Need help, student trying to start a small business

[tleigh]

Good evening all,

I am looking to start a small business and am currently enrolled in an entrepreneur class ay my local community college. I am trying to collect survey results for the business I am hoping to start within the next few month, not only as a form of market research, but also as a class assignment. If you would be so kind, I am asking you to please please copy and paste the link below, it's a free survey website we used for the assignment. It will literally only take 3 minutes of your time but it would help a budding entrepreneur tremendously!!! I thank you in advance to those who help me, and I welcome ALL feedback!

Kindly,
Tawny E. ;)

Link to survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5TTSRSC

[vangogh]

Welcome to the forum Tawny. I looked at your survey and answered the first few questions, but then I couldn't answer beyond that. From question 4 through 7 you assume the person filling out the survey is planning on hiring a virtual assistant and you didn't provide answers for someone who isn't planning to hire a VA.

Reading the question it sounded like you're trying to figure out the types of services you might offer as a VA. From what I've seen over the years virtual assistants tend to offer services based on their own expertise and there can be a large range of services from one VA to another. One person might have strong accounting and bookkeeping skills and starts by offering those and related services. Another person might have strong graphic skills or strong writing skills and start with services related to those skills.

I would start by thinking about the things you feel qualified to do and that you enjoy doing. You don't have to be the world's foremost expert, but do you prefer administrative work or would you rather do something more creative? I think any of the services you mentioned in your survey are services you can build a business around and there are people who need all of them.

Another way to start would be to list all the services you think you could do and see who contacts you and which services they need. Then you can refine your list.

Asking people in advance which services they'd pay for doesn't necessarily lead to what they'll actually pay for. Most of us don't always know what we want or need, especially when it comes to paying for things. I wouldn't trust what people tell you on a survey like this. Lots of people might tell you they need help answering the phone, until they find out they have to pay for the service, for example.

Also don't ask people what they'd be willing to pay. Most people hiring you to perform a task want to pay the least they can possibly pay you. It's important for you to understand the value you bring to people with your service. Think about how much the person who hires you values their time and charge accordingly. If someone bills at $200/hour and they hire you, you know what their time is worth to them. You probably can't charge that person $200/hour, but there's no reason you should charge that person $20/hour.

Figuring out exactly what services to offer and how much to charge for them isn't easy when you first start out. It'll take some time to work out the details. You may find one of your services is more popular with people, which will help direct which services you offer. With pricing, if people say yes quickly you can probably raise your rates. If you have more clients than time to serve those clients you can raise your rates. The reverse is also true. If people say no as soon as they hear your price, you might think about lowering your rates.

One way to decide on a starting price is to look around and see what other virtual assistants are charging. Spend a few nights searching the web and get a feel for what other people charge and use that as a starting point. From there adjust based on what happens when people do or don't inquire about hiring you.

Sorry that I didn't complete the survey, but hopefully something I said is helpful.

[Fulcrum]

Also don't ask people what they'd be willing to pay. Most people hiring you to perform a task want to pay the least they can possibly pay you.

If you only take one thing from Vangogh's response, let it be this. You need to value your time. If you're only $15-20/hour than I need to question if you will be around long term. As an example, I had a customer that was charging $45/hour as a mobile sawmill and he was slowly losing money. I'm not sure if he's still in business (sad because he had some beautiful work showcased at the Pan Am games this past summer).

[Harold Mansfield]

I agree with Brad. If you're only charging $15 an hour you'd be better off just getting a job for that amount. At least the pay is steady and you don't have the headache of running and marketing a business.

[99social]

I agree that you need to market yourself according to what skills you find are your strongest. Develop a brand around that and make sure you are charging enough to cover your time and expenses. There is a lot of competition in the virtual assistant market and it is important to capitalize on what makes you different from your competitors.