How to manage setting up a VA business whilst juggling a full-time job

Here at Libra VA Services, we set up and launched our business back in April 2021 whilst working our day jobs. It is certainly true that you will say yes to everything for a while until you start securing longer-term retainer contracts that will begin to replace your full-time income. Don’t expect this to come overnight as most businesses take up to five years before they start to become profitable. We were lucky enough to secure our first client during this transition period which was manageable with some short-term compromises and a bit of juggling on the way!

When is the right time to leave your job There is no right or wrong answer here and it should be based purely on personal circumstances. Most VAs we have spoken to don’t actually decide to leave their day job until they have either reached their desired income level with retainer packages, or they transition out of full-time employment with at least 6 months savings in the bank.

How did we do it? During this period, we were not in a rush to secure bigger clients who needed high level support during our period of limited availability. It is possible to work with ad hoc clients who perhaps only require an hour or two per week managing their social media, writing copy or processing expenses. This type of work can be done around either a full-time job or childcare demands. The key is to be realistic about the pockets of time you have available and be realistic about what you can and can’t do- it is vital to be honest and transparent with your client/s about your availability during your transition period.

Building our foundations We spent a good 12 months planning and setting up our systems and processes which took some time to research i.e contracts, terms & conditions, and networks to name but a few. The benefit of having a jam packed schedule means that you have to value and spend your time wisely so you actually become even more productive when every second counts as you just need to get things done.

What you need in place before securing your first client!

Compile a checklist of what needs to be done and allocate tasks. Prioritise what needs to be done and most importantly when. It is recommended to give yourself internal deadlines for the below key areas and work towards completion. Below is our checklist for what we decided to have in place before we launched;

Compliance and legal tasks

• Business name
• Register your business with Companies House and self-employment status with HMRC
• Business plan
• Business bank account
• Contracts
• ICO Registration for GDPR purposes
• Business professional and public liability insurance
• Terms and Conditions
• Financial plan
• Shareholders Agreement for Limited Companies

Marketing tasks

• Branding design
• Social media business pages
• Website (this doesn’t have to be done straight away and can be built down the line).

Block out time in the diary when you will do the above tasks After a busy and tiring day in the office, we tended to work on quick and easy tasks on weekday evenings that didn’t require as much brain power i.e. setting up the business bank account, creating social media business pages, designing social media templates and setting up subscriptions. We used weekends initially during this time for research and putting together our official business documents. As well as scheduling time in the diary for when you are working on the business, it is also wise to schedule in buffer time and times when you are not available to anyone as you can very quickly be working around the clock and end up never switching off!

And finally our top three tips to stay sane whilst being time poor!

1. Make the most of your current work situation — accept that it will be pressurised at times juggling the two areas whilst you are navigating your onward trajectory. This should ideally be a short-term compromise, as running a business is a full-time job and not sustainable to juggle both commitments as a long-term venture. We are fortunate enough to have secured our previous workplace as clients so it has been a mutually beneficial relationship.
2. Don’t push too hard on your marketing until you are ready to ride the wave of a flood of new clients. We have been steadily working with smaller retainer clients over the last 12 months whilst managing a maximum of two larger portfolios of work. You need to map out what is your maximum capacity and have a growth strategy in place for when supply outstrips demand and you need to start building a team. We are currently building our business on our known networks and referrals and are relying on organic marketing, rather than investing in highly-priced marketing campaigns which may not necessarily get you to where you want to be!
3. Not everything needs to be done at once so prioritise accordingly. As long as you have your compliance and legal documents in place, you can officially start working with clients. Some VAs don’t even have a website or social media to promote their services when they start out. You will learn a lot, make a lot of mistakes but as long as you learn and implement the learnings and be open to constructive criticism and suggestions for improving your services, you will do just fine!

And finally, just go for it!

Written by Louisa Robinson