Episode 59: 4 Reasons You Haven’t Started Your Virtual Assistant or Freelancing Business Yet

Full Episode Transcription:

(00:07):
I wanna talk to you today because I have seen so many people get stuck and feel held back from starting their virtual assistant business. And I wanna talk about the four reasons why that happens and how we can combat that. I know what it feels like to be stuck in that fear zone of not feeling like we’re good enough, not knowing even how to do this and all of that. I was there exactly where you are, and that’s why I wanna help you figure out how to get yourself unstuck. So today I’m gonna be sharing with you four reasons that you haven’t started your virtual assistant or freelancing business yet, and tactical tips for working through that reason. So, number one is a lot of new virtual assistants don’t think that they have anything to offer as a VA. They deal with a lot of imposter syndrome of, “who am I to do this? There are so many people out there who are better than me at this.” This is all thoughts that are running through their head and they are not true, but it’s something we all struggle with. Even people in, you know, that make seven figures in their business, they deal with imposter syndrome. So I wanna break that down a little bit for you. First, let me give you a definition of imposter syndrome. So it’s a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments, and has a persistent, internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. So basically that just means you feel like a fake, you feel like you don’t belong doing this. You feel like you don’t have the skills to do this, even though you do. And/or you can develop them very, very easily. As a teacher, you already have everything you need in you to start this business. Teachers are amazing at learning on their feet, figuring things out as they go. And you already have a lot of the skills you could use in a virtual assistant business. You just have to think about them in a different lens. You also really, really, really have to believe in yourself. That’s one biggest things that get you out of imposter syndrome is just believing that even though I’m a little scared, I can fricking rock this and I just have to figure it out.

(03:29):
So what can you do to boost that confidence ASAP? One thing that I highly, highly recommend is writing down a list of affirmations for yourself. So something easy, simple. Can be, let me give you some examples, “I have the skills I need to be able to start my virtual assistant business.” Or, “my client’s businesses will grow and be much better with me helping to serve their business.” Or even, “I am worthy.” Okay. Something simple. I want you to get a piece of paper. You can even pause that episode right now as long as you’re not driving, get a piece of paper and write down – I want you to write at least 10 positive affirmations for yourself. And even better if you can center them around what God tells you you are. So you are worthy. You are valued. You are chosen for this.

(04:35):
If this dream is on your heart, it’s there for a reason. I want you to write those down. And then, even more accountability, share those in our Facebook group, facebook.com/groups/ditchtheclassroom. So I wanna make sure you do this. This is so, so, so important. Another thing you can do to boost that confidence is to do some self-care and do some sort of routine. It can be a morning routine. It can be a middle-of-the-day routine, a night routine. Whatever works best for you. But I want you to take that time for some self-care because we can’t have that confidence if we have an empty cup. It’s just not gonna happen. So examples of some things that can go into your self-care routine that you’re doing every day is reading that list of affirmations, doing a little bit of journaling, reading a chapter of a very inspiring book to you.

(05:26):
I can give you some amazing recommendations, ’cause I love reading. Taking 10 minutes to meditate using the, the app Insight Timer is one of my favorite things. You can find so many amazing meditations for whatever you’re needing in there. It’s just a visualization (it’s hard to say that word) to help you envision where you wanna be and help you to relax into that state. And then also, if you wanna boost your confidence, do a couple pieces of testimonial work. Now I don’t want you to do a lot of this. So don’t. But doing one or two free things for testimonial work, something that takes you an hour or less. And basically the payment, instead of money, will be a testimonial that you can use to showcase like, “Hey, I know how to do this” and show your clients that you know how to do that. That can be really confidence boosting when you already have that experience before even getting paid for it.

(06:25):
All right. The second reason why you haven’t started your virtual assistant business is that you don’t know what services you’d be good at offering. You’ve been teaching. You’ve never been in this space before. You don’t even know what you’d be good at or what you have the skills for. And I have a tool to help you with that! Really easy. You’re just gonna go to ariannavernier.com/virtual-assistant-quiz. I’m gonna spell my name for you cause it’s a little tricky, ariannavernier.com/virtual-assistant-quiz. You can find that link in the show notes as well. But in there you’re gonna answer a couple questions. It doesn’t take you very long, maybe like five minutes, max. You’re gonna answer a couple basic questions about what skills you already have and then what you’re interested in. And that’s gonna give you some recommendations for where you can start in the virtual assistance world. ‘Cause as you know, talked about this on the show before, there’s a lot of different services you can offer. But you wanna make sure they’re services that light you up. That aren’t draining on you. You wanna make sure it’s something that you’re gonna be excited to do every day. So go take that quiz. Again, accountability. Post your results in the Facebook group, which you can find the link for that in the show notes as well.

(07:53):
Mistake number three or four, I keep saying mistakes. Why am I doing that? The third reason that you haven’t started your freelancing business yet is that you want everything to be perfect. We can get stuck in perfectionism in trying to get everything 100% beautiful. And if we get stuck there, we never end up putting ourselves out there. So you are gonna pour all this work and time and energy into this and never make a dang dollar. Trust me, I get stuck in this as well. I wanna tell you it’s all about done, not perfect. Get things to 75% done and then tweak as you go, ’cause you’re most likely gonna be tweaking things as you go anyway, as you figure out what’s working and what’s not. So it’s never gonna be perfect right off the bat. Get that out of your head, get it 75% done, and go.
(08:51):
Alright, the fourth reason that people do not start their virtual assistant or freelancing business is that they don’t know where to start. You need a game plan. You need to know exactly what steps to take next. Someone to take that overwhelm away from you, and the accountability to get shit done. And I have a solution for that as well. I have created the Teacher Turned Freelancer Academy. In this program, I have 10 units and in each of these units are bite-size, actionable, implementable videos and lessons and workbooks that are going to help you build your virtual assistant business and take it from zero to 60. To, “I ain’t making a dang dollar” to replacing your income completely and even exceeding it. You’re gonna get that ongoing accountability you need, that support. You’re gonna get every single thing you need in this program.

(10:58):
All right. So let me recap for you. The four reasons that you haven’t started your virtual assistant or freelancing business. Number one is you think you don’t have anything to offer as a VA, you’re dealing with a lot of imposter syndrome. Number two is you don’t know what services you’d be good at offering. Number three is you want everything to be perfect and you’re getting stuck in that perfectionism. And number four is you don’t know where to start. You don’t have a game plan. But now, you do. So if this episode was helpful for you, I would so, so appreciate it if you would take the time to leave me a review. Just go to Apple Podcasts, or wherever you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, type in Ditch the Classroom, go to the reviews and you know, you can just click the five star button and that’s it. Or you can leave me a couple sentences about why this podcast is helping you. This not only lights me up to see this, but this really helps us to reach more people. And it’s the only way that the podcast can grow. So you taking the time to do this – you don’t even know what that means to me. And I would be so, so, so grateful. All right y’all, I love you so incredibly much. I hope that it’s helped you. Let me know if it did. Reach out to me, send me a DM. Yeah. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and get to eat all the amazing food and spend time with your loved ones. And we will see you next Tuesday.