Become A Virtual Assistant - Business Ideas

Updated: September 15th, 2022
Become A Virtual Assistant

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

Virtual assistants support businesses, teams, or individuals by performing administrative tasks remotely. As businesses these days tend to outsource their tasks, the demand for virtual assistants is growing rapidly.

Becoming a virtual assistant is flexible, as you can choose a work schedule and location at your convenience. Many virtual assistants have a dedicated home office where they work in a quiet and distraction-free environment.

To become a virtual assistant, identify a niche you like and undertake any training. Then, figure out how much to charge your customers and create an online presence where you can apply for jobs. As a virtual assistant, you can define your work schedule depending on your availability.

Becoming a virtual assistant requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell virtual assistant, or selling virtual assistant online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Key Stats

revenue (monthly)
$340K
starting costs
$20.5K
gross margin
50%
avg product price
$50
time to build
180 days
growth
SEO
business model
Subscriptions
time investment
Full time

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Office Space Expenses

$0

$7,000

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$352

Website Costs

$223

$7,215

Business Formation Fees

$5,600

$20,400

Software Expenses

$162

$3,094

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$0

$2,750

Total Startup Costs

$6,136

$40,811

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

OnlineJobs

onlinejobs.ph

4,747

AppJobs

appjobs.com

54,982

Virtual Personal Assistants

asksunday.com

79,955

wishup

wishup.co

83,678

Horkey HandBook (Fully Booked VA)

fullybookedva.com

96,291

Fancy Hands

fancyhands.com

104,495

VirtualStaff

virtualstaff.ph

109,458

Zirtual

zirtual.com

117,021

Ruby Receptionists

ruby.com

133,983

MyTasker

mytasker.com

143,950

BELAY

belaysolutions.com

144,749

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Rewarding work

Starting a virtual assistant can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

No overhead costs

To get your virtual assistant started, there are no costs associated with overhead, storage, packaging, etc. This will save you a lot of time and money!

Meaningful business connections

You never know who you will meet as a virtual assistant. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!

Cons Description

Crowded Space

Competition is high when it comes to your virtual assistant, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.

Longer Sales Process

A virtual assistant can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

Taxes

As a virtual assistant, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

Work can be repetitive

You may find creating the same product over and over repetitive and tiresome. One way of avoiding this is to diversify product lines and revenue streams - this will keep things interesting!

Time commitment

With becoming a virtual assistant, all responsibilities and decisions are in your hands. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, work life can take over at times. This can place a strain on friends and family and add to the pressure of launching a new business.

Difficult to build trust with your customer

With becoming a virtual assistant, there can be minimal face-to-face interaction, which means it can be a lot more difficult to establish trust with your customers. You'll need to go the extra mile with your customer to grab their attention and business.

Marketing Ideas

  • 1

    Affiliate Program

    Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.

    Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.

    The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.

    Learn more about affiliate program ➜

  • 2

    Direct Sales

    Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.

    For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.

    Learn more about direct sales ➜

  • 3

    Word of mouth

    Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.

    Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.

    According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.

    Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.

    Learn more about word of mouth ➜