Hi Ladies,

I was just wondering how VA business is in the summer. Do you notice a slow down in work? Is it harder to sign a client? Is business generally slower in the summer months? Thanks for any feedback.

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Rhonda M. Manning, VA
Agape Business Solutions
Bridging the gap between your business and the solution!

What a good question. I did notice in doing some keyword research, that the more active months in terms of people seaching for things like 'virtual assistant' were the summer months - June, July ... and thought that was a little odd, but maybe since people vacation then, they're more than ever needing some help!

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

I never really noticed a change, but a good marketing tool would be to mention all the wonderful summer activities and family outings your potential clients can enjoy by hiring you to take some of their load!

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Brianna Young, VA and Graphic Artist
www.virtualsolutionsadmin.com
"It's not the piano that makes beautiful music. It's the person sitting AT the piano!"

I've tracked our monthly income since the start and can see a very obvious dip in billable hours and relative income in June, every year...the first year we were really not prepared for it and worried we were 'done for' LOL, the second year it cemented for me that it's just a slow period - though I'm not certain as to *why*. This year we're going to take advantage of the lag time to go on an extra holiday and work on some of our own in-house projects (like the forums ).

August is relatively lower than other months as well, but not as much a dip as June - for whatever reason - likely family vacations.

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I started business in May and got my first client in June. It will be interesting to see what happens this summer. I'm planning our vacations (camping) for July and August, so I'm sure it will all work out in the end. I was surprised to find that I was quite busy in November and December, helping clients prepare for holidays and year end. I had been warned that December would be a slow month.

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Bette Creek
http://bettecreek.blogspot.com/
www.ashbusinessservices.com

Hmm...interesting question. I hadn't thought about that, but then again I guess it depends on how well you market and if you have "steady" clients or not.

I think it depends on your market. I work mostly with real estate investors and contractors and they are busiest in the summer months. So, my slow months are in the winter. My bookkeeping stuff is busiest at the beginning of the year.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

Originally Posted by Rebecka

I think it depends on your market. I work mostly with real estate investors and contractors and they are busiest in the summer months. So, my slow months are in the winter. My bookkeeping stuff is busiest at the beginning of the year.

I was thinking this same thing as I was reading this thread. It seems like every VA has a niche of their own, their own types of clients. Tess was able to find her own trends just be watching her past sales performance, but I would think each VA would find their own trends based on their own client base.

Also, if you're in a situation like Tess, you could take advantage of that like she is and plan your vacations around it, or you can use it as a tool to try and attract other customer which have opposite cycles to build up your business in the months you are typically down.