(this is an edited repost of something I posted in Talk but got no replies )

Hi. I joined awhile back but became inactive when I was offered a full time job where I was working as a temp as an administrative assistant (basically i was temping for a year but finally got offered the full time job). I have survived major layoffs and am doing 2x the work than usual. I don't mind. I enjoy my work and the challenge. Anyway so my VA aspirations have been put aside for now.

However, my husband and i are trying to conceive our first child. I want to be able to stay home with our children once we start having them. That is one reason virtual assistant seemed so appealing at first. However, I read the 2 second commute and found it very informative but very overwhelming. I am not sure I am up to owning my own business. I basically just wanted to work part time while my main job was my kids.

My husband hasn't been laid off and we don't expect him to be (his company is doing well), but based on our current living and bills there is no way i could quit my job once we had a baby. This is very disappointing to me and almost makes me not want to have kids at all until we can afford to have me stay home with them. So, with that realization I am back!

I was just curious if anyone just worked as a freelance to a. help other VAs or b. just worked part time at their own business regularly successfully?

I would also love to hear from stay at home mom VAs and how that fit for them. I work full time and take care of the house and animals and that wears me out enough now I can't imagine adding a child to the mix (my husband's idea of helping is hiring someone to come in once every other week to help with some cleaning, which is nice but that doesn't keep me from having to clean the rest of the time).

Thank you in advance for any comments!

I work a 9-5 while getting Goddess up and running so... not a stay-at-home mom, but here's my 2cents worth.

Running your own business is MORE THAN the equivalent of working a f-t job. My entrepreneur friends who are completely self-employed work an average of 60 hours/week on their business between marketing, management, and satisfying customer needs.

If you are wanting flexible p-t work while being a stay-at-home mom, I would recommend you freelance. There are LOTS of WAHM (work-at-home-mom) websites/forums that can help you to locate real employment opportunities (start w/the Rat Race Rebellion) and give you support and answer questions.

I would, however, set yourself up for tax purposes as a sole prop for any positions that want you to subcontract rather than be an employee. This will allow you to write off your work-related expenses (including part of your home if you have a dedicated work space).

Hope this helps.

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

Originally Posted by Office Goddess

I would, however, set yourself up for tax purposes as a sole prop for any positions that want you to subcontract rather than be an employee. This will allow you to write off your work-related expenses (including part of your home if you have a dedicated work space). Hope this helps.

Interesting. Does that make doing taxes a lot harder though? I use Turbo Tax every year.

Thanks for the input. The 60 work week is kinda what I got from the 2 second commute too and I thought 'well that's not what i want' I just want to be able to work 20-40 hrs a week from home as regularly as possibly. I don't know how realistic that is though. I guess I should think up a name for my sole prop though.

Hrmm...something with Angel? just my name? hrmm...I guess that's a different forum, right? lol

Thanks again!

You do not have to be a full time VA, part time is an option as well. I work between 20 and 30 hours a week with light marketing now that I have ample clients. That is the beauty of this business, you decide how much you want to take on. I am now considering taking on more but with one in high school and one in college and traveling that we do I am struggling with that route.

With that said, getting up and running will take you more time to get yourself established and find clients. You may work 10 hours on client work and 10 hours on your business, if not more. I would start by researching in this forum, draft a quick business plan and decide if this is the route you would like to take.

As for taxes, I do my own and have my accountant review everything but I have accounting and tax background so I guess it is what you are comfortable with and the knowledge of the tax laws that you have.

Good Luck to you

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

Even as a freelancer, you have to pay taxes. So you're still really a business owner. I work part-time from home (I have a five-year old) and love it.

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Sue L Canfield
AwesomeAssistant.info
My Blog

I assumed I would have to pay taxes somehow for my work. I worked freelance helping with an Early Education social emotional project, but that was locally and I basically compiled research for the main researcher and did some research of my own on local resources. It was fun. I have a regular paycheck but at the end of the year I was sent something to declare that income on my taxes from the non-profit that hired me.

I have so much to learn! That is why I am starting now I guess.

Thanks again!

The best part of being a VA is you are your own boss. You choose the clients, and you choose part or full-time. At points in your life you when you want to spend more time with family, you don't take on as many hours/projects. At other points, when you need the money, you take on more clients. After the kids go to bed is a great time to get lots done!

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Kathy
www.theofficevirtuoso.com

Thanks that is exactly what I want Kathy!!

Not a SAHM, but I also have a full time job and run my VA business part time. Any business is going to be what you make it. I think its great that you know what you
DON'T want, which will help you understand and streamline what you do.

The hard part of working a full time job is the lack of flexibility. I think you can easily run your VA business part time successfully without a full time job, because you will have the flexibility without worry about being "chained to a desk" for 8 hours.

I say start part time now, build your clients and see what happens.

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Tamika R. Johnson, MBA, Principal
administrative partners, llc
www.administrativepartners.net | http://adminpartners.blogspot.com

There is virtually no difference between being a VA and a freelancer. As a business owner you would be responsible for your own taxes and as an employee your employer is responsible. Being a VA/freelancer gives you more flexibility to determine who you want to work for and how much but you would need to keep a close eye on your income and file appropriate quarterly tax deposits.

If you are only looking for part-time work, I would advertise as a freelancer rather than a business for the simple reason that as a freelancer, you can simply let potential clients know you are too busy to take on their project. Whereas, IMHO, if a business claims to be too busy to take on additional clients I tend to wonder if they are over-extending the clients they currently work with and I won't approach them for future work. This, of course, is strictly my personal thought process.

I do my personal/Goddess taxes in Turbotax since they are not complicated (as a llc, Goddess income is considered personal anyway). The biggest issue is maintaining a reasonable accounting system so you can write off your expenses as part of the taxes at year end; I use QuickBooks.

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