To get annoyed when people say 'Start up as a Virtual PA'...

[Rachtoteach]

..... as an easy option to earn some money whilst working from home.

Yes, it is very very easy setting up as a VA but the really really really hard part is getting some clients in that means you earn money from setting up as a VA.

I have seen this response to people so many times who have posted 'what can i do working from home' and I worry that it may give a false illusion to people.

I work as a VPA but was VERY lucky to have an old colleague of mine turn into a 4.5 hour a day, 5 day a week client. The work I have had other than that has probably totalled less than £100 in total - in 2.5 years!!! And im good at my job!

I just dont want people thinking its the easy option and spend lots of time setting up and find they cannot get any clients. Most new mums who have done any secretarial work probably have the idea and it is sooooo competitive!

It can and does work but it is very very hard :)

I used to work for a company who offered this service from their own office (they were not mums working from home but professional ladies who had set up their own company). Getting clients in was hard most of the time, and required large investments of time in networking events etc. plus advertising costs and the need for constant marketing. There were a core base of 3-4 clients who provided most of the work, the rest of the work we got in would probably not have been enough to keep one worker going full-time, to be fair. So in short it can take off well enough to provide an income for one WAHM, but it is hardly the lucrative proposition that others seem to think it is. Even my own DH keeps mentioning it, as if he thinks long-term clients will just materialise and keep me in work!

So I think YANBU. I'd love to do it but I am not able to commit myself to running it alone at the moment. I'd happily take on one off jobs (like you say, former colleagues can be a great source!) but it's not as easy as people think.

YANBU.
But then again 'start a cupcake bussiness' is even more unrealistic.

YANBU. I set up as a VA in September and realised pretty quickly that the only way I was going to get any clients was by rejigging the business into a very specific, targeted niche. I?m now starting to see the results from that, but I also market myself constantly and network both on and offline.

It is definitely not an easy way to start earning from home: having said that, like any business, it takes time and effort to snowball into a full-time income.

Do something that doesn't serve fat cat men.

YY to cupcakes. FGS, you can taste the sugar in the air at local craft events now . The other helpful suggestions usually involve taking in ironing and gardening, both of which only work in Katie Fforde novels.