One of the biggest fears I’ve seen in those wanting to set up a Virtual Assistant business is the fear of not earning enough to pay the bills. The worry about inconsistent income and how they’re going to replace their corporate salary. You don’t want to risk it – I get it!
But the fact of the matter there’s more than one way to make money in your business and it’s a lot easier than you think. Oh, and the good news is that you can have a consistent base line income every month with very little time investment.
But first things first, you’ll want to get clear on your ‘need to earn’ and ‘want to earn figures’, so you have clarity on the goals you’re aiming to reach.
Need to earn – This figure covers all the absolute essentials, such as rent / mortgage, utility bills, the cost of putting food on the table and any costs associated with running your business, such as ICO or insurance. This is what you must absolutely earn each month to keep yourself and your business going. This is the starting point in any business.
Want to earn – This is the figure you want to earn that will give you the lifestyle you want. Holidays with your kids, money invested into your pension, opportunities to enjoy your hobbies and spend time with friends and family or go travelling. You get to decide what this figure is.
Just remember to money aside for tax!
As a Virtual Assistant business owner, you can offer your services on an hourly rate, typically ranging from £20 – £35 an hour in the UK. You can also offer retainer packages and tie your clients in to a fixed number of hours a month. But you’re still trading time for money, so are you really getting the freedom you want?
Marketing your business and offering your time for money is just one way of creating financial security but I want to introduce you to another way – passive income! There are so many ways to introduce passive income streams into your business, meaning you can take away the stress if one client decides to leave or you have a quiet month in your business.
But let’s bust a myth that passive income means you don’t have to do anything at all and magically the money appears in your account. This is not true! Creating passive income means creating an asset upfront that you can then make money from time and time again. It’s just not passive from day one.
Both myself and my mentor Lisa Johnson like to think of passive income more as leveraged income as you continue to get paid even when the work is done. Whether you’ve created an online course, membership or subscription box.
The thing I love about passive income is that you do the work up front and keep reaping the rewards. Yes, it’s hard work initially but once it’s done it’s done and takes up such a small amount of your time for much bigger rewards, for both yourself and your clients. Then you just learn from each experience and adapt.
You don’t have to worry about how you’ll be able to pay the bills once you quit your day job and go all in with your Virtual Assistant business. Just imagine for a moment, waking up and you’ve sold a course, membership space or subscription box!
Would you like to find out more about how to create passive income in your Virtual Assistant business? By following my mentor Lisa Johnson on Facebook or Instagram she will teach you, like she has me, how to create passive income and get you closer to saying goodbye to your 9 to 5 and genuinely having the freedom and flexibility you desire and deserve.
If we’re not already connected you can join my free Facebook community, Grow Your Virtual Assistant Business With Confidence, follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook or check out my website.
And if you’re just starting out and are looking for Virtual Assistant clients for your business make sure to download my free guide 7 Ways to find clients in your Virtual Assistant business.
Suzie Flynn
