After reading several posts in here I think I should set my business hours and make sure I communicate them to my clients. I think I would rather extend them in the future than have to back track or turn clients away.

I am on the east coast in the US so 9-5 are standard business hours for most companies. If I set my hours to those as well I wonder if this will limit my client base as Pacific time is 3 hours off. When I worked in corporate sales and support my territories were always west and I found that some companies didn't like that I was unavailable after 2pm their time.

Has anyone on Eastern Standard time found that your target clients tend to be in the same time zone, or does it vary on the clients and their preferences? Might it be of benefit to do a 10am-6pm?

Hi,

I'm on ET also. I wondered about the same thing, and I've tried my hours several different ways over the past 3.5 years. But unless you're offering services that must be done in real time (like answering customer calls, for example), differences in hours don't have to be problems at all.

The spread varies, but ever since I first had two clients at once, there's never been a time when all were in the same area.

Right now, three of my clients are in ET, one in CT, and one in PT.

But two years ago, believe it or not, I had one ET, one CT, one PT, one New Zealander, and one Australian. Did I stay up all night to do work for the Eastern Hemisphere folks? No way. They woke up in the morning and found work done that I'd started on when they went to bed. Actually, it can be a very nice way to work for everyone involved.

I know it sounds risky and maybe even selfish. But this has absolutely been the best solution for me: Pick the hours that work best for YOU (and that you work the best in), then pick the clients who are fine with those hours. It doesn't limit your client choices nearly as much as you think it will.

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AnnaLisa Michalski, Sunny Words Writing Services

Thanks for the info! Most of the services I am looking to offer don't really need to be done in real time as you'd mentioned. I like the idea of having my clients wake up and find their work done though.

I would love to be able to work with people in New Zealand and Australia. I have visited both countries and enjoy their friendliness and culture. That does pose a few tax questions though. As soon as I have enough posts I'll pm you on that since it goes a bit off topic for the original thread. :-) Thanks again

I am not live yet but as one the reasons for becoming a VA was so that I can have more time for a life. I am going to set the hours I work into my contract but let client's know that I will go outside of these hours in an emergency but only on particular days as I do a volunteer job in a charity run theatre and don't want to let them down, but as this is evening work it should not be a problem. I have not made a final decision as to what times yet although I suspect it will be 9.30-5.30 Monday to Friday (earlier on theatre nights - probably 5pm). Weekends to me are sacrosanct and I will not work unless clients are willing to pay a premium rate for it. As I will not be travelling to and from work it will mean I get another three hours a day to myself, and as I can read my emails in the morning over breakfast, it means not getting up so early.

Sandra

What a great thread. I haven't launched my business yet, but I will be setting my hours at 9.30-5.30 M-TH and 9.00-4.00 on a F. I will only work on a Saturday if a client pre-schedules it and will make this clear in my contract. As I live in the UK, we don't have different timezones here. I would also prefer to stick with UK based clients and so don't forsee the time difference debates that some of the rest of you face.

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Claire Baber ~ Horizon Virtual Assistance

Thank you all for posting your business hours and policies with those. It has given me a new prospective on doing my virtual work. Mon Wed Evenings 6pm-11pm Tues Thurs Days 10am-6pm and Friday IS an Occasional day. I will extend myself further when I get a chance for now I'm still getting my feet off the ground.

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Sierra Davis
Airra Virtual

I guess for now, since I'm just starting out, my hours will be dictated by the work. I'm not one to turn anything away at this point.

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lisa

Thanks for posting this subject, I am currently starting out myself and would probably be quite flexible to start with.

I am a home based business and empty nester so working hours are usually - 'till I'm done. That's not a good thing. I'm going to make a note to self to work on that business hours thing. Thanks for the heads up!

Greetings,

I just let people assume I am the typical Monday through Friday 9AM to 5PM but I work at all different hours depending on my deadlines. My clients know that since I have a variety of clients sometimes I'm available by phone and sometimes they get my voice mail. I just make sure I keep up and return calls promptly.

Take care,

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Stephanie Finkbeiner - Balanced Business Service
Helping you balance more than the books

This is a great thread!! I am just starting out and this has given me something to think about. The clients that I have right now communicate mostly thru email but I am wanting to branch out and gain some new clients. Will have to see what they may need!!

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Jenn B.
EveryBody Needs a JENN

I am currently working a job 4 days a week until my VA business gets up and running. I am advertising my VA hours M-F 9-5 but was concerned because its difficualt to be on my mobile for large blocks of time with clients.

When i read posts here about not taking client calls and letting calls go to VM I was shocked. And the more I think about it the more I realise that it is the smartest thing to do.

I was bought up to answer the phone with in 3 rings. Even at home I cannot NOT answer the phone. But reading what you all do makes me realise that I am going to have to be much more controlled with my time.

Phone calls will need to be dealt with in a more proactive way using blocks of time set aside rather than in the current reactive way of if it rings answer it.

Thanks girls for all your great advice.

Two questions though

How do you manage clients expectations of imediate responses?
If you put it in your client agreement, how do you word it so that you still sound professional?

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Teresa Lombardo
www.eliteba.com.au - Dedicated to service excellence

I always intend to have regular office hours but I always seem to go back on it....a client has an "emergency", I have to work on something because I feel it's an "emergency"...basically it's my own fault but I vow to do better

Dawn

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Dawn Kramer
www.midwestvagroup.com

I am so glad I stumbled on to this website. It is so refreshing to see all the different responses. It affirms that there is no one-way of doing it.