Whether you are in business already or considering starting a virtual assistant business or working from home you need to read this.
Investment mentality is something I talk about a lot. As an employee you don’t have investment mentality because the boss pays for equipment, training, stationery, etc.
Many who transition from being employed to running their own business struggle with this. Many view a website, business cards or a computer as an investment but when it comes to anything else it is an expense.
There are two main forms of investment – time and money.
Just this week, I saw how a small money investment had paid off. I had been struggling with a particular piece of software I use for Twitter social media and list building. A particular feature was not working – let me explain how an investment I had made solved it for me.
6 months earlier I purchased an equivalent software product because I wanted to see how it compared. It cost me over $200 but I viewed it as an investment as I did not know if I would use it or not – but in the e-marketing industry, up-to-date knowledge is important.
I did not really use it much though until I needed to solve my problem. I fired up my $200 investment and what do you know – it worked. I had spent at least 10 hours seeking other solutions, and this one was right under my nose! Had I not found it I would have spent another 10 hours.
The important thing – I now have a solution I know other providers will be struggling with and will turn it into a selling point when I interview new clients. So my investment will pay off for me.
An investment in time can work the same way. I have turned hours of investment into a continuous stream of income.
The problem – you do not get paid while you are spending the time or money. You actually go backwards – that is INVESTMENT MENTALITY.
You invest and when you discover some key knowledge or technology, you can then offer it to your clients as a service.
So ask yourself the following questions:
- How many hours do I spend a week researching or refining my skills?
- How much do I spend per year on new technology / software that will either make me more efficient or add to my services for clients?
I know what you are going to say next – “I can’t afford to do that”
I will cover that in the next Article – “How to price services properly for my Virtual Assistant Business”