Times are tough, and thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing fallout, the business landscape has changed dramatically leaving many wannabe entrepreneurs with a dream to start their own business questioning whether they have what it takes to setup and be successful.
When considering the pros and cons of starting your own business, there are some essential elements – 3 in fact – that I believe are crucial success indicators, and definitely worth taking into account well before pressing the ‘start’ button: Skill, Will and Fit.
1. SKILL: Seems ridiculously obvious, but I’ve seen plenty of business startups whose skills don’t match their service offering. So, take a moment and figure out your skills, and make sure what you have is going to be enough to kick you off and (hopefully) exceed the expectations of your initial customer base. What’s your background? Do you have the skills and resources to deliver your business’s services or products? If not, how will you fill the gaps?
2. WILL: It’s all well and good to have the skills, but do you really understand what you’re getting into? What are the reasons for getting your business started – your ‘why’ – and will those reasons be good enough to weather the storms that all business owners face? Bottom line… you are going to need that will to succeed; the inner resilience to bounce back when the going gets tough or when the road ahead takes unanticipated twists and turns.
3. FIT: Are you suited to the self-employed / freelance life – because, honestly, it’s not for everyone. Think about how you work best – how you thrive. Are you disciplined enough to work hard without anyone breathing down your neck and micromanaging you? Can you deliver solid outcomes, establish boundaries, keep deadlines, think outside the ‘square’ and problem solve?
These 3 simple elements when combined add up to a winning formula for business success.
So, do YOU have what it takes?
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Ingrid Bayer established VA Institute in 2017, and works with EAs, PAs and Admin professionals to help them transition into their own highly successful Virtual Assistant business with programs that are founded on over 12 years of Virtual Assistant business experience, and include the elements needed to run a Virtual Assistant business in today’s world, plus hands-on support such as website build and launch, logo and email set up.
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