Being a Virtual Assistant: The Advantages

First advantage: independence

Even if it seems a bit overrated, independence is often one of the first advantages of starting a career as an entrepreneur or setting up a micro-business. Be careful, however, independence does not exempt you from working hard! Indeed, you are the pilot of the ship and you must ensure that all the tasks inherent to your own success are carried out yourself.

This means that you are as responsible for your successes as for your losses, but the game is worth the candle 😊.

Second advantage: flexibility of working time

You are now a virtual assistant, congratulations! You are now free to decide your daily working hours, your working hours (don't lose sight of common sense! Even if you are a night owl, you will probably have to adjust a few hours according to your clients' schedules!)

This will allow you to exploit your productivity peaks and do tasks that require concentration when you are sure not to be disturbed. For people with children, this sometimes means that evenings will be studious!

Third advantage: work-life balance

Of all the advantages of being self-employed, this is my favorite! I can shape my days as I wish and spend time with my family when they are at home. It is a job that is not always easy but it offers a quality of life that I could not do without. I am free to do a little sport in the morning, prepare delicious meals (I also like cooking 😋) and work for my clients during the day.

It's also a great way to keep stress at bay because I manage to lead my professional life without it encroaching (too much!) on my personal life!

As for stress, you can download the list of the most common stressors here.

Fourth advantage: variety of customers

Our job allows us to have a wide variety of clients, which means we never feel like we're doing the same thing. I have clients for whom I do team management, for others, it's project management and for others, it's virtual assistant administrative.

This gives me rewarding days, because in addition to doing a job that I love immensely, I learn a lot from contact with my clients. I am, therefore, lucky to never get bored!

Fifth advantage: the choice of services offered

This benefit is also huge! Indeed, in what other profession do we have the choice of our tasks?! I have a menu of services that I offer and my clients therefore know what they can entrust to me or not. For example, I am very comfortable if I have to intervene in customer service for my clients, whether by e-mail or by telephone, but I refuse to do prospecting or canvassing. We really have the possibility to choose the tasks that suit us and in which we excel, so why deprive ourselves of it!?

Being a Virtual Assistant: The Disadvantages

As always, everything is always in balance. When there are advantages, there are always disadvantages to counterbalance! That's how it is, you have to deal with it! So let's go for the disadvantages.

First disadvantage: prospecting / canvassing

I was talking about it above, it's far from being my cup of tea. Unfortunately, you have to stick to it because customers don't always come by themselves, especially at the beginning. So you have to prepare your offer, your pitch and jump in by phone, email or network.

So, I reassure you, it works even when you don't like it, it's just a little more difficult for some than for others.

Second drawback: organization and time management

So, let's not lie to ourselves, when we suddenly find ourselves the sole master on board, we sometimes tend to stick to YouTube or Netflix for 5 short minutes that quickly become a few hours. It is very important when choosing the profession of virtual assistant to plan your days and stick to it to the letter. It is always possible to have moments when you don't feel like or have the energy to do anything and that's okay as long as it doesn't become your daily life.

When you have landed your first clients, you must respect their requests in terms of deadlines for completing your missions. It may happen that you have misjudged a duration (especially at the beginning) but once again, it must not become a habit to submit your work late because you risk losing your client.

Third disadvantage: possible isolation

You have chosen the profession of virtual assistant and I can only congratulate you. However, if you are social by nature, you may at some point feel isolated. Indeed, we spend most of our time at home, in our office, except for those who opt for coworking spaces (it all depends on each person. For my part, I am naturally absent-minded and I work much better in my sanctuary, at home).

In the event that isolation is felt, you always have the possibility of participating in meet-ups or networking events in your region. This also allows you to make yourself known and meet new prospects, it's a winning operation from all points of view!

Also Read: 10 Tasks to Delegate to a Virtual Assistant

Fifth disadvantage: difficulty in balancing personal life / professional life

You will probably say to me, "but Anne, you told us that it was an advantage!" Yes, of course, it is an advantage when you put boundaries in place and do not deviate from them except for a few "bursts" that you have to deal with from time to time.

This balance difficulty generally comes from a time management problem (see disadvantage no. 2). Indeed, if you only start enjoying your productivity from 3 or 4 p.m. because you have watched just two season episodes (!) of your favorite series, you risk having difficulty finalizing your daily tasks for 6 p.m.! As a result, you will find yourself in front of your computer at 9 p.m., tired and annoyed, doing work that will not be of the best quality.

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