Are you holding yourself accountable for the business success you want? Far too many VAs, and business owners generally, think they’re working towards success in business but in reality, what they’re doing is just being busy. Their time is being spent creating pretty graphics and forms, scrolling social media feeds and learning and/or enhancing skills, rather than the business growing activities that are needed to make their business a success.

Now, these activities all DO have a place in business. However, if you’re spending the bulk of your time on this type of activity or using them as a delay tactic to avoid putting yourself out there – you’re not holding yourself accountable to the business success you’re after.

Last week we looked at what it takes to become an awesome VA. Step #7 was ‘to work at being an awesome business owner’. This week’s blog is a natural progression forward from that step – if you want to be an awesome business owner, you need to hold yourself accountable.

Having a clear plan of action for business success

If you want to take your business seriously, you need to have a clear plan of action. This includes knowing where you’re headed and what it’s going to take to get there. Compile a list of your goals for the quarter and year. Plan out your products and/or services, as well as your intended launches (yes, even Virtual Assistants can have products or launches). Have an editorial calendar that details your content creation and publication dates, so you know what content to create. Have a clear plan of action as to how you’re going to get visible and in front of the right audience. Treat your business like a business! [If you need help with business plans, check out this recent blog post: Does a VA business need a business plan?]

Allocate time for income-generating activities

If you want your business to succeed, you’re going to need bypass any fears and worries you may have over actually selling your services etc to your intended audience. Income-generating activities need to take up the majority of your time and focus when you’re in the business growth stage.

So what do I mean by income-generating activities? It’s any activity that generates you leads and money. This can include:

  • Regular content creation
  • Promotional posts and ads 
  • Creating launches and funnels
  • Lead generation activities
  • Audience building
  • Nurturing your email list
  • Having calls and conversations with your potential clients
  • Engaging with your audience and potential clients
  • Sales follow up and conversion
  • Ensuring your customer delivery and service experiences are spot on
  • Building relationships with potential joint venture and Associate partners

[If your self-belief is holding you back from selling, check out: Self-belief in business: stop selling yourself short.]

Spend your time in the right places

Another crucial element of business success is spending time in the right places. If your audience isn’t on a social media platform – you shouldn’t be either. The right place to be hanging out is the place where your ideal audience is congregating. That could be online, offline or a combination of the two.

[Need help getting clients? You’ll want to read 10 Places to find clients for your VA business!]

Business success means putting in the work

Are you actually committing to doing the work that’s needed, to get to where you want to be? If you want your business to be a success, you’re going to have to roll your sleeves up and get to work. But, as mentioned earlier, make sure that your focus and time is being spent on the right type of activities. Follow your plan and editorial calendar to ensure you’re working on the right things, at the right time.

[Are you in the visibility spotlight or hiding in plain sight? and Are you being productive for your VA business? are both worth a quick read!]

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Are you actually committing to doing the work that’s needed, to get to where you want to be? If you want your business to be a success, you’re going to have to roll your sleeves up and get to work. #VACT” quote=”Are you actually committing to doing the work that’s needed, to get to where you want to be? If you want your business to be a success, you’re going to have to roll your sleeves up and get to work.”]

Monitor your results at every stage and every step

You need to know what works for you and your audience. This is in part, down to you monitoring results, but it’s also about consistently asking for feedback from your ideal clients. It’s no good spending a large amount of time and energy creating one type of content if your audience prefers another. You could be throwing money at advertising on a specific social media channel – only to find there’s no return on that investment because your audience isn’t there. You need to know that what you’re doing is working – and you can only know that if you’re monitoring and analysing your results. 

[It’s always worth carrying out a business audit, to ensure you’re on the right track.]

Tweak as necessary

If you’re monitoring your results, it makes it a lot easier to make changes when needed. You need to give your hard work time to settle in, but once it has, you can then start to either tweak or change as necessary. 

[If you’re not sure what you need to be tracking and tweaking, check out this blog post on Things you need to track on a monthly basis.]

Looking after you

Finally, remember that without you, there is no business. So look after yourself. Set yourself some work and home life boundaries, give yourself downtime and ensure you’re looking after your mental and physical wellbeing. This includes ensuring you’re getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and, of course, exercising and having regular breaks from work. Not only will this help keep you in tip-top condition, but it’ll also ensure you’re well enough to run a business – and make it a successful one.

[The importance of structuring your working day and How to have more energy and focus better – by Mira Rutter are both essential reads.]

In summary

Far too many VAs, and business owners generally, think they’re working towards success in business but in reality, what they’re doing is just being busy. If you’re guilty of spending too much time on activities that just make you look busy, but have no impact on your overall business success, now is the time to make a change. 

Start by being gentle with yourself. This means no blame, just acknowledge what went wrong and what needs to change. You can then follow the steps above to get refocused on a new plan – a plan that will take you closer towards the business success you are aiming for.

Running a business isn’t always easy and It’s not always easy doing it alone. You may be wondering how to get your VA business up and running, especially whilst you still have a job – or you’ve been struggling to get it off the ground. Maybe you’re just done with trial and error, and want to set your business up with ease, whilst following a proven method that gets business results? If so, you need the VA Mastery Course. This course is practical, hands-on and comprehensive. It will boost your confidence, develop your business mindset, and empower you with the commercial know-how you need to succeed. So why not head on over to the VA Mastery Course webpage and check out which option best suits your needs!

But if you are an established VA business and not getting the volume of clients you desire, then perhaps the VA Membership is more appropriate for you. The Membership is ideal for someone who has trained either with Amanda or another VA training provider but now needs a safe space, it’s not all monthly webinars, additional courses, competitive one-upmanship or hustle.  I have recently carried out an analysis of how many people actually watch additional trainings so instead and in full transparency, I want to make a difference to you and your VA business and where that happens is in a club environment.  That constant feeling of hustle, overwhelm of ‘things not done’, and content overload just isn’t doing it for me or for you.  So instead, the VA Membership is about authenticity and helping you to have the business and the life you set out to create. This is a club for finding a space to have conversations, and take a break from ‘busy’ but also to get the kick up the ass when you need it!  Thus getting the best service from me – want to know more you can always talk to me via the chat function on this site or message me here.