Good question! I'd suggest checking out the posts in the VA resources and software section of the forums - you'll find lots of 'favorites' listed there - depending on your specialties or niche there are all kinds of possible investments (and free resources) that will help enhance your practice.

Thanks for the suggestion Tess! I can't wait to check it out!

Hi Sundi

You might want to start out with a simple business plan. I found this link that will help you out. http://www.isitebuild.com/simplebusinessplan.htm

__________________
Maria Quick Link Virtual Assistant Services
www.getquicklink.com
Let Quick Link be your link to today's virtual world

Sundi, I currently work a 9 to 5 and haven't quite figured out my game plan for transitioning from it to working as a VA full time. So if you figure something out, please share. However, I have typed up what I feel is a very solid business plan. I, like you, do not foresee having to ask for a loan so I was able to leave out a lot of the "un-necessaries". But even with doing that, coming up with a plan was far from simple. I worked on it for weeks before I was happy with it. And now I consider it to be more of a guide than a plan. When the plan/guide was in draft stages, I would write down everything that I thought was important to being successful in business. Some of it would be common sense stuff like "good customer service", but I wrote it down anyway because I wanted to identify everything that I didn't want to lose sight of. I identified every single thing about my business from services, to marketing techniques and target markets, to customer service strategies, retention strategies, and so on and so on until I ended it with long and short term goals. Once I identified all of those things, it was simply a matter of grouping like items, placing them under the appropriate headings, and "fluffing" the language for appearances sake. It was a lot of work but I am sure that anyone who has written one will agree, well worth it. It's like a road map to success that I can edit, add to, and delete from as often as necessary in order to reach my goals. I hope that this helps just a little bit.

Repeat posting (again)

I, too, still work a "9-5" job while getting my VA business going strong enough to support my household. I devote 6am-8am and 8pm-9pm M-F and 8am-noon on Saturdays to "The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC"; it's understood at home that I am "working" those hours and not to be disturbed. I also check emails/posts at lunch time and on breaks during the day. This makes for a long week but, that's what it takes to run your own business in the beginning!

I have been "officially virtual" for approx 7 months and just signed up my 5th client! Each of my clients is only 4-10 hours/month of billable work so I devote the rest of my "Goddess" time to marketing, networking, etc. while maintaining my 40-hour full-time job so that my hubby and I can continue to eat.

Once I am up to 20 hours/week on top of my 9-5, I will go full-time virtual and offer 25-30 hours/week to my current employer as a VA (that way, if they decline, I'm not TOTALLY dead in the water for finances )

I anticipate working 60+ hours/week for at least the next 3 years if I want to get my practice solid and develop "Goddess" into a good living. I hope to find a part-time assistant at that point to take over the "drudge work" and let me go back to working 40 hours/week and still be able to live comfortably.

Let me know if you have any questions about working full-time while building your practice; I'll answer what I can...

__________________
Lily E. Chambers, CPS
The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
www.virtualofficegoddess.com

All this information is helpful...as usual! Thanks so much for your help. I'll be getting started this weekend in my...free time!?

Make it a great day!

Sundi

Tess, thank you so much for the checklist. This is a HUGE help in keeping on track.

You're most welcome Good to know it's useful to you!

Just a note that this checklist has been updated and is available as a printable PDF document in our document library, here.

Tess,

This is a great list. A few other options would be to incorporate, business liability insurance and errors and omissions insurance.

All the best,

We mentioned the incorporation (LLC, etc.) but will note the insurance for mention as something to look into on the next version - thanks