Is a Virtual Assisting Business for You?

I am all about businesses that really work; I think the average flegling entrepreneur really gets discouraged in trying to work a business opportunity that simply doesn't work, or doesn't work well for scads of people. On the other hand, there are businesses that are truly needed in the marketplace, and that the average person, with a decent level of motivation and skill can start - and have customers in very short order.

Virtual Assisting is one of those businesses. A virtual assistant is a freelance administrative professional who provides a wide range of administrative support to other businesses and professionals...whom they often never meet face-to-face.

Virtual assistants (I'll refer to them as VA's) offer services such as document preparation, editing, spreadsheet work, doing mailings, handling customer correspondence, and so forth. Many with strong professional specialties do web design work, desktop publishing, or even legal secretarial functions. Again, they do this on a freelance basis for clients, whether in their local area, or hundreds of miles away. Communication technology makes it possible.

So, does a virtual assisting business sound appealing to you? Ask youself a few fundamental questions:
Do you have a solid level of computer skill? VA's utilize computer technology constantly to do their work.
Do you have good communication skills? You'll be interacting with clients through many mediums - phone, email, perhaps in person, or even by teleconference. You need to be able to faciliate that.
Do you have good command of basic professional skills - this means writing, grammar, conventions of business writing, math, perhaps bookkeeping. You need to perform the business functions that a good administrative assistant would do if they were working a traditional job.
Can you work independently - this is not a job...it's a business, and you need to have an entrepreneurial mindset.

If you posess those traits, enjoy working on the computer, and enjoy administrative work, a virtual assisting business might be ideal for you. It's easy to get into (only a reasonably equipped home office is needed) and the marketplace responds well to it. One of the classes I teach is about starting a virtual assisting business, and it's not uncommon for students to get their first customer before the class even starts!

If you'd like to learn how to become a virtual assistant, they are upcoming in several locations starting in September (Mountain View College in Dallas, Community College of Spokane in Colville, WA, Ohio State University/North Central State College in Mansfield, OH, and Harford Community College in Belair, MD...and of course privately if you prefer to work directly). More important...in good "virtual style", these are all fully online classes.

If you'd like any details, just email me: whflood@yahoo.com