The Myth of the Easy Transition
Tuesday, May 26th 2009 @ 9:11 PM
**Note: I wrote this for Virtual Assistants, but it really applies to anyone considering leaving employment for self-employment!
When you get to the point where you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you want to own your own virtual assistance business, one of the most important things you can do for yourself is slow down and plan how to make that happen.
Statistics show that more than 60+% of all new businesses won't make it to their five-year anniversaries. And the number one reason they don't is because no one planned for success.
Planning can involve many things; a business plan, a marketing plan, and most overlooked of all, a transition plan. If you are currently working for anyone but yourself, and you need the job and the money, a transition plan will be of specific and particular importance for you.
Think about it. What would you have to do to get from where you are now to working at home, full time, in your VA practice?
Some people think they'll work full-time and build practices in the evening, transitioning from their full-time jobs when their practices brings in enough money to replace what they were making at those jobs.
That's a pipe-dream.
First, to make enough to replace your current income, dollar for dollar, you'd have two full time jobs — your employed position, and your VA practice. No one can sustain 80 hours/week for very long. And people, generally speaking, work during the day. Even if you found clients who would be ok with your working on their stuff in the evenings and weekends, they are generally going to want to talk with you, at least interview you, during the day. So availability might be a barrier to making that work.
You certainly can work evenings only, but it will be far more difficult, and it will take far longer for you to have the practice you want.
What you most need to transition is financial reserves. Most people don't have that. And so as a part of your plan, you'll need to consider how you'll want to build those reserves, so that you can quit your job, work as a VA, and have the cushion you need to pay the bills and live.
There are really only five ways to transition:
Quit your job cold, and work full-time in your practice.
Unless you have fabulous financial reserves (conventional wisdom says we should all have six months to one year's worth of living expenses saved in reserve), or a partner/spouse/family to support you, this would never be a smart way to transition, and I don't recommend it. Having said that, I've seen people do it, and do it successfully. My own assistant, Marie, did just that. She's never looked back, and loves her practice!
Keep your current job, change your lifestyle to reduce expenses, put away the money you save until you have some financial reserves.
Usually this involves moving to someplace less expensive (I've known people to sell their houses!) cutting way back on what you spend, living on a tight budget, etc. The money saved begins to build your reserves.
Keep your current lifestyle, get a better paying job, put away the extra money created by your taking the new job until you have some financial reserves.
Keep your current job, keep your lifestyle, get an additional job, and put all that income away until you have some financial reserves.
If you have the energy to do a full and part time job for the short-term, this may be a quicker way to build some reserves. And, you can work as a VA, part time, to earn this income, but remember, it's probably faster to go get a part-time job working in a store or other physical location, than to work to build a practice of clients who are willing to work with you part time.
Lastly — and the one that may make the most sense, depending on how much income you need:
Quit your job. Reduce your expenses. Temp three days per week so that you have some steady income, and work in your VA practice two full days per week.
In this way, you have some income, and you have specific, defined time to work on building your practice. This time could make it far easier and quicker for you to build it.
If you want to be a VA badly enough, you'll find a way that will work for you. It's ok to stretch a bit, financially, but it's not ok for you to really struggle... and certainly not ok for you to starve or put your family at risk.
Be sure to talk with your family, and plan how you'll transition from where you are now to where you most want to be. Your success as a VA will depend on it.
