So you want to be a Virtual Assistant?

When I first set up my business it was on the basis that I knew lots of stuff, and had worked in a variety of industries. The types of work I’ve always done involved huge amounts of “can you just…” and “is there a way to…” and creating order out of other people’s chaos, so my skillset over the years has become quite eclectic. When personal circumstances found me suddenly out of work it took me two days of feeling sorry for myself before I decided to look at offering my services directly to business owners on a freelance basis.

I mentioned my idea to my husband and spoke to my parents, and everyone said “why not? Go for it!”. They spoke to people they knew about what I wanted to do, and before the week was out I had my business name, a logo and a domain name. I shared what I was doing with my Facebook friends and two weeks later I was working a couple of days a week providing some temp admin support for a company an ex-colleague worked for.

I was lucky. I had the support of family and friends, and my background meant I already knew a fair bit about business management, but even so I’ve learned a lot over the last decade!

I see posts in the Facebook groups I’m a member of, where people want to know what they need to be a VA and how to get started, and I admit that I’m often surprised that they want to get into the industry despite knowing so little about it.

There are 3 types of people that look at becoming a VA:

1.    Those who have reams of experience and want to move away from employed work – they may be facing redundancy, want more flexibility due to family circumstances, or just want to step away from a toxic workplace.

2.    Those who want that same move, but have little experience, or are just unsure how to convert what they do know into a viable business

3.    Those who think being a VA is an easy option to earn some cash without having to get up and go to work!

I can’t help if you fall into category 3.

It’s not an easy option. Being self-employed requires discipline, and if you are just after a quick buck without wanting to put in any effort you would be better applying to your local supermarket for a zero-hours contact (to be fair I’ve done that too – it’s actually hard work but at least you get to go home and switch off at the end of your shift 😉)

So to the basics – what do you need to be a VA?

Must haves:

These are things that you will need to have in place to protect yourself and your clients:

• A decent laptop or desktop computer – whatever your budget, go for a machine with the largest memory and fastest processor you can afford. You don’t have to break the bank, there are various reconditioned options available, and you can always upgrade later, but make sure that whatever you do choose it has the capability to run the software and programmes you will be using every day.

  
  

• You will need to register with HMRC as self-employed. If you don’t already have a UTR (Unique Taxpayer Reference) number HMRC will provide you with one, and this is used when you submit your annual tax returns.

  Details of how to register can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment

  
  

  If you haven’t any experience with self-assessment tax returns, get advice! You won’t need to submit your first return immediately, but there are deadlines for submissions and payments, and you will need to be aware of what expenses you can and cannot claim for. There are also changes coming in to how you submit your return if you turnover exceeds certain thresholds, so talk to an accountant to make sure you know what is required.

  
  

• Insurance – at the very least you will need Professional Indemnity Insurance which protects you if you make a mistake. It pays for a solicitor to defend you and covers any compensation you’re liable for.

  
  

  If you intend to visit a client’s premises, or have anyone visit you, you will also need Public Liability Insurance.

  
  

  You may also wish to consider Cyber Insurance which covers the losses relating to damage to, or loss of information from, IT systems and networks. This isn’t a requirement, but is certainly a good-to-have for anyone working remotely.

  
  

  There are a number of companies you can use – I use a broker called Policy Bee  who are very popular with VAs (if you want to earn us both an extra £20 you can use my referral code: www.policybee.co.uk/refer/vmrn-685)

  
  

  Just as a side note, you won’t need to sort the insurances out until you are ready to sign your first client. There’s no point paying for something you’re not yet using 😊

  
  

• ICO registration – to determine whether you need to register, the ICO have a self-assessment questionnaire:

  https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-fee/data-protection-fee-self-assessment/

  The ICO website also provides heaps of useful information and resources for small businesses around data protection compliance, and managing Subject Access Requests or data breaches, including how to create your own Privacy Notice.

  
  

• Contracts – these can be pricy, but are necessary to protect yourself and set boundaries. You can purchase contracts from places such as KoffeeKlatch who specialise in VA contracts, or you can access them with membership of organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses. This is one area you don’t want to skimp on!

  
  

• Bank account – as a sole trader you can receive payments into your own current account, but many banks take a dim view of people running businesses through their personal accounts, so it’s worth looking at options. Not having a business account won’t stop you from receiving payments for your work, but it will help you to keep your business transactions separate from your personal ones (useful when it comes to submitting your Self-Assessment tax returns)

  
  

• AML Supervision, if you plan to provide bookkeeping services outside of the VA exemptions – check here for more details:

  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-accountancy-service-provider-registration)

  
  

  This isn’t cheap – the current fee is £300 annually – and you will need Anti Money Laundering policies and procedures in place, complete risk assessments, keep up to date with your training, and carry out due diligence and verifications on your clients.

  
  

  The cost of breaching AML requirements is far higher, though. In 2024/25 548 companies and sole traders were fined by HMRC for AML breaches, with fines ranging from £1,050 to £52,000 and in addition to the financial cost HMRC publishes, on their website, the names of all businesses who have failed to comply, with records going back to 2018.

  
  

• Social Media – you don’t need to have accounts with every platform, but should have a LinkedIn profile to build up your professional network. Many VAs also have business pages on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok – none of these are necessary, and you don’t need all of them, but you will find the ones that work best for you. Find out where your ideal client hangs out and focus your efforts there.

  
  

• Back-up processes – this is super important if you don’t want to duplicate hours’ worth of work at your own expense. If your laptop or PC is lost or stolen, is destroyed by a house fire or similar, or simply gets damaged because you accidently dropped your coffee on it, your insurance will only replace the equipment.

  
  

  It’s recommended that you hold at least 2 separate forms of data back-up, one of which should be kept off-site.

  For example, you can use Google Drive or MS OneDrive or have an external drive plugged in to automatically back-up your files as you work, with a second daily or weekly backup held on an external server or encrypted hard drive that is stored away from your main place of work.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it won’t bring all your work back.

Nice to haves:

These are not absolutely necessary, and you won’t need them off the bat, but they will help you to build your business and market yourself:

A business name – don’t get too hung up on what to call yourself! People buy from people, so if you haven’t yet decided what you want your business to be called that’s ok. You can make that choice later down the line.

• A domain name – a business email address looks more professional than Your.Name@gmail.com. Even if you’ve not yet chosen a business name you can always just register a domain as your-name.co.uk – you can ditch it when you find a business name you like, or even just hang on to it to prevent someone else using it. There are no limits to how many domain names you own.

• Website – not every VA has a website, but it is a useful tool to show potential clients what services you offer, and showcase your portfolio. You can create one yourself using drag-and-drop sites such as Wix or GoDaddy, go for a more flexible option such as WordPress, or pay someone to build and host one for you.

• Business cards – you don’t really need business cards, and they are not worth spending money on early in your business at the expense of anything else, but when you start to dip your toe into face-to-face networking they are useful to have. You can get small numbers of cards from places like Vista, Moo or Banana Print.

You can also create a digital business card using free apps such as Blinq or Qrone, and LinkedIn allows you to share your profile using their built-in QR code as follows:

1.    Using the phone app, open your LinkedIn profile and click in the search bar

2.    Click the QR symbol that appears at the right of the search bar

3.    You can now share or save the QR code, or by clicking on ‘Scan’ you can use your phone’s camera function to read another user’s QR code

What you don’t need:

• You don’t need to spend £££s on advertising. If you are on Facebook you will regularly get offers to promote a post you’ve published, but unless you are promoting a one-off course/book/service, or you have the finances to run generic adverts regularly, they really aren’t worth the hassle for a new VA.

• You don’t need every piece of software available. Consider the services you will be offering to start with, and look at the free versions of apps and programs before you commit to upgrading to the paid version.

Ask for recommendations, but remember that what works for one person may not work for you. There are dozens of software options for time-tracking, image creation, CRM etc, but test them out before you pay to make sure they have the functions you need. Some will be free to use for life, but offer enhanced functionality with a paid upgrade.

• A niche. Many VAs will insist you should have a niche – whether that’s the services you offer or the type of client you work with – but you don’t need to get hung up on that too early in your journey.

Unless you are happy to restrict yourself to types of work or a specific client base, niche-ing (is that even a word?) can be limiting, and if you’re not really sure yet, trying to find your niche can hold you back from getting started. There’s nothing wrong with offering a variety of services, and trimming these down as you decide what you enjoy. Remember, as a self-employed VA you get to choose who you work with, and what work you do.

• You don’t need to offer discounts or accept low hourly rates because a potential client tells you they can get the work done cheaper.

  At all.

  Ever.

  If that potential client thinks it can be done cheaper that’s fine. Let them.

  There are plenty of sites that will be able to undercut your prices (see Fiverr and People Per Hour) and those that will charge you for leads that won’t actually lead to any work (see Bark) but don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to compete with them. You don’t.

The average rate for a VA is currently £30 - £35 per hour.

The average rate for an Associate VA (where you work for another VA to support their client) is £25 per hour.

This is the bit where I make it clear; I’m not a VA mentor. I don’t offer training or books or group sessions on how to be a VA. I’m just speaking from experience, and from mistakes I’ve made throughout my own journey.

Becoming a VA is not an easy option (think I’ve mentioned that before 😉), but I wouldn't change a thing, and help is out there.

The SVA can provide plenty of help and resources: https://societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk/about/

And there are a couple of brilliant ladies who do offer mentoring and training packages, and have Facebook groups dedicated to advising and supporting you on your journey.

See:

Amanda Johnson at https://vatrainingacademy.co.uk/

Catherine Gladwyn at https://catherinegladwyn.co.uk/va-services

And if you want to have a chat about the services I offer, or my own journey to becoming a VA, drop me a message now to book in a call 😊