I was just wondering if any of you VAs partner with another VA working under the same business name? If you do why did you decide to do it that way and not separately with different business names?

Would it be better that since VAs are considered independent contractors to start my own business with my own business name, logo, branding, etc.?

The reason i ask all this is because I have a friend who has started her own VA business, with name and all already set up and has asked me to be her partner.

Thoughts and comments on this would be appreciated! Thanx!

I've heard of some VA business being equal partnerships, so I'm sure that it's possible. However, if you're going to be working under her name, it almost sounds to me like you would be considered more of an employee. Maybe it would be ok as a start while you get your own business going, but I would think it would be more beneficial to have your own separate business and subcontract with your friend, especially if each of you has different areas of expertise.

Someone like Kylie, who has "associate VAs" will probably be able to provide a better answer than I can, of course.

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

I know, we do have different expertise, she's more financial/admin and i'm more marketing/admin.

I think I may go with starting my own and subcontract out. Thanks for the input!

I know if partnerships, everything to the letter really should be outlined. Many partnerships dissolve because roles are not clearly defined. Since your service offerings are separate, that could be a plus. However, with all of the other decision making, having a partnership agreement would definitely be needed. Also, is she willing to put your name as having ownership rights etc? Since she started the business, she may want to maintain that which could possibly make the partnership unequal.

Some partnerships have a vested percent in the company as well. Here is a web site with more information: http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/bus...checklist.html

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Doreen R. Patrick, MVA, ACS, CIVA
www.virtualbusinesspartners.net

thanks Doreen....I will definitely discuss these things with my friend.

My sister and I are partners in our business. It's great because we both have different strengths, we trust each other, and we can share the workload.

Wilke041, how do you delegate tasks or clients? and do you work out of the same home office or your own houses?

We work out of our own homes but we use my home as the business address. Delegating tasks and/or clients all depends on how busy we are in our personal lives. We both have full-time jobs, but mine is a little more laid back so I am able to perform more tasks. My sister works with the Board of Elections, and is right now working 11 or 12 hours a day during the week. She also recently took an online proofreading class, so I took care of most of the work while she concentrated on her lessons.

Other than that, we pretty much split our tasks. When we have ideas on ways to market our services we discuss them with each other, analyze the benefits, and act upon them. My sister is pretty meticulous so she is better with proofreading, typing, and following-up on potential prospects. I am better at formatting documents, doing our bookkeeping, and taking care of the other behind the scenes business work. There's nothing really formal to our process but it works for us because we have a great relationship.

Derek

Derek,

That is great that you and your sister get along so well. You both really compliment eachother in your business. Thank you for sharing!

Carmela,

If you go down this route of partnership with another established VA make sure you get a legal agreement to state that you will be partners in all things. If you are good friends, this may be hard to do as it puts an air of distrust in the relationship but it is better for the business, it starts everything off on an even keel.

Personally, I think having two seperate business and subcontracting to each other is a better idea, especially since the majority of VA start up because they want flexibiliy in their lives. If you become partners and one person is doing more work than the other then things can get a bit bothersome to say the least.

Best of luck in what ever you decide.

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Vicky
www.c-vas.eu