How to Become a Virtual Assistant in the UK (Even With No Experience)

You don’t need a business degree, a fancy website or years of PA experience to become a Virtual Assistant. I’ve been a VA since 2014 and built my business alongside a job before going self-employed in 2019. Here’s the honest, step-by-step version of how to get started in the UK.

What does a Virtual Assistant do?

A Virtual Assistant (VA) is a self-employed person who supports businesses remotely, usually from home. That might mean managing emails and diaries, booking appointments, scheduling social media, sending newsletters, typing up notes or doing research. You choose your clients, your services and your hours.

Step 1: Start with the skills you already have

If you’ve ever organised a family calendar, answered customer emails, kept a spreadsheet, run a school fundraiser or held down an office job, you already have skills a business owner will pay for. Write down everything you’ve done at work and at home. You’ll be surprised how long the list is.

Step 2: Pick a few services, not all of them

In the beginning I thought I needed to offer every single service out there. I couldn’t, and nobody can. Choose three or four things you’re good at and enjoy, such as inbox management, diary management and social media scheduling. You can always add more later.

Step 3: Decide your hours and who you want to help

One of the best things about being a VA is that the work fits around your life. Be realistic about the hours you have, whether that’s school hours, evenings or two days a week, and think about the kind of business owner you’d enjoy working with. It makes everything else easier, from what you post online to who you approach.

Step 4: Set your prices

New VAs often charge too little. The VA Handbook, which regularly polls UK VAs, puts the average rate at around £30 an hour and rising. Remember that your rate has to cover your tax, your holidays, your software and the hours you spend finding clients, not just the hours you bill.

Step 5: Sort the official bits

This is the part that puts people off, but it’s simpler than it sounds. I’m not an accountant or a lawyer, so check what applies to you, but these are the things to look into.

• Tell HMRC you’re self-employed. Most VAs start as a sole trader. GOV.UK explains how to set up as a sole trader.
• Data protection. You’ll be handling clients’ information, so check with the ICO whether you need to pay the data protection fee.
• Insurance. Professional indemnity insurance protects you if something goes wrong with your work.
• A contract. Always have written terms with every client, covering what you’ll do, what you charge and when you get paid.

Step 6: Tell people what you do

You don’t need a website to get your first client. You need people to know what you’re offering. Tell friends, family and old colleagues. Update your LinkedIn and Facebook profiles. First clients often come from someone who already knows you, or who knows someone who does.

Step 7: Find your first client

This is where most new VAs get stuck, usually because “selling yourself” feels uncomfortable. It gets much easier when you know what to say. If you’d like the words written for you, my First Client Script Pack (£7) gives you copy-and-paste scripts for exactly what to say, who to say it to and how to follow up.

You don’t have to quit your job first

I didn’t. I started 2019 with one client, gave myself a target of September to have enough work to leave my job, and by then I had three. Starting small alongside a job, or around the school run, takes the pressure off while you find your feet. You can read the full story in No longer an employee: seven years self-employed as a Virtual Assistant.

And you don’t need to feel ready. You need someone beside you, to help you start before you’re ready and keep going when it gets hard.