I’ve owned my VA business for just over a year now and have spent some time reflecting on the transition from Executive Assistant to Virtual Assistant.  Moving from paid employment to business owner, is a massive change in many ways including financial, status and responsibilities. The best parts of being a VA over an EA are…

Business owner status

One of the hardest transitions when changing from Executive Assistant to Virtual Assistant is the mindset change that is required to be a business owner. As a VA, I am a business owner and an equal to my clients, my time is just as valuable as theirs. My skill set and experience lends itself to supporting businesses to achieve. I can not fix cars, similarly not everyone can organise an inbox or create a pitch winning presentation. Thinking in this way gives me confidence when setting prices and terms & conditions.

Developing new skills

I’ve had to develop many new skills as a business owner that go beyond what I was responsible for as an EA. Pitching, marketing and negotiating contracts are things I hadn’t given any thought to 18 months ago. I’ve had to step out of my comfort zone, get on social media and promote my services. Consequently, I’ve realised that I can’t do everything myself. To use my time effectively I’ve outsourced my website and accounts. In theory, I could do these things myself but I’d be slow and it is much better for me to use this time on client work.

Ownership

One thing I love about being a VA is that I have much more ownership over my work. As an EA I’ve always been working for someone else and working to their style. As a VA, I can develop my business as I wish and have complete ownership over my own destiny, this is such an empowering feeling.

Variation

I now work for a number of different clients, resulting in a varied workload. In the morning, I could be creating a presentation for a training session and in the afternoon writing a rota for a call centre. My day as an EA was always interesting but I definitely didn’t have the opportunity to work with so many different people.

The transition from Executive Assistant to Virtual Assistant has been difficult at times. However, the positives far out way the negatives. I have developed new skills, challenged myself and grown as a person. I can work on my own terms and benefit from a varied schedule. What’s not to love!

Want to find out more about me, take a look at my website www.helenporterpa.com.