| > | | | | running a small business. But in truth, the reason |
| This month marks my third-year anniversary | | | | why I was not happy was because my business |
| being in business as a virtual assistant. I can't begin | | | | wasn't in alignment with my goals. |
| to tell you how much I've learned about running a | | | | One example is that one of my personal goals |
| small business. There are many things I did right | | | | was to "play" more on the weekends. My clients, |
| and OH-SO many things I did wrong. I'm the type | | | | real estate professionals with expectations that |
| of person who learns by looking at others' | | | | assistants work extended hours, expected me to |
| mistakes. So I thought I would share with you | | | | work on the weekends. I cannot play on the |
| three of my biggest lessons learned from the last | | | | weekends if I am fielding phone calls and |
| three years. | | | | answering emails. Needless to say, I changed my |
| Mistake # 1: Not having a plan or setting goals | | | | niche soon afterwards. |
| The first six months after opening my business, I | | | | Lesson Learned: Put a lot of thought into what |
| was working seven days a week and found | | | | market you are targeting and make sure it fits |
| myself at the computer at 3 a.m. more times | | | | your work and lifestyle. |
| than I could count. I was trying to find clients, | | | | Mistake #3: Undervaluing my services |
| figure out how to market my business, optimize | | | | If you were like me or like many other virtual |
| my website, setting up my blog, it seemed as | | | | assistants just starting out, you probably |
| though I didn't have enough hours in the day (all | | | | researched other virtual assistants' websites, |
| you small business owners, I'm sure you can | | | | looked at the types of services others were |
| relate). My problem was that I didn't have a | | | | providing, saw what others were charging, and |
| business plan, marketing plan, or any clear goals. | | | | then followed suit. Repeat after me - this is not |
| In formulating my goals, the trick was that I had | | | | the way to set rates. |
| to set clearly defined goals or it would not work. | | | | Worse, some websites even had a nifty calculator |
| Just saying "I want to make more money" didn't | | | | wherein you input your expenses and other |
| cut it. If I made $10 more this month than I did | | | | variables and Voila! - it calculates your rate. This is |
| last month, then I would have achieved my goal | | | | so very wrong. |
| but did I really accomplish anything? Instead, I set | | | | Instead, look at the value you are giving to your |
| a clear financial goal of "I will earn X amount of | | | | clients and set your fees with that in mind. Take |
| revenue each month." | | | | into account the expertise you possess that |
| Lesson Learned: Write out clearly defined goals in | | | | others do not. For example, do you specialize in |
| the areas of finances, marketing, personal, and | | | | graphics, website design, or have a background as |
| what you want your business to look like. To | | | | a paralegal? You can probably command a higher |
| start out, I challenge you to set one big goal for | | | | fee than those who provide general data entry or |
| the next 90 days, write down the steps to | | | | typing services. |
| complete it, and note your achievements along | | | | Lesson Learned: Don't be shy about charging what |
| the way. | | | | you deserve. |
| Mistake #2: Not aligning my business with my | | | | Working and growing in a relatively new industry |
| goals | | | | is exciting and some day I'll be writing about my |
| In the beginning, I fell on my background in real | | | | first 'ten years' in business. If you are thinking |
| estate to be my niche. I became a NAR Real | | | | about jumping into entrepreneurship or have been |
| Estate Professional Assistant, I got my Certified | | | | doing this awhile and find yourself struggling, think |
| Real Estate Support Specialist designation from | | | | about your goals, your target market, and your |
| IVAA, and I perfected and optimized each web | | | | fees. It's never too late to change things around |
| page to speak directly to real estate professionals. | | | | to suit your work and lifestyle. The important |
| But I was not happy and I wasn't sure why. I | | | | thing is to remain positive, be persistent, and take |
| was getting phone calls in the evenings and | | | | time to enjoy the freedom being an entrepreneur |
| weekends and doing many tasks on short notice, | | | | brings. |
| but I chalked it up to it being the nature of | | | | |