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How Much Money My Virtual Assistant Company Generates – And The Reasons Why I Am Telling You This Now

by Michelle Dale on

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I am back! First I just want to emphasise that we are starting the New Year, and I want to start 2011 in such a way that you fully know the score about me and my business, SO this is a very personal post, and not something I intend to repeat, it makes me feel very uncomfortable actually, but I feel after recent online events, the time is right to reveal something to you all.

I have just returned from a break over Christmas and New Year, to see that the virtual world is still turning. One of the first places I visited was Yaro Starak’s blog where I found an interesting post about credibility and trust online - it was relating to a video Tyrone Shum had posted on his blog called “I am sorry I lied”, it was a confession saying that he had been misleading his readers, giving the impression he was earning a six figure income online, when in-fact he was not. To be honest, this came as no great surprise as it’s really tough – especially early on, to earn 6 figures, purely online.

Regardless of Tyrone’s mistakes, I do believe he offers great advice on outsourcing and working with virtual assistants, primarily in the Philippines, and this is why I like him, and I feel strangely comforted by his attack of conscience (if that’s what it is), and the fact that there are still people in this world willing to be honest about this kind of stuff.

So after this I thought to myself that really I can say whatever I like about how much my company earns online, but if I am attempting to gather a following of people who trust me (and let’s face it, I am), Yaro Starak clearly advises in his recent video, that we need to really show some sort of proof, and since I would like to help anyone looking to become location independent, or pursue a virtual assistant business, I have decided to step-up to the plate and provide proof of my own, for several reasons:

  1. I want you to know that the advice I am giving you is sound.
  2. I don’t want you to question my authenticity as a successful online business owner.
  3. I would like all of those who learn from me to know that I am providing information based on solid personal experience.
  4. I am someone by nature who is honest, down-to-earth, and seriously wants to protect my readers from false or misguided information.

In short, I care about you.

So whilst I am not prepared to post my bank statements or PayPal statements online, I have printed off what I invoiced just from clients in my virtual assistant business from 1 Nov 2010 to 1 Dec 2010 from my Freshbooks account where I send my invoices from. I want to retain the confidentiality of my clients and have removed the company names and invoice numbers from the print out, and left the figures for you to see.

This is not necessarily an average month, just the most recent full business month for my virtual assistant business, as with the Christmas Holidays, and my being away from the business for over 2 weeks, December was certainly less, but I want you to keep in mind these few points:

  • None of the clients I invoice are living in the same country as myself. I move so often that I am considered a gypsy :-)
  • Invoices are generated and sent out throughout the month randomly depending on individual client requirements. I have left the dates on there for you to see.
  • This is obviously gross invoicing and like any other business, there are overheads and expenses.
  • I have a volume of purchases for products and services made from my website shopping cart directly online which are not shown in this invoice statement.
  • I have other channels of revenue online, which are off the back of my Virtual Assistant company, and basically, I would not have been able to pursue other business opportunities online had I not established my virtual assistant business.
  • I have never met any of my clients apart from one in 2007, this was still in the early days of my business, and the client happened to be where I was at the time. That client is still on the books to this day.
  • This is all entirely 100% real.

For the purposes of this exercise I want to keep it simple and just show the invoices generated for that period.

So here are the results.

Global exchange into USD – for 31 days, I generated into my VA company VMF Ltd – from my invoicing alone, was $18, 918.62

As an International VA, I like to always offer clients the option of paying in Euro, US Dollars and British Pounds, and because of this and the exchange rate, the amounts and currencies can sometimes vary from month to month. November to December I had a large request for invoices in GBP and some in USD and none in Euro. However, the actual currencies selected by clients can vary greatly from month to month.

My final figures as you can see below were:

  • €0.00
  • £11.232,50 (1 GBP = 1.54751 USD)
  • $1, 536.22

This is from 1st November 2010 to 1st December 2010 – made up of deposits and balances for projects, retainer hours and pay-as-you-go services.

Some sceptics say there is no money to be made in being a Virtual Assistant, that it’s just for work-at-home-mums to relieve the boredom or people in third world countries to provide low cost services to bloggers and Internet marketers – I am proof this is not entirely accurate information my friends… If you are willing to provide an excellent service, you put in the hours and you run your business professionally, focusing on quality, running your company with confidence and integrity, you can create an great living for yourself.

Larger View (you may have to click the image after opening)

Many online entrepreneurs will exaggerate and bend the truth, of course we all want to be seen as an authority in our field, but proving it is another matter. I am not big headed in any way, and while this post does make me very feel uncomfortable, I have not done it for any other reason that to say I am the real deal, and I am earning the 6 figures I claim to earn entirely online. All of my client generation is online, I only use the Internet to work, I am location independent and I am willing and able to help anybody out there to develop a six figure income from the Internet, literally from anywhere in the world.

Everyone who leaves a comment which is approved, will receive a FREE copy of my eBook "REALISTIC - Down To Earth Online Marketing", I will send you a copy via email, so if this is your first comment, be sure to use your email address, thanks!
Here's To Your Virtual Assistant Business Success!

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  • Tracy Clements1

    I realise it was not easy for you to do but thank you Michelle for being the thoroughly honest, down to earth girl we have come to love. Never doubted you for a moment and you forgot to add that you totally ROCK lol.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Lol, thanks so much for your support Tracy. It was a tough call, but the timing was right. I will actually add the links in for those other video's that prompted the post.

  • Doug

    Thanks for this, Michelle. I’ve been considering starting up a VA business for a while now, but it’s hard to find real VA’s who are sharing real information. You are the brightest and most real one I’ve come across, and this post is exactly what I needed to see. It’s tough to quit a steady “day job” and start a new home-based business when you don’t have any real world examples to compare to. I know not to expect 6-figs at the start, but now I know that it’s possible after a reasonable amount of years and experience.

    My motivation is to work a “day job” that’s location independent where I set my own hours, allowing me to pursue a separate career. Thanks for all the honest info you share on this site. I’m happy I stumbled upon it. Best of luck to you in 2011.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Doug, thank you so much for the comment and your very kind words. I really hope this post will spur you on to move forward with your plans. I was into 6 figures in my second year of business, but I was working full time at it, so do whatever you can, and put as many hours in as you can, and you will get there eventually.

      Running a reputable VA company in my opinion is ideal for location independents in so many ways. I wish you every success this year, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you'll reach the destination :-)

  • Candys

    You seem very genuine to me… I’ve been searching for my dream job and for “real deals” for many years now, only to be fooled and scammed, and lied to over and over. So when I say that I believe you, it comes from a hard earned bullshit detector! I really hope that I get the opportunity to learn all that I can from you this year. Happy New Year!

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Thank you very much Candys, I am so sorry to hear that you were scammed and lied to, but the internet tends to be a place where that happens more than anywhere (love the bulls**t detector – never heard of that before lol).

      Stick to the people who you know are trustworthy (they are out there!) and you should be fine. Happy New Year to you too :-)

  • http://www.fantatikole.com Fanta Tikole

    WoW, that was really gutsy for you to do and no doubt kinda difficult as I can relate to being a private person myself. But I totally respect what you did and understand why you did it. You are very transparent and trustworthy, but I am highly intuitive and read that about you awhile ago :^)

    So glad to have found you Michelle and look forward to what's ahead!
    Oh and yes, like Tracy said You Rock!! lol
    xoxoxox

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Thank you Fanta :-)

  • http://www.yourpreferredpa.co.uk/ Nicky Somers

    Totally agree with both Fanta and Tracy.

    When I first came across Virtual Miss Friday and your blog your total honesty and believability is what I loved most about you.

    My family and friends are so used to me saying “Michelle says” I think they switch off a bit now whenever I start a sentence that starts with a M :D

    xoxo

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Thanks for the support Nicky :-) “Michelle says” So funny!

  • Doug

    At last a real insight into the reality of internet marketing. I found your letter most comforting considering I have spent the last two years finding out who does not live up to their statements.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Hi Doug! It's great to see you on here, welcome to the blog. I am very pleased you found this post comforting, I do understand what you mean, the way I see it, I am asking people to trust me, and making money online is much easier said than done – well, I said it and now I am showing my readers I did it… Nuff said.

  • Chris

    I’d say bravo to doing this. In a world were not everyone is as honest as they should be, it is refreshing to see someone who is willing to provide proof that what they say will work actually does. I hope I can be as honest in my dealings as you are with yours

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Thank you Chris, your comment is very much appreciated. :-)

  • Jayne

    Hello and thank you for your honesty, it's very refreshing.

    I have set up my own virtual assistant business (at the end of 2010) but work full time as a Business Development Manager & Marketing Manager, so I have to keep re-motivating myself to actually 'getting my first client' but I do find that I lose belief every now and again. This is probably the hardest part for me at the moment as I have to develop my service against what I am able to deliver.

    However, reading your article inspires me and I have to admit, I really do want my own business and the VA business is something I have wanted for over 12 years, so fingers crossed this is the year!!
    I will make sure I follow your posts.

    Kind Regards, Jayne.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Jayne, thank you so much for your comment, finding the motivation to work, after you have just done a hard days work is very tough. I quit my job in order to pursue my business, because I knew that was the only thing that was going to motivate me to take serious action, everyone has to do what works best for them.

      Once you get that first client, even if you are only offering a few choice services, the ball in rolling and you will find that providing you stick at it, it will keep going.

      12 years is a long time to want something, I really hope you are inspired to make 2011 the year that you finally go for it! My best wishes to you.

  • Ian

    hi Michelle, thanks for posting your figures but could you clear up how much of this you actually farm out to other VAs and what your gross margin is?
    I am also curious as to why 1st Novemeber and 1st December invoices are shown……….isnt that two months of trading?

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Hi Ian, thanks so much for your excellent question. I don't actually “farm” anything out. I have an in-house team of professionals whom I hire, they are all independent freelancers, however a majority of them only work with my company. The time billed on the invoices is all billable time and services performed by my team, so essentially all of it has been generated by them. I myself work only for one client doing billable time due to a contract stipulation I have with that client. I also provide a high level of support to my clients, which I do not bill for, and of course I oversee everything that goes on in the business. I do offer consulting services separately, and those are invoiced separately – so what you see here is basically outsourced to highly specialised members of my team.

      With regard to the dates, as I mentioned in the post, my invoices are generated all throughout the month, I don't necessarily have a “trading” month in terms of when I invoice, I do this to maintain cashflow in the company, and you can see in the post exactly what has been invoiced on the individual dates. I wanted to make this element as transparent as possible, rather than selecting a trading month, I selected a period of time. You can easily work out what was billed on which dates from the document statement.

      • Ian

        Thanks Michelle, I guess what I am getting at is how much do YOU actually earn and not what your company invoices. I respect your privacy in this so I do not want all of your secrets but your six figure company is based on turn over and not gross profit I presume? Does most of this business come from online enquiries?

        • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

          Hi Ian, I think we are escaping the point of this article :-) , it is purely to show the potential gross invoicing an online VA company can make.

          My business comes from several channels, all online. I cover everything in great detail in my VA training programme. 'The VA Apprentice' – maybe you would like to join us to learn more about my business model? http://www.thevaapprentice.com

          • Ian

            Hi Michelle and thanks again.
            I like your business model and I am one of those that wants to be convinced, (not a cynic) but having been in business many years I look only at the things I can't see.
            Your willingness to answer these questions like you do is a credit to you.

          • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

            Thank you, you're welcome Ian, this whole article stemmed from a very good reason to look at things you can't see. So I can of course appreciate your curiosity.

            I think you need to look into what a solo VA makes, as I hired my first VA to work with me after 4 months of opening the doors on my business, so I am more a company kind of girl :-)

  • Maxine

    Interesting to see the spread of your income betweeen basic and fixed price or consultancy services, and encouraging too. Like Jayne I am only just setting up and am able to do both basic and consultancy work….and have yet to find my first clients. It takes so long to get the website done and then market efficiently. Its nice to get some hope every now and then.

    Thanks

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Hi Maxine, welcome to the blog, and thank you very much for the comment. You have hit a nail on the head there, I knew the website and marketing is a real time consumer, which is why I wanted to particularly include that in my VA Training course. I wish you the best of luck with your VA Business Maxine :-)

  • Sarah Martin

    Thanks for opening your books! This is truly insightful, as I've also been told there's no money in the VA world. I'm just getting started, so it's nice get some validation that this is a valid income stream.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      You are very welcome Sarah, I am very pleased to be in a position to be able to validate it for you :-)

  • Priscilla H.

    Becoming a VA is something I have wanted to do for a long time but I have been stunted by the fear that people just exaggerate their earnings. This post eased that anxiety. It proves your income is based on your effort. With that said, Michelle, you've proved you're worth a million bucks :)
    Now to start…

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Priscilla I am so pleased that seeing this post has encouraged you to want to take the next step to becoming a VA – you are right there, income online is entirely based of effort and work ethics. Thanks so much for your very kind comment…

  • PinoyVA

    As of now, I’m also attending seminars here in the Philippines on how to be a Virtual Assistant. VA is not so popular in my country but I found out that being a VA is very profitable, I can earned in dollars or let say euro and I spend in peso. My country has a lower cost of living compared to most of the western countries. Reading your blog post only proves how profitable being a VA is or probably having also a VA company. Thank you very much for sharing.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Welcome to the blog PinoyVA! When working online there are no restrictions in what you charge and where you choose to work from – when I was living in Egypt, and still a solo VA, there were 10 LE to 1 GBP, needless to say, I was able to live very comfortably there.

  • Orion_x76

    many thanks for the info you provided it just shows it is really possible to do business online

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Yes indeed – it's very possible and in not too much time at all really. I was into the six figure mark by my second year of business and I have never looked back.

  • Doug

    Have just read and re-read your book 'REALISTIC' down to earth on line marketing. Michelle, where were you when i started to go online? This book should be read by anyone contemplating having a website presence!!!

    Would of saved me heaps of time and dollars.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Oh Doug, thank you very much!

  • Joannacapati08

    Hi Michelle,

    Great to know you've gone through the last year with these successes and earnings! Earning this much at a start can portray a really profitable and systematized business as what you have created just acting from your experiences as a solo VA then to owning your own VA business.

    You're an inspiration! I'm a VA myself and I believe after all this hard work and experience, I'd be like you too soon. :)

    Congratulations!

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Thank you so much for your comment – you are totally correct – the business is very systematic, like a well oiled machine :-) I wish you all the best of luck with your VA business!

  • Christine

    wow finally someone who is honest (although very brave of you) I really do appreciate it. I have been doing research and contemplating for five years now and finally I think I can actually make this work! Thank you so much!

    Christine

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Thank you Christine, and I appreciate the comment very much. Things are very different to how they were 5 years ago, now is a much better time to start up in the industry. Go for it :-)

  • Sean

    I am totally impressed Michelle.

    Although I am not interested in becoming a VA, I do like your down to earth style and your honesty as an internet marketer.

    A lot of people starting an internet business, could learn a lot from reading your posts, following who you follow and emulating your style…Very refreshing..

    Sean

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Welcome to the blog Sean. My style is very easy to emulate, I basically stick to 3 simple guidelines, tell the truth, be myself and take a lot of pride in what I do.

      Thank you so much for visiting and for your very kind comment.

  • Nathan aka beingbuilder

    looking to emulate your bravery, there is immense satisfaction and reward in honouring yourself in this way. Thank you

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Nathan, thank you for the comment, very much appreciated.

  • Jwerth22

    I applaud your honesty thank you for sharing this information.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Thank you very much for commenting :-)

  • http://twitter.com/PTheVirtualPA Phillipa Wirangi

    Thank you for posting this Michelle, just wondering, do you have other VA's working for you as well or are you doing all this work on your own? I only ask because I am thinking of becoming a multi-VA practice so that I can take on more work and start earning more.

    Thank you Michelle, you really do rock! :)

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Hi Phillipa! Thank you so much for your comment.

      This is primarily all billable time that my team have worked as a collective during that period. There is no way I would be able to generate that kind of money all on my own and still run the business and generate new clientèle :-)

      Creating a multi-VA company is the ideal solution to increase income over time from a solo VA.

  • Elnorawashington

    This is amazing! I just heard about this from a coworker and I am definetly going to explore it as of NOW!! Why not get paid to do what I ahve been doing for the last ten years at home!

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Indeed! So glad you found the information inspiring :-)

  • Jody

    Thank you so much for this post. I am a new VA – I started my business in June 2010. My business has totally taken off in the right direction but I do have my fears about being able to make a good profitable living doing what I love. You remind me of what is possible. Thank you for a great blog. :)

    Jody

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Hi Jody, this is excellent news, and I am so pleased your VA business is off to a flying start! I always wondered myself whether being a VA was profitable enough, and it was only over time, I realised the amazing potential this industry has – have no fear, the potential is most certainly there.

  • Agentlister1974

    Hi Michelle nice site. It seems you are quite a mecca for VA's. My question is how much revenue do you generate from adverts on your site?

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Hiya, thanks so much for the visit, in response to your question, I have no idea :-) I will check one day but it's not a priority for me, the ads are there purely because they are systems I use in my own VA business and I have found them to be highly effective – so I wanted to leave them there to introduce them to others.

      I don't write this blog to monetise, I write it to generally help VA's who need good quality advice from an experienced reliable source. Maybe in 2012 I will consider paying more attention to generating some revenue from the blog, but for now, I will leave it as a pleasant surprise if I do make any money from those banner ads in the right hand column.

  • http://twitter.com/VIPVirtualSols Alexandra Popovic

    Ballsy post and congratulations Michelle for having the class to tell it like it is! What I'd really like to know though, is how many hours do you average nowadays? After all, it appears your motivation to enter the VA industry was about improving your “quality of life” (same as mine!) so I really wonder is it possible to achieve and maintain a 6-figure income, mostly online, without working huge hours? Interested to read your feedback and thanks for keeping it real. :)

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Hi Alexandra, thanks so much for your comment, I really do appreciate it very much.

      You have asked a BRILLIANT question, and I am going to rise to the occasion with answering on a blog post on Monday (7th of March 2011) – it's not as much as you would think, but I had to make some significant strategic changes to the structure of my company in order to reduce my hours, so on Wednesday next week, I will be posting what those structural changes were, and how I did them, then you will get the answer in much more detail than I could explain on a comment!

      I hope this helps, and thank you again ;)

      • http://twitter.com/VIPVirtualSols Alexandra Popovic

        Fantastic! I thought I'd missed a post about that important topic on here already and am really looking forward to that and your future posts as you not only write from the heart, but also I find your insights into our industry extremely refreshing. What a fantabulous role model you are for women showing that yes you CAN have it all! We are all sooo lucky to be living in this digital age and achieving your life's dream in a job you're passionate about has never been easier imo. I call it a “hobby with benefits”.

        Any chance you'll be coming Down Under in your nomadic travels? I highly recommend a hot Christmas day beach bbq and celebrating NYE on a boat on the Sydney harbour watching the bridge fireworks!! ;)

        • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

          Hi Alex, nope it hasn't been done yet, but it's on it's way now thanks to you! Your feedback is a real joy to read, and really makes this all worthwhile! Thanks Alex, I do tend to write from my own personal experiences rather than opinion based stuff if I can help it, and I love this industry and what it has done for me and my fam. I totally agree with you, a hobby with benefits!
          We would love to come to Oz, we are doing Xmas in Italy this year, turkey pizza lol, but australia and NZ are places we would love to come, we plan to do Thailand and Oz and NZ in one go. I have a great uncle in Oz who went over many years ago, as a “£10 pom” I would love to see him again. Plus now you have convinced me to spend NYE at Sydney harbour!!!! I really wish it was easier for us to get a longer stay visa there, I would love to do a longer stretch than a tourist visa allows.

  • http://www.facebook.com/farah.belliard Farah Belliard

    I happened to bump into your blog while browsing Youtube, very nicely done! I absolutely agree that earning a 6 figure income is possible as a virtual assistant. I have been fortunate enough to do so as well. I've been working part time for about 2 years, but I'm gearing up to go back to full time work and also expansion of my practice and focusing on grant research and grant funding support as my niche.

    I look forward to reading more from you!

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Go Farah! Thank you so much for posting this comment and sharing your success, you must be so proud of yourself. I think once you are over the first hurdle of starting and running the business you can then start to see more clearly what you really want out of it, I wish you lot's of continued success with your grant niche!

  • Derek

    Hi Michelle, good post – there is so much mis-information on the web – it can be difficult to decipher. Most people are looking for cash for no work and no risk – at least you attribute your success here to putting in the effort and adding value to other people – well done.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle, Virtual Miss Friday

      Thank you very much for your comment Derek, very much appreciated. It is a lot of effort, but it does get easier with time once you find your groove and what works and what doesn’t :-)

  • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle Dale

    Hi Tracy, thanks so much for the feedback. I truly believe that if you can think of it, and there is a need for it, then you can offer that service online assisting people. You have great experience and great potential – good luck!

  • Constantlyinspired

    Thnx Michelle for offering this. I have recently become disabled and believe that this might be just what I need to get back on my feet. Thank you.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle Dale

       You’re very welcome, do let me know if there is anything I can do to help x

  • http://profiles.google.com/willieshac Williesha Lakin

    I was really getting nervous about doing this….but I have got to get the confidence that you have to know I am successful. Thank you for sharing your e-book.

    • http://virtualassistant-live.com/ Michelle Dale

      Hi Williesha! Confidence is a big part of success, if you don’t believe in yourself, then how can anyone else. Hope the eBook helped :)

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