Company Description
Virtual Assistant Business Plan
It should give yourself and any other potential reader
clarity about who you are and what you have to offer. It should provide the information
on how the different aspects of your business fit together.
Details that you can include in the company description are the following:
Mission Statement
A good mission statement accurately explains why your business
exists and what you hope to achieve with it.
It describes your purpose - your reason for being .
Before writing a mission statement, ask yourself the following questions
- What is the purpose of your VA business? Why did you start it in the
first place?
- What are the needs of your clients that you will address?
- How will you address these needs?
- What are the values / beliefs that will guide your work?
The answers to these questions will give you a pretty good idea how to
formulate your statement. Write an initial draft of not more that ± 30-50
words. Use this draft as a starting point to refine and finalise your
mission.
Take some time to clearly think about each aspect and ensure that your
final mission statement includes the answers to all 4 questions.
Tip: Use your mission statement as a measuring instrument. You can
measure each and every action you take against it to evaluate if the
action fits into the overall picture of you VA business. This will focus
your time and energy on the essential activities of running your
business.
Goals
Setting your goals is more than just
quickly scribbling down a few ideas on a piece of paper. To be of any
value, your goals need to be SMART:
Specific,
Measurable,
Achievable,
Realistic and
Timely
It is good to set goals with different timelines (short-, medium- and long term) for all the aspects of
your business such as marketing, administration, financial, personal etc. Short
term goals are those that you want to reach within the next few weeks or
months. Medium term goals are typically ranging from 6 months to a few
years and long term goals are those that you want to reach within 2 - 5
years time.
Remember, that a goal should be something that you really want, not just something that
sounds good. It should be high enough to give you the momentum to work
that little bit harder, but it should not be too steep that it is out of
your reach.
Tip: State your goals in a positive manner. Try to repeat them on
a regular basis, preferably daily. Repetition of your goals helps both
your conscious and subconscious mind on working towards the goal.
Company Strengths
As a virtual assistant, you are your company!
You own it, you are the strength of your company and you are responsible
for its success.
In this section you can list the following:
- Your education, previous experience and skills.
- Your strengths and core competencies
- What factors do you think will make your business succeed?
- What do you think your competitive advantages and/or disadvantages
will be?
The answers to these questions can typically be derived from doing a SWOT
(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analyses.
Services Offered
Your services and the way you perform it, are the heart of your VA
business.
The following information needs to be included in this section:
- A detailed description of your services.
Tip: Do
not just state your services in a list format, but try to include information
about the specific benefits that each service will offer your client. You
can state your ability to meet your client's needs and any advantage that
your service has over that of your competition.
- Include a list of possible new services that you will be able
to perform in future.
- Hours of operation. Will you be able to provide your service
full-time or part time? How many hours per week will you be able to work?
- Rates per service.
Equipment
Give a list of all the equipment that is necessary
to deliver your
service.
Include equipment that you already have as well as
those that
you need to purchase.
Business Legal Structure
One of the more important decisions to make when starting your own VA
business is to choose the business legal structure e.g
- Sole Proprietorship
- Partnership
- Corporation
- Limited Liability Company
It is important to understand all the options available before making
your choice. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each and pay
special attention to the tax implications. Your choice will depend on
your business's specific needs.
Elements of a Virtual Assistant Business Plan
It is beneficial to include all these elements in your business plan.
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