At first glance, the virtual assistance world seems absolutely massive. Especially if you are just stumbling upon it for the first time. .
It can be so intimidating seeing hundreds of other virtual assistants that are successful and continuing to gain more and more clients.
On one hand, you may see them and think “well if they can do it, so can I!” but on the other hand you also may be thinking “…but because all of them are already doing it, there’s no way I can even find one client.”
Over the past few years, I have talked to countless people who are either thinking of becoming a virtual assistant or have more recently become one.
The not-so-great part though is that the vast majority of those people are very hesitant or quit before they even really start because they have been told by someone else or think that the virtual assistance world is just too competitive and they’ll never make it.
Well I’m here to tell you point-blank that’s actually the farthest from the truth.
The virtual assistant world being too competitive? That’s 100% a myth.
Even though it might already seemS huge, the virtual assistant world is a lot bigger than you realize and continuing to grow. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s more competitive.
On the contrary, as the virtual assistant world continues to grow, so do the number of opportunities virtual assistants, both old and new, have.
Let me break it down for you to explain why virtual assistance isn’t competitive…
There are millions of virtual assistant work opportunities.
No, I’m not exaggerating even a little bit.
There are over 3.6 million administrative assistant jobs in the U.S. with predictions being that over 50% of U.S. jobs will be virtual by 2028 and there’s currently only about 2.5k known virtual assistants in the U.S..
So how can a line of work such as virtual assistance be so overly competitive to the point where it’s impossible when there’s only a fraction of people seeking the amount of job opportunities there are and will be?
It can’t be because it’s not.
The first thing you have to realize is that the world we live in is becoming more and more virtual every day, including the business world.
Over the past couple of years, thousands of businesses that used to operate only in person have turned to operate either partially or fully digital with more businesses following.
On top of that, starting a small business has never been easier to do thanks to technology and how easy and efficient it has become to outsource.
There are over 32.5 million small businesses in the U.S. and that number is only growing.
The global outsourcing market is currently worth 92.5 BILLION dollars and continues to grow exponentially.
The good news?
Each one of those businesses are in need of administrative, social media, graphic design, or marketing help or some sort of combination.
The even better news?
The majority are wanting those jobs to be done virtually to save office space and other in-person work expenses.
One of the good things that came from the pandemic stay-at-home orders forcing people to have to work from home is that business owners realized not only how much money they saved but also how much happier and more proficient their employees were being able to work when and where they wanted.
Essentially it’s been discovered and proven that transferring in-office jobs to be virtual and hiring virtual assistants is a win-win for both the employee and the employer.
And this is just the start of this transition.
So here are a few tidbits to help transition your perspective and change that belief that the industry is too competitive for you!!!
1. You don’t need tons of clients to “make it”.
To put it simply, being a virtual assistant gives you the freedom to work however many hours you want and to determine how much money you make.
Some VA’s only work part time hours but make a full-time income while others work full time hours and make double that.
You can choose whether you take some temporary project gigs or have clients like an ongoing subscription service.
You get to choose your own boundaries in terms of income and work-life balance.
Depending on how much you want to work and your ideal income, you may only need 2-3 ongoing clients.
And no, you won’t have to fight and claw your way to get those 2-3 clients.
Honestly, if you’re good at what you do, and you’re committed to putting in the time to network, it won’t take long for you to not only get any clients but the right clients.
That’s another amazing thing about being a VA is that not only do you set your own rates and hours, but you also get to choose who you want to work with.
2. Your Individuality is Key
We truly believe that your individuality is the key to success in the VA world which is why we created this VA roadmap workshop and assessment.
Whether you are brand new to the type of work that virtual assistants do or are already familiar, your individuality is key and something that no one can compete with even if they wanted to.
As a VA, you’re not expected to know and be an expert in everything. You only need to pick and specialize in a couple of areas based on whatever you like to do.
The more you customize and specialize in a specific skill-set, the more in-demand you will be with business owners.
Since you’d be doing something that not only you can do but also what you genuinely love to do, you’d be more willing and able to grow, learn, and expand on those skills which is something business owners love to see.
By specializing in a smaller amount of services, you’re able to not spread yourself too thin and produce high quality work.
Plus, if for whatever reason you start to get bored or dislike whatever you’re specializing in, you can always choose something else without having to completely start over, creating essentially endless possibilities for you and what you do for work as a VA!
To summarize, business owners want to see that you know what you’re doing, good at what you do (but willing to grow and get better), and you love what you do. Each of which is based on who YOU are.
Hopefully by now, you no longer see virtual assistance as competitive and cut-throat, but as something you can really actually do!
Not going to lie, becoming a VA is going to take some hard work, but don’t confuse that with it being competitive and you losing. Don’t give up on the dream. Anything worth having is worth fighting for!
If you’re ready to dive in and become a VA but not sure where to begin or feel as though you are still struggling getting clients, then check out the Learned VA Internship.