Back many years ago, my husband and I watched South Park faithfully. Ed can do a mean Cartman imitation. One episode that particularly sticks out in my mind was the one about the underpants gnomes. It’s been many years since I’ve seen it, but the premise is these gnomes were stealing underwear from people.
When the South Park crew asked what they were stealing underwear, the gnomes said, “Step One: Steal Underwear. Step Three, Make a Profit” The South Park crew asked, “What’s Step Two?” The gnomes said, “Step Three is Make a Profit”. They didn’t know what Step Two was.
Do YOU know what Step Two is? I’ve seen this with new virtual assistants quite a bit. They think Step One is to declare themselves a virtual assistant, Step Three is to make a good living and have a balanced life. But they don’t stop to consider Step Two.
Step Two is why Jeannine Clontz and I wrote Entrepreneurial Freedom. Step Two is actually many steps. It’s your technical (project skills), it’s your business skills (how you organize and run your business), it’s your attitude, and it’s your perseverance.
Do you realize that opening your VA practice means you’ll have to wear all the hats of a business? You’ll be the employee, the boss, the marketer, the salesperson, the CFO, the mailroom person, etc.? Once you’ve achieved some success, you can start delegating that? Do you take on any work that comes your way or do you stick to the projects you excel at and enjoy? Do you set competitive rates, or do you try to be the lowest bidder? Do you have your clients sign contracts or do you just hope your client pays on time? Do you invest money in conferences and training or do you just keep doing the same old thing? Are your goals to fill all your available hours with client work and turn anyone else away, or are you going to expand your business to have others working for you so you and your child can be at the moview while someone else is making you money? All these and much more are what leads you to Step Three: Making a Profit.