Virtual assistant / PA - is it doable or a bit of a con?

[SuperCam]

I currently work full time as an exec PA and would prefer to wfh, manage my own hours etc. I have looked online and there seem to be so many companies offering virtual pa training and also companies offering virtual pa services. Is the market really booming or is it over crowded does anyone know?

I don’t think I need lots of training skills wise but there are courses which take you through how to set up and market your own business - has anyone done one of these? Not sure why someone who is a great virtual pa would want to offer training telling others how to set up the same business?

Mainly, does it pay? I have visions of giving up a secure job to find that the work doesn’t just roll in as the online ads seem to imply!

Anyone who has tried it and made a go of it or found it didn’t work, please let me know!

Hopeful bump, if there’s anyone who’s a virtual pa and has any info I’d be very grateful.

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I would say it's a complete con. You will always find people online who are trying to tell you how to do something in exchange for money. In almost all cases, it's a complete waste of money.

I just can't see that there's a big enough market for the number of people who set up as one unless you have contacts already who would use your services.

My MD uses a virtual pa but it means she is on call 24/7 and only can charge for the hours he needs .
So I d say you d need 2/3 customers at least to come near a full time wage and you d have no switch off time .

You don’t need a course telling you how to do it if you’ve got the skills.

You need the confidence and ability to sell yourself. Some contacts would help, but they’re not essential. The money won’t just roll in, there are thousands and thousand of virtual PAs, the “boom” for it as a career was year and years ago. But you can make a living from it if you are good enough to stand out from the crowd, and good enough at selling yourself so you can find work.

Its often a lot easier to sell the dream of being a fully booked anything than it is to find clients needing the service; hence selling courses on how to get there…

I’ve been an assistant for 18 years - virtual is very rare/ pays quite badly. Lots of pa jobs now have a wfh element, also depends who u support. More project based support you could probably have tailored hours

I wouldn’t do the VA training if you already are a PA. You have the skills already. What would be useful is brushing up on IT skills, learning some marketing software if you don’t already have those skills, as clients often look for marketing skills. I worked in the industry and there definitely is a market for it, but it willl take time to build up a client base. You can’t expect to be making huge amounts straight away but can eventually make a good living from it. If you go alone you’ll make more money, going through an agency will get you clients quicker and takes some of the stress away, but you’ll of course make less than being self employed

The wages are terrible as your competition will be people in low waged countries like India and the Philippines.

To be honest tonnes of people have the skills or can quickly upskill, it's a saturated market and lots of people will do it for cheap. Sure you can probably secure work here and there, but for the amount of networking, proactively seeking opportunities and whatever else its not worth it. I'd look for a WFH job or find a real niche and market yourself as more of an expert in that

I used to be a PA. Now own a company that needs additional support. Many years ago took on a telephone answering agency which has worked well. My decision not to use virtual PA was that I needed people answering phones when I wasn't around - so any time 9/5, a virtual PA would (naturally!) need lunch breaks etc. I'm not meaning to sound negative but I tend to find that when people mention ideas to friends and family they always say 'great, go for it' and may be give the person false hope. If you were able to get clients that needed specific jobs doing (e.g. book keeping which you could do at times to suit yourself, or a research project etc.) then maybe that would be the way forward? Even try to get one of those jobs as a side hustle to start with? I wish you well!

I know a couple of VA's and they've done really well. It depends on if you're trying to undercut everyone else, or marketing yourself as a business professional. They both work a set number of hours each week doing pre agreed tasks and are definitely not on call 24/7. They charge around £40/hour.

I was looking into setting myself up as a VA as I have a lot of PA experience, but I lack knowledge of the business side eg finding business and putting t&cs in place and pitching. I paid for a course - £15 from a VA I follow called Jet Vitual Assistant on Facebook. Not done it yet so can't vouch but she's had a lot of goof feedback. I would absolutely not pay £10k for one of these VA business franchises. I also wouldn't give up a full time job to jump into the VA business - it's something to work up to in most cases. I'm currently job hunting and there are a lot of remote PA jobs going all very flexible.

I have no experience but I often see virtual PA's asking for work on the local Facebook group, same with freelance graphic designers, so they clearly aren't very busy.

Could you negotiate to wfh a couple of days per week in your current role?

Might it be better to be a PA for someone who WFH a lot themselves, so you can communicate remotely, rather than in person, most of the time at least?

Although it won't necessarily allow you to set your own hours if the person you are PA to expects you to be available according to their schedule?

I suppose it depends what industry you are in. The PAs to our department heads can WFH 60% of the time, they are often in a different location to the person they are assisting and we don't expect people to work out of office hours most of the time, but this is in the public sector, so I suspect that the pay is considerably less than what you are currently earning.

I made a successful business as a virtual PA. It took time but I ended up earning more than I used to earn working as an employee pre kids. I only stopped as my favourite client offered me an employee role with all the benefits and full flexible home working.

It isn’t as easy as saying you want to do it and immediately earning though I had to build relationships over time and develop my contacts.

I don’t really see how it can work. Most people who need an EA or PA will have a dedicated one in-house.

I was virtual PA about fifteen years ago. It was possibly the worst experience of my working life to date. Although clients paid for x amount of time, most expected me to be on call 24/7. Additionally, in order to make any money, the company I worked for had us looking after 20-30 clients, which was twice as many as they told clients. There honestly weren't enough hours in the day to deal with them all. It was super-stressful and totally thankless.

If you're looking at agencies, be prepared for the fact they're only telling you half the story with regards to actual number of clients you'll be servicing. But, they can be a good way to build up a clientele and familiarise yourself with services offered/best practise before branching out by yourself. However, like other posters have said, it's an oversaturated market now, and given the competition, not one I would want to enter.

I'm an EA and know two former colleagues who are now virtual
Both seem to do well, think you need good contacts to get started. I'm not sure I could do it, I'm no sales person or self promoter

Lots of podcasters use VAs but they also do a bit of sound editing and similar.

It’s definitely a thing and I personally know many people earning £25 an hour (and personally have paid multiple VAs many thousands over the years) I’m a business coach happy to point you in the direction of some very good VAs who use associates and some great VA mentors who are legit and I know personally too. There’s a lot of crap online so beware but it’s a great way to earn money flexibly with your existing skills but you will need to become a good marketer and sales person as well as a good EA which isn’t always a natural skillset. I say go for it and get one client you can service around your job (maybe in the states) and see how you like it. It’s not for everyone but I’ve seen it done well probably hundreds of times over the 5 years+ I’ve been in the online space

You don't need any training. If you have admin skills you know more than enough to get started. The courses are a con. I set up my own VA business during lockdown. I have a number of my own clients and also do some associate work for other VAs. My hourly rate is £28 p/h, and £25 for associate work. I work full time hours but I'm definitely not on call 24/7. Clients pay for a set number of hours each month, so some need 15 hours, some want 8, some want 4. It's up to the VA to manage their time. Most VAs I know have set times for dealing with each clients tasks and their clients know that the hours available to them are x,y and z etc.
I complete a wide range of tasks, from CRM management to creating copy for mailing lists, report writing,transcription, invoicing etc

You'd be very surprised how many businesses or self employed people don't have an in house PA/VA. Especially tradespeople, therapists etc.

I agree with finding a more flexible employed job. I tried doing what you are thinking about after being made redundant about 10 years ago and it was just impossible to make enough money.

I use a VA! There is so much need for them in the blogging world if that was something you wanted to explore.

when hiring I don’t care about qualifications at all.

I pay £20 p/h for a set number of hours. Adhoc hours are £25 per hour.

Obviously average pay will differ between sectors, but the £20 - £25 an hour mentioned by several posters seems low when you factor in that most VAs won’t be consistently picking up anywhere close to 35-40 hours a week of work. My EA earns £45K a year, so would have to be confident of getting 40 hours a week of work every week as a VA to match that (and loses pension, company benefits and holiday pay.) I’d be interested to see data on how many VAs have actually built full-time careers out of it, and how many work a few hours a week here and there around school hours etc and don’t rely on it for a full time income.

I’d agree with previous posters that looking for more flexible roles would be better. My company has 50/50 hybrid working including for EAs, and supporting C-suite who themselves don’t necessarily work 9-5 means they are often able to start/finish late/early.