deciding and implementing your method of payment is very crucial to ensure you get the
money you are working for
– Example of popular platforms you can use to collect payment includs: PayPal, Stripe, Wise.
– Set clear payment terms: Do you require depositIng a certain percentage upfront or
allowing payment after completion.
Action Step: Set up accounts on PayPal or Stripe.
Finding Your First Clients
Now that you have identified your skills,, chosen your niche,, setting up your workplace, acquiring the tools needed, setting up your payment method…. It is time to get people that will pay you.
Popular Freelance Platforms: Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer. These have become so saturated
Other effective platforms:
•G2 & Product hunt
•Well found (start-ups, they hire faster, usually comes with a lot of work): look for “remote everywhere” , not remote + country, like “remote USA”
•Slack Groups: Go to the website and search for your niche e.g. slack groups for content manager.
•Y Combinator: Also has a lot of startups, so they hire quickly
•No commute jobs on Substack: register with your email and you will be sent jobs daily
How to Use LinkedIn and Product review websites like G2 & Product hunt
First, you must have your resume and portfolio ready.. There are 2 options
A)You can do a Bolden search where you type “ your skill” and “hiring” in the search bar, then filter for the past 24hrs. This will reveal people who have posted a job post in the past 24 hours putting you in a good position to be amongst the first to apply for the job , increasing your chance of getting a job
B) Go through the website of companies that require your skills, identify the problems they have that you can solve, then go to linkedIn , search for the HR or recruiter of the company you identified and pitch your service as the answer to the problem they have
Other Ways to find Your First Client
Now that you have identified your skills,, chosen your niche,, setting up your workplace, acquiring the tools needed, setting up your payment method…. It is time to get people that will pay you.
Popular Freelance Platforms: Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer. These have become so saturated
Other effective platforms: LinkedIn, G2, Product hunt, Well found, Slack Groups, Y Combinator, No commute jobs on Substack.
More on LinkedIn: First, you must have your resume and portfolio ready.. There are 2 options
A)You can do a Bolden search where you type “ your skill” and “hiring” in the search bar, then filter for the past 24hrs. This will reveal people who have posted a job post in the past 24 hours putting you in a good position to be amongst the first to apply for the job , increasing your chance of getting a job
B) Go through the website of companies that require your skills, identify the problems they have that you can solve, then go to linkedIn , search for the HR or recruiter of the company you identified and pitch your service as the answer to the problem they havel
Finding Your First Client Continues…
– Networking: You can also contact people around you, telling them about your professional services
and ask for referrals
– Social Media: It is different people to hire you ifthey know nothing about you Post! So post about
your services on as many social media likeLinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
Action Step: Join 1–2 freelance platforms and optimize your profile.
Marketing Your Services
– Define your target audience: For effective marketing, you
need to know who your service is for because that will determine where you will advertise (e.g., small business owners, coaches).
– Create a professional social media presence: This is important because when clients approach you, they will feel confident that they are in the right hands
– Use content marketing: At the beginning, start by sharing free useful tips, then when you starting getting clients,, ask then for testimonials in exchange for discounts.
Action Step: Write a LinkedIn post introducing your VA services.
Organizing Your Workflow
– Use task management tools: Trello, Asana, or Notion. Click Up is another tool that is very helpful in keeping you organized
– Having a daily schedule for managing client work will increase your efficiency and productivity
– Tracking your time and tasks is important because you get paid per hour. You can use tools like Toggl.
Action Step: Set up a basic Trello or Asana board for task management.
Setting Business Policies
– Define working hours and availability This is important to have a good work/ life balance
– Set boundaries and system for communication (e.g., respond to emails within 24 hours) and stick
to it to build confidence in your clients
– Create a contract template for client agreements: This is very important to protect your investment in them. There are free VA contract samples online that you can use
Action Step: Draft basic policies for working hours and communication.
Legal Considerations
– Contracts: It is important to always have a signed agreement before starting work to protect
you
– Taxes: Depending on the structure of your business and your location, you will need to track
income and expenses for filing.
– Business License: Depending on your location, you might need a license, so check if required in
your location.
Action Step: Download a free VA contract template online.
Action Steps for Day 2
– Set up your workspace.
– Create your brand (name, logo, tagline).
– Build your portfolio and draft a contract template.
– Set up accounts on freelance platforms and payment systems.
Summary of Day 2
– You learned how to set up your VA business structure, workspace, and brand.
– You created initial tools for pricing, workflow, and client acquisition.
– You’re ready to start finding clients and working efficiently.
What’s Next?
– Day 3: We wil be learning how to deliver professional VA Services, how to e
– Learn how to exceed client expectations and
manage tasks like a pro.
Action Step: Bring a list of tools or tasks you’d
like help with for Day 3.