Quick question: do you love everything you do every day for all of your Virtual Assistant clients?
Many VAs I talk to can’t say they love everything they do. Some of them don’t even LIKE what they are doing.
It is so important for the longevity of your VA business (and you as a business owner) that you make it a priority to enjoy what you are doing every day.
Ask yourself why you are doing things that aren’t really your specialty, or that you don’t really like to do.
Is it because you are their ‘assistant’ and so you think you have to do whatever your client asks you to do?
Is it because you are afraid that the client will find another VA if you don’t do everything they need?
Is it because your client is paying you, so you didn’t even know you could say no?
Or is it because you never really decided WHAT you would do for the client, and so you just say yes to everything they want you to do?
Well, none of those are good reasons to do things that you don’t want to do in your business. They are very common reasons, but they are not good ones, no matter how you look at it.
It’s called Scope Creep. It means that you started with one plan in mind, and somehow it changed.
How does scope creep happen? Well, at some point, you let the client take charge of your business.
I say it often: you teach people how to treat you.
If you let your clients make decisions for your business, then it’s no longer really yours.
Your VA business is about YOU – and you get to choose everything… the clients you work with, the services you offer, and the prices you charge.
When a client asks us to do something new, we can either say yes or we can say no. Just because they are paying you, doesn’t mean that they get a yes every time.
Although we are called their assistant (and they pay us), we are NOT their employee.
We are a business owner who they have contracted to do some tasks for them. We are their equal, their partner. So …
If the task is something interesting to you, or if you have expertise in it, then you certainly can say yes.
But if it is out of your original scope of work, then it’s your choice to do it or turn it down.
Scope creep is a problem for several reasons – all of which impact your time and money as the VA.
Changing what you are doing for a client can reallocate the original agreed-upon budget we have in place for our client.
It also means sometimes we have to work faster because there is more to do, but no one addresses the additional charges for the new work that you are trying to fit in to an existing agreement.
It can also cause us to do work that we don’t like, or maybe aren’t even good at.
All of these things can waste your time and money. And certainly will cause pressure or stress at some point as the client gets more comfortable sending new stuff your way.
So what can we do to stop scope creep with our VA clients?
Well if you haven’t started your business yet, make sure you have policies in place for all of the items below.
Here is what you should do immediately if scope creep is happening in your business now:
1. Define and outline clearly what you will do for your client.
Let them know that things have changed since your original agreement, and you need to clarify what their needs are – and what your expertise can help them with.
2. Say no.
Start saying no now to things that you don’t like doing. If you are doing something for a client now that you hate, tell the client it’s time to find another VA to do that task.
3. Identify what needs to change if the client does have changing needs.
You should have a procedure in place for how a client makes changes to your scope of work. Create one if you don’t have one, and start to implement it immediately.
4. Prioritize the tasks that the client wants done.
When you prioritize, you can use their budget in the most efficient way. Are there things that they don’t need you to do anymore, because their strategy has changed? Find out their priorities and rearrange your work tasks around them.
5. Communicate everything with your client.
Talk about anything that is an issue. Make sure that everyone is always on the same page. When the scope of work changes, that needs to be communicated clearly.
And finally, if this is something that you struggle with, get some help to deal with it. Work with a coach if you need to build some skills to help you handle scope creep.
I’d love to help you. Join me for the Inspired Action VA Mastermind group. It’s a small group mastermind that meets weekly via Zoom. We can help you make decisions, implement strategies and plans, celebrate successes, and work through losses.
It’s just $100/month for 3 months. It’s private coaching for the cost of group coaching.
Stop struggling to get through your VA business alone. Join this small group and start taking inspired action to move forward to the success that you want to achieve.