Have you been following the recent posts about VAs not taking care of their clients, promising more than they can possibly deliver, and then making sure that the client takes their fair share of the responsibility for a relationship that goes bad?
How does that make you feel? As a former VA it really ticks me off! I always took great care of my clients, made them feel special, delivered on what was promised, and never tried to blame the other person if the relationship didn’t work out. I call that being a Business Owner. And that is the one thing I see many VAs struggling with…being a Business Owner.
By their own admission, many VAs refer to themselves as technicians (as Michael Gerber refers to in his book, E-Myth Revisited), and say they don’t really know how to be a Business Owner or what that really means. I’d like to offer a few insights on what being a Business Owner means to me. Perhaps they will resonate with you. 
Perhaps you are already doing these things. If so, keep doing them! If not, is now a good time to put them into practice in your business?
1. Understand that you now own a business. You are no longer an employee. Not even a long-distance employee. Therefore, you need to be ready, willing, and able to make decisions around your business. For example, who will you work with, how will you work with them, what does your interview process look like (I prefer to call it a getting-to-know you process as the word ‘interview’ reeks of employee/employer), what rates will you charge, what are your office hours, what will you do if a client is not happy with your work, how will you communicate with your clients, etc.
2. This means you need to get serious about your business. Clients want to work with VAs who run their business like a business. Clients are not looking for a VA who waits to be told what to do (this is a long-distance employee). They want a VA who is proactive, understands what it takes to be a Business Owner, and a VA who is interested in making them successful.
3. Making your clients successful makes you successful. You do see that, right? Do you see how by making your clients successful you, too, reap the benefits? These benefits could be in the form of referrals to other clients (this is really the best way to run a business, via referrals), additional per hour rate, base rate plus a percentage of business sold, etc. The possibilities are endless. Remember, it’s your business, you are the Business Owner, and you get to make the decisions about how your business is run.
4. If a relationship needs to end, end it. Be professional about it. If you’ve said you will complete some work for the client before the end date, then be sure it is completed. Leave the relationship on a professional note. Then take some time to ascertain what went wrong so that you (and a new client) don’t make the same mistake down the road. This is not about pointing fingers. This is about becoming stronger as a Business Owner. Learn and move on, but do it gracefully.
Being a Business Owner is rewarding, exciting, and a lot of hard work, but I know you can do it! Before you make your next decision about your business pull out the hat that says, “Business Owner”. Put it on. Then ask yourself how the Business Owner would handle whatever situation has arisen and act accordingly.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Good points that apply to all of us ‘first-time’ business owners, esp. ‘corporate refugees’. If we’ve spent 10 years or more getting good at ‘being an employee’ it requires focused energy and self-development to unlearn that mode and reframe our lives into being a business owner.
absolutely dead on. being the owner is not as easy or natural as it sounds!
i know! All good points. mjh
Patti,
Thanks for your comments. You are absolutely correct! In the traditional workplace thinking on your own usually gets one in trouble fairly quickly. heheheee (I know. That was always one of my problems!) It does take focused energy and the willingness to invest in yourself to unlearn that mode of business and begin to think like a business owner.
.-= Cindy Hillsey´s last blog ..VAs: Are You a Business Owner or a Long-Distance Employee? =-.