Pros and cons of being a virtual assistant

Being a virtual assistant comes with its pros and cons. Like any other job that you do, there will be some parts of the job you love and some that you hate. There are many positive benefits to becoming a virtual assistant that are often highlighted by other VA’s. Many discuss the pros but don’t talk about the cons of being a virtual assistant. We will be discussing both in this post. 

Information relating to starting a virtual assistant business always features the main pros and benefits of being a virtual assistant. 

Most virtual assistants never really discuss the not-so-positive reality of being a VA.

I think It’s really important first to have a clear realistic picture of what life as a virtual assistant is like. Then you can decide if becoming a virtual assistant is for you. 

To clarify before we go any further. My personal opinion on being a virtual assistant is that the positives of being a VA far outweigh the negatives. When comparing the negatives of being a virtual assistant to the negatives of other previous jobs I have had in the past, I know I cannot really complain. 

Pros of being a virtual assistant

• Choose when you work – Flexitime
• Choose who you work with 
• Choose what services you want to provide
• Make money without leaving your house
• You get to be the boss
• You can travel to any location and work at the same time

Choose when you work – You get to choose your own hours and availability. If you don’t want to work on a particular day and you want to schedule that day off to do other things you can. 

Choose who you want to work with – This applies if you are running your own virtual assistant business because you decide who your target market is. So you can decide which group of people you want to work with. As long as you have done your market research to determine that this group of people is in need of your services, then you can start to visit the places where you will find this group of people (online or offline) and market your services to them. 

Choose what services you offer – If you have your own virtual assistant business you can choose which tasks or services you will provide.

Make money without leaving your house – You can make money without leaving your house. From your desk, sofa, or even from your bed while you sleep.

Be your own boss – Feel like a boss. When you are running your own virtual assistant business you get to make the decisions, and you are your own boss.

You can travel and work at the same time – Even though when travelling you may prefer to not work. There could be a time that you need to continue working whilst you are travelling. Being a virtual assistant allows you to do this. You can work remotely from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. 

Cons of being a virtual assistant

Now let’s discuss the cons of being a virtual assistant. As I said before the pros far outweigh the cons but it’s good to know and prepare yourself. 

• You will always be busy
• Long hours behind a screen 
• Some clients take up too much time 
• Isolating 
• Treated as an employee
• Losing time / money 

• Busy, busy, busy – This is both positive and negative. Being busy is good because this means there is work to be done and money to be made. However, it can be bad if you don’t know how to deal with stress. This is why I recommend looking after your well-being by maintaining a healthy work-life balance. So that you always continue to love what you do.

SOLUTION – Work-life balance. Schedule time off regularly. Begin working smarter, and of course, hire a virtual assistant if you need to. 

• Long hours behind a screen – Whilst you get to choose your working hours. In order to make a good income you often have to put in the hours. Even if you don’t price your virtual assistant services by the hour but charge by the project tasks can still take a long time to complete, which will be spent behind a computer screen usually at your desk.

SOLUTION – There really isn’t a solution for this because that is what a virtual assistant does, they perform tasks using a computer. However, you should definitely take breaks not just to rest your body, but to rest your eyes. I do not sit at my computer screen for more than 2 and a half hours at a time without having some sort of break from looking at the screen. This does not mean every two and a half hours I am necessarily actually having a break, I still do things within that time to develop my virtual assistant business or skills. For example, listening to a sales and marketing podcast as it doesn’t require me to look at the computer screen. 

• Some clients take up too much time. This could be because they keep calling and keeping you on the phone. Even though it may be for a legitimate or  genuine reason, time is not free and we can’t be using an endless amount of hours on one client 

SOLUTION – Set policies.  Give each client a set amount of free time to discuss their needs before, during, and after projects. If they require more time, that is fine, you can charge clients for additional phone time. But to prevent customers from taking advantage of your time, let them know you charge if the free call goes over the allocated time.

• Lonely / Isolating  – If you are used to working around other people, the transition to working as a solo virtual assistant can be lonely and it may take some time to adjust. You will need to motivate yourself 

SOLUTION – There are options and solutions if you get bored of working alone. If you don’t want to work solo you could collaborate with another virtual assistant. You can also consider building your own team, or hiring a shared desk in an office space. 

• Some clients treat you as an employee. – Sometimes as a virtual assistant clients forget that your not actually their employee. So they may want you to work with their terms and policies.

SOLUTION – If you have your own virtual assistant business. Ensure your client is aware that you are also a business owner just like they are. You can do this by ensuring they are fully aware of your terms and policies. There is no problem operating within your client’s policies as long as it doesn’t clash with you and yours. 

• Tasks can take longer than expected 

This is more than likely a problem that occurs within the beginning stages of running a virtual assistant business. As you become more familiar with how long each task takes you to complete, you will become more accurate when pricing your services. 

If you charge your clients per hour then underpricing won’t be a problem for you. However, if you are charging a set amount for each service then you need to be aware of how long each task is going to take you.

If you assume a task will take you five hours to complete, and you agree for your client to pay a set fee based on five hours. If the task ends up taking you eight hours to complete, chances are you would have underpriced your services. Mistakes like this are going to end up costing you time and money. 

SOLUTION – Whenever you do a task use time-tracking software to monitor how long each task takes you. Even if you are doing a task for your own business you should track how long it takes to complete. 

This way you can give a better price estimate to clients and you will be less likely to underprice yourself. To help price your services correctly you should research the average rate other virtual assistants are charging for similar services. 

Understanding the pros and cons of being a virtual assistant will help you make an informed decision if this is the right career path for you. It can prepare you for what it is going to be like when you start your virtual assistant career. Although there are some negatives to being a virtual assistant if you follow the methods in the solutions you will only experience the positives of being a virtual assistant.