I'm a newbee who is planning to start out part-time since I currently work full time. Can VAs who did the same thing offer up their perspective? How many hours a week is reasonable, 20, 25, more?

My best-case scenario would be to work up to approximately 20 hours per week. Any advice and stories on how to begin part-time would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Susan

Hi Susan,

I've been doing just that - part-time hours - for about 2 years now. The reason I became a VA was so that I could homeschool my son. So I only have 3-4hrs a day (actually, late in the evenings) when I can work. Here's what I've learned:

1. Availability disclosure - since your hours are going to be outside of "normal" business hours, you should always let your prospective clients know about that and are ok with it.

2. Services you offer - since you are not available full-time during regular business hours, you likely won't be able to offer some of the VA services, i.e. phone support, certain aspects of customer service, etc.

3. Communication with clients - most of the time I use e-mail to communicate with the clients. Sometimes, however, you will need to get on the phone, especially when you just starting work with a new client. Consider the arrangments you might need to make to you work schedule to acommodate such requests. Also, I would suggest listing your e-mail and not your phone number on your website, e-mail signature, biz card, etc.

4. Don't forget that in addition to billable work, you'll have to spend time on biz development, administrative and bookkeeping work for your own biz, continuous education, etc.

5. Finding networking opportunities offline might be tricky since most networking groups meet in the morning or during the day.

6. Set incremental goals - good for you, you don't rely exclusively on your VA practice for income. So, you can set up incremental goals when it comes to revenue, starting with as little as $100 the first month and then increasing by $100 each month (or every other month). It really helped me (and yes, I started at $100/mo).

7. Since your hours are so limited, it is tempting to limit your practice to only 1-2 clients. Don't! It's the good old "putting all your eggs into one basket" thing (again, something I learned the hard way).

Best of luck and it is absolutely possible to have a thriving part-time VA biz.

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Yelena McManaman, Social Media Specialist
Instead of relying on common knowledge, test.

This is great info! Thank you for sharing this. If anybody has any more tips......

Regards,
melissa

Susan,

Check out this thread Building a VA Business While Working Full-time.

Great information here!

Janine

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Yelena,

Thanks so much for the info. I realized I was a bit misleading. There are actually two of us starting up our business, both administrative professionals with varying skillsets and we've worked together for years. We are doing it together to take some of the pressure off AND so neither feels alone in their VA business. You make many great points and I have been struggling with the hours disclosure. I've always been 100% honest as your integrity is all you have so I will certainly make it known on our site that we are evenings, weekends, etc.

Thanks again!

Susan

Originally Posted by oneclick-va

1. Availability disclosure - since your hours are going to be outside of "normal" business hours, you should always let your prospective clients know about that and are ok with it.

Velena gave some great advice but I DO disagree with #1. I've been working 'Goddess' part-time for 3 years and my clients have NO IDEA that I work on their projects after hours; it's none of their business WHEN I work as long as I get the job done!

That being said... definitely check out the thread Janine posted as the advice on there will help you get your own 'ducks in a row' for working p-t on YOUR business while working f-t on someone else's! I average between 15-20 hours/week on Goddess while working 40 for my 9-5...

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

I too only work part-time by choice. I have three small children, (no other full time job or anything) after all raising kids and taking care of a house is a FULL time job. So I do most of my work early mornings or at night. I work 4-6 hrs a day depending on work load and motivation. I stay in touch with my clients and they realize what my situation is. It can totally work!

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Alyssa Avant
http://alyssaavant.com

Good Luck with it all, Suberg. I too am planning to run my VA business "after-hours" - so much to think about.

Yelena, great advice. Very helpful for me. I am now in the planning stages and employed full time.

I would appreciate a checklist of things I must have in place before I even start to advertise my VA business.