Andrea Jackson is the founder and lead VA at Action Jackson Virtual Assistant, a team of VAs sharing a combined experience in business administration of 85 years. Specializing in everything but the kitchen sink the team provides virtual services including: accounting, web design and development, real estate assistance, bankruptcy petitions, general business administration and customer service.
Never content to rest on her laurels, Andrea is also the founder of The Virtual Entrepreneur - a free EZINE designed to promote, assist and create a new way virtual workers can connect and share information, helpful tips, tricks and how to's.
Looking ahead to the need for more education in the industry, Andrea has also founded The Academy of Virtual Entrepreneurs which will be opening its virtual doors in January of 2010. The AOVE is dedicated to providing virtual entrepreneurs with up-to-date educational courses and resources for today's virtual business world.
We had the opportunity to pick the brain of this very accomplished, well-established fellow VA and esteemed member of the VAF community. You're welcome to post your questions and comments for Andrea directly to this thread.
Can you describe the startup process of your VA practice as you remember it? Please share your biggest triumph and biggest hurdle you had to overcome.
I stumbled into working from home. I had friends who were business owners and needed "help". I charged according to what the pay was in my small town. When I first started, the process was lonely. I was used to having hundreds of employees and students around me at any given moment. After about a month, my world changed from lonely to having hundreds of virtual colleagues around!
When I found VAF (Virtual Assistant Forums) I was enamored by the expertise, skills and quality of people that were there. It allowed me to surround myself with like minded people and helped me grow into to this industry.
My biggest triumph was getting over being lonely in my home office and the biggest hurdle was turning down work that I did not feel I was qualified to do. No one ever wants to turn down work, but there are times when it makes good business sense to do so.
How do you define success?
Success is what you bring to yourself and your clients. It is the epitome of "me". What I mean by that is, you can be successful financially but if you are not providing quality work and experience to your customers then you are not successful, you are just making money. What I bring to a client and how I treat that client makes me successful. This industry is not about getting rich quick. It is what you offer to your clients.
What are the top five tools or resources you use on a regular basis in running your own business?
--Computer: 3 to 4 mb of RAM, 350 or more gig hard drive. (2-3 computers if you can afford it)
--External hard drive, for backing up your computer.
--Cordless phone and regular phone. (VOIP Service)
--Color Laser Printer (or black and white depending on the services you offer.)
--MS Office Professional (the most up to date version currently 2007)
What’s your number one source for findng new, ideal clients?
My number one source for new clients has always been word of mouth. I have been an active member of VAF and Social Media and it would seem that my content has helped others and, in turn, has helped me build my reputation.
Has your ideal client profile changed at all since you first started your business?
No, my ideal client has not changed. My ideal client has been someone who needs my help. No matter what the work is. My clients are like my family and I treat them as such. Most clients want you to listen, learn and produce. Those are the clients I have always attracted and I have always liked working with at any time.
What is your most important business policy?
Over time I have learned, like most, the hard way, that if you do not require payment up front, whether it is 50% or 100%, you are putting yourself in a position where you may not get paid. I have learned that a good client with morals will not balk at paying up front for the hours they want you to work for them.
Can you describe your new client intake process?
I try to speak to each new client over the phone. Instead of sending them the client intake form, I go over the intake form with them. This allows the client to hear you, relate to you and you to them. You want to know if you and your client are on the same page and if you will get along. This has played a great part in how I have been able to keep clients on for the long term as I can express my intentions and they theirs. You will also learn a lot about a person by doing this, for instance, does the client understand the difference between a VA and an employee? If not, can you define the difference to them without making them feel incompetent?
As you’ve fine tuned your business, are there any services you prefer not to offer? How would you handle a request for these services from a new or potential client?
I have grown so much in this industry. I know now that I do not like to do translation work. But, I have aligned myself with other virtual assistants so that I can offer any type of work to a client.
As the lead VA in a multi-VA practice - can you share a bit with us about how you first realized you wanted to go multi, how that process went for you, and how you decided who to bring onto your team?
I knew I wanted a multi-VA business from the start. My family is very close knit and we all have some of the same skills as well as different skills. I wanted to include them so that there will always be someone to take over when someone is out of commission. It was a smart move on my part because it has brought us even closer together than before, who could have imagined that?
Being the lead VA can be very challenging at times. Sometimes people want to do it their way but we have to make sure we are doing it
the client's way. It's never a good idea to insist and "have your way" when someone is paying you to do it their way.
Adding to our team came as easy as collaborating and brainstorming with other virtual assistants. When you click with another person, you are more than likely to refer work out to them and add them to your team of VAs. It is all about what you want your business to grow into.
Can you share any particular challenges that come with being a part of a multi-VA practice?
One challenge I ran into was having a VA not do the work, not refund the client nor communicate with us after several requests for the refund. This hurt my client financially and it hurt my reputation. Of course I refunded the client out of my own pocket which helped alleviate the bitterness that came with the situation. We got the work done for free for the client and my client was appeased.
You want to be able to trust the VAs you allow under your umbrella, know that they have the commitment, courage and dedication to this industry that you do.
Looking ahead, what’s your five year plan?
My five year plan is the most important part of my businesses as these are goals that I wish to accomplish. Working my plan daily and allowing others to be a part of those plans will help us accomplish our goals.
In January 2010 we will open the doors to the
Academy of Virtual Entrepreneurs, an online school dedicated to assisting Virtual Assistants and Entrepreneurs.
We will continue to bring informative and relative information to Virtual Assistants through our magazine
The Virtual Entrepreneur. We want to continue to make the ezine even better.
Action Jackson Virtual Assistant will be growing its multi-VA business in 2010 and beyond by adding more virtual assistants to its ever changing and growing network. We have so much to offer our clientele by doing this and it allows other VAs to learn how to work with clients and get their own businesses up and running.
What do you love most about being a virtual assistant /self-employed businesswoman?
Being self-employed is the most gratifying and freeing feeling one can experience. There is no better feeling in the world, except when you pick your baby up and he/she says "I love you mama!"
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Being a Virtual Assistant is the best career move I have made. It has allowed me to work from anywhere, anytime and anyplace I want and grow beyond the constraints of the office world.
12/2009 Interview with Andrea Jackson of Action Jackson Virtual Assistant
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