Clearing the decks is something most VA businesses tend to do throughout the year. Working from home means our general office space needs to be a tidy one, so we find it useful and even cathartic, to review and refresh our working space on a regular basis. 

Of course, it never hurts to have a clearing session of our office space several times a year, ready for a fresh start!

However, if we want to see success in our VA business we need to review and refresh more than just our office space.

Your VA business needs a review and refresh too!

As VAs we can often be so busy helping other businesses, we forget about our own. This can lead us to getting stuck in a bit of a rut. However, if we’re looking to inject more success into our business, we need to give our businesses a bit of a dust off.

Previously, we looked at how you can get prepared for a new business year. This week we’re going to look at how carrying out a review and refresh of your business, as part of your business maintenance can be an incredibly enlightening and enjoyable experience. Not only will it open up space for new ideas, it can also free you from the confines of outdated ‘shoulds’ and ‘ought tos’ in your business. The end result – you feel more motivated and positive about your business. 

So with that being said, what’s the best way to review and refresh a VA business?

Clear out those dusty and unloved services

Over a period of time we can accumulate a range of free and paid products, services and even courses, that aren’t a hit with our clients. Another thing we tend to do is set things up and never look at them again – meaning they could be in dire need of a revamp or price change.

So this step is two-fold. Firstly, take a look at all of your paid and free offerings. How are they doing? Are they being downloaded and purchased? Are there any that need to be dusted off and overhauled – or are there some that need permanently shelving? Secondly, the ones that are doing good – do they need tidying up or is it time to give them a long-overdue price increase?

Carry out a little light housekeeping

Whilst you’re checking out your products and services, don’t forget to carry out a little light housekeeping on the background workings. For example, when was the last time you cleared bounced emails from your autoresponder mailing lists, or looked to re-engage with unresponsive people on your list?

Social media can be a huge time suck on your working day, so it’s worth carrying out a little housework here too. Why not set the intention to spend 5 minutes each day, going through and unfollowing pages and people you’ve no interest in? In the same vein, how about sorting through groups, tribes and boards on the different platforms?

Give your website a spruce up

We’ve all been guilty of neglecting our website at one time or another. Having new profile photos taken, but forgetting to upload a new one to our website, or updating our logo colours, but not getting round to changing the website colours and/or fonts. Yep, it’s happened to us all!

So take a look at your website and see how you can spruce it up. Upload those new profile photos, update the colours or fonts, and check all your information is up to date (including the copyright date!). Other things you can do to update your website include changing out your opt-in forms and offers, as well as updating blogs, blog post titles and/or adding Pinterest images to old blog posts.

These are all things we are doing at the moment, we have a new VA Training Academy® site being built – the VA Training Academy site is the sister to site to this one and homes our actual courses – due to vast volume of course materials it was slowing this site down, so we moved it to it’s own domain a couple of years ago and as I update this blog (April 2021) it’s going through a refresh and a revamp. I cannot wait for it to go live.

Then next on the agenda is the main VACT site (this site), I have just bought a new theme for it from Bluchic which will be going live in the coming weeks so you will need to keep your eye out for that one.

Refresh your forms and agreements

As most VAs know, there are certain standard forms you need to have in place for your VA business. If you’ve enrolled in my VA training courses, you’ll know that part of your training had you create your own Contracts, onboarding letters and Terms etc. But when did you last update them?

The forms and agreements you use for your VA business need to fit in with the overall look and feel of your business – as well as the products and services you provide. So make sure they not only have the right overall look and feel about them, but that they relate to what you’re now offering. Do you need to amend any wording, prices or conditions? How about the branding, colours and fonts?  

Review your processes and procedures

Whilst you’re looking at the forms, it’s also worth looking at the onboarding process you currently use. Is it an easy process for your clients to follow, or does it need streamlining? Do you have all of the right documents and emails included, or does anything need updating?

The processes and procedures you use in your VA business create a certain experience for your clients. So take a look at the different processes you use and see if they’re delivering the right experience for your clients. Do they match the expectations your clients have, and what you’re suggesting? This includes your automated processes (such as your onboarding and online selling processes and carts etc), as well as your manual processes (such as your customer service and complaint procedures).

Clearing the decks with a review and refresh of your VA business is something that can take a little time. However, it is time well spent, if you want to put yourself into a motivated and positive frame of mind, for the year ahead. If you’re looking to make your VA business a success, it’s something that can not only be an enjoyable and freeing experience – but could also be the turning point in your business.

What steps are you taking, to make this a successful year for your VA business?  I’d love to hear your next steps, so do please share your thoughts and intentions in the comments box below! 

Here are VACT – we have several ways in which we can help you review and refresh your business the primary method is you can work with a Coach or a Mentor as part of the VA Membership.

The VA Membership is the only UK VA business accelerator that’s designed specifically to help you build and grow your VA business, to help you create recurring revenue and consistent growth through regular and consistent action.  With over 100+ hours of courses, weekly co-working sessions, weekly group coaching calls, a private support group and the ability to pay as you go – when you’re ready to grow or scale your business online.  As you review and refresh you will want to tap into our business checklists, templates, example documents, swipe copy and so much more to ensure you are supporting your business to the best of your ability.  (We can often get side tracked supporting clients in all honesty.)

The VA Membership has the option to upgrade to more one to one coaching and mentoring support as part of the Luminary VA coaching and mentoring options.  If you would like to see / learn more, then please do check out The VA Membership.