If you want to launch a Virtual Assistant business, the barrier to entry is low to nonexistent.

But there are a few things that many people think they need before they can be a legit business owner.

Here are three things you might think you need, or may have been told you need, to start your biz…but you actually don’t:

1. A Certification

I did not have a certification in Virtual Assisting and didn’t take advanced courses to gain more skills when I started in 2017 and that did not hold me back from success in the slightest.

But people think that the traditional path to success is college or certification first, and because of that, the same must be true for entrepreneurship and for the VA industry.

Nope. Not even a little bit true.

I mean, you can. But it would be an epic waste of time and money because you can literally Google and YouTube any skill you need to learn.

There is no certification or degree that people who will hire you are looking for.

You can start TODAY with the skills you already have and quickly pick up more as you go.

Here is what you DO need to do…

You need to learn HOW to RUN a business!

If you’re going to be successful as an online virtual support provider, you have to be resourceful and good at teaching yourself new skills with your BFFs Google and YouTube.

The harder parts that you need to figure out?

• How to create offers people want to pay you for
• How to price and package your services so you can make the money you desire
• How you market your business to find ideal clients
• How to sell
• How to manage your clients so you retain them for a longgg time

This is why my VA program, THE START, isn’t a skills-based course. It’s a BUSINESS course. Figuring out how to run a successful, profitable, balanced business is a hell of a lot harder to teach yourself than the skills side of a VA biz.

2. A Website + Logo

Most people think they need a logo or website before they can get clients.

Good news – you don’t need either!

When I started, I made a crappy logo on Canva (because I thought I needed one) and a few months into biz I DIY’d a Squarespace website. It wasn’t until two years into business that I paid a web designer to make my pretty website that exists today.

So, if you don’t need a logo or website to sign paying clients, what DO you need?!

A ONE SHEET!

The long-form websites for new virtual service providers don’t work well anyway. If someone has to spend too much time on your website to find the details they need, they will leave and not book a call. This is why one sheets work so well!

A one sheet is a 1-page PDF document that you can digitally send to people that includes:

• Who you are
• What your experience is
• What your services are
• How they can take the next steps in working with you

This is quick and easy for you to make, and also quick and easy for your potential clients to get info about what it would look like to work with you.

Bottom line: Don’t let “I need a logo or website to look like a legit business” be a BS block that you place in front of you starting the business. Make a one sheet and send that baby out!

3. A Solid 1-Year Business Plan 

I didn’t map out what my first year, or even the first six months of what my business was going to look like – and for good reason!

You have NO CLUE what running an online business is going to look like and what services and offers you’re actually going to want to do long-term when you’re first starting out. Because HINT: Most people change their mind once they start doing the work!

It’s a waste of time and energy to map something out because most virtual support providers pivot and course correct a TON in the first 3-5 years of business (yes, 3-5!)

INSTEAD…

I focused on taking ONE small step at a time.

Once you get in the driver’s seat and start doing the work, you’ll find out what you like doing, what you don’t like doing, what clients you like serving, and what it looks and feels like to be a business owner.

And VERY often, your next steps are different than what you thought they would be at the beginning.

So, instead of making an entire business plan based on guesses, focus on:

• Getting 1 new paying client
• Giving them amazing service
• Using the info you gain from serving them to figure out what your next best step is

Here’s your permission today to learn as you go instead of getting stuck in perfection mode trying to plan for things you literally can’t plan for right now!

NEXT BEST STEP – that’s your new mantra!