How to become a Virtual Assistant and earn Money with it: The only way it works

Table of Contents

What is a Virtual Assistant?

In an increasingly digitalized world, there are more and more opportunities to earn money remotely. One particularly promising option is working as a Virtual Assistant (VA for short).

A virtual assistant is a person who assists companies and individuals with various tasks and projects without being physically in the office or on-site with clients. This means that a virtual assistant can do their job from anywhere as long as they have access to a computer and a reliable Internet connection.

But how do you become a virtual assistant and what skills do you need? What exactly does a VA do and do you have to register a business as a virtual assistant, what are the earning potentials and what are the job opportunities? In this blog article we will answer all these questions and I will show you how you can successfully work as a virtual assistant and make money with it.

How do you become a Virtual Assistant and what Skills and Training do you need?

To work as a virtual assistant, you don’t need any specific training or qualifications. In principle, anyone with a good Internet connection, a PC or laptop and enough passion and motivation can get started as a virtual assistant and earn money.

However, you should have certain skills and qualities that are important for virtual assistance. Since the tasks of a virtual assistant are very diverse and can vary greatly from person to person, the skills required also vary accordingly depending on the position. Dennoch hier eine Auflistung der wichtigsten Fähigkeiten und Eigenschaften, über die jeder virtuelle Assistent verfügen sollte:

Communication Skills: You should be able to communicate clearly, effectively and professionally with your principals and clients, both verbally and in writing.
Organizational Skills: As a virtual assistant, you will often be busy with multiple projects and tasks at the same time. Therefore, it is important that you are well organized and can keep track of everything.
Time Management Skills: You must be able to effectively plan and use your time to complete tasks on time. I use Trello for that.
Technical Skills: Since you will be working primarily online, you should have basic computer and internet skills and be familiar with various tools and platforms. At least the office applications should be well known to you.
Flexibility: As a virtual assistant, you often work for different clients and in different industries. Therefore, it is important that you are flexible and adaptable.
Willingness to learn: The requirements and needs of customers are constantly changing, so you should be ready to acquire new skills and knowledge and constantly educate yourself. Here you can find an overview of free financial books that will help you build an online business and earn money on the Internet.
Independent Work: You will have to work independently: Even though you work partly as a virtual assistant in teams, the fact is that you often work independently on your own on various tasks. Therefore, you should be able to take responsibility and work independently.
Professional Self-Employment: Many virtual assistants work on a freelance basis or have registered a business. So they are self-employed, with all the advantages and disadvantages. If you decide to work as a self-employed VA, you’ll need to learn to bill accordingly, take care of bookkeeping, and file tax returns. As you may not want to hand this over to an accountant or tax advisor in the beginning, you will have to familiarize yourself with this topic yourself at first and show stamina. Especially if you don’t have many customers to begin with, you need to stay on the ball and develop your own customer base. Alternatively, of course, there is also the option of being hired as a virtual assistant.

What does a Virtual Assistant do (tasks, etc.)?

As a virtual assistant, you will support companies and self-employed individuals with various tasks and activities so that they can focus on their core business. You do these tasks online from home or remotely from anywhere else in the world (as long as the internet is good) and communicate with your customers via email, phone or video chat.

The tasks that a virtual assistant performs can vary widely and depend on the needs of the client. Here are some examples:

Email Management: you read and respond to emails on behalf of your client and organize their inbox.
Scheduling: You coordinate appointments and events on behalf of your client.
Research: You are looking for information and facts on specific topics.
Social Media Management: You create posts, interact with followers and manage your client’s social media profile.
Accounting: You take care of invoicing, incoming payments and expenses.
Customer Service: You answer customer questions and complaints on behalf of your customer.
Content Creation: You write blog posts, newsletters, and other texts.
Technical Support: You help with technical problems and questions, e.g. using software or setting up devices.

Depending on the clients you work for, your scope of work can vary greatly. Some clients require only a few hours of work per week, while others need full-time support. It is important to agree on a scope of work and payment with your client in advance to avoid any misunderstandings.

If you are working as a self-employed virtual assistant, it is also important that you do not have just one client, otherwise you will face the issue of fake self-employment.

Overall, working as a virtual assistant is very varied and diverse, you can work remotely from anywhere in the world. Many digital nomads work as a virtual assistant or start their self-employment this way. Along the way, you can try to build up your own business, for example with your own blog or as an influencer on Instagram.

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Do I need to Register a Business as a Virtual Assistant?

Whether you have to register a trade as a virtual assistant (with tax domicile in Germany) depends first of all on whether you are in a non-self-employed employment relationship as such or you are self-employed.

If you are a employed Virtual Assistant, you are an employee and, of course, you do not have to register a business.

However, if you are self-employed, you must register your professional self-employment and take care of accounting, tax returns, invoicing, etc. accordingly. If your activity as a VA is classified as a trade by the tax office in Germany, you must register a trade accordingly. If, on the other hand, you are classified as a freelancer, you do not have to register a trade. Whether you are considered a freelancer or a business owner as a virtual assistant depends on the exact nature of your activity and the responsible agent at the tax office.

If you are classified as a freelancer, this has various tax advantages compared to a business, e.g. no trade tax is due.

However, if you are classified as a business, then the small business classification may be relevant for you (for starters). As a small entrepreneur (Kleinunternehmer) according to §19 UStG you do not show sales tax on your invoices, but then you may not exceed certain sales limits.

Not, that this counts for Germany. All in all, you should inform yourself well in advance about the legal framework that applies to your work as a virtual assistant in your country and whether a business registration is necessary. This way you avoid possible conflicts with authorities and can fully concentrate on your job.

Virtual Assistant Job Opportunities

As a virtual assistant, you have many job opportunities as you can work from anywhere as long as you have a stable internet connection. You can either work independently and sign up on platforms like Fiverr*, Upwork or PeoplePerHour or turn to agencies that provide virtual assistants. Here you can find the best freelance platforms.

More and more companies are also turning to virtual assistants to save costs and work more flexibly. So if you have specialized knowledge in a field, you can also ask companies directly if they are looking for a virtual assistant and let you hire them.

Salary for Virtual Assistants

Payment as a self-employed virtual assistant varies depending on your skills, experience, and the type of tasks you take on. As a virtual assistant, you have several options for your salary. As a rule, you calculate your salary either by the hour or on a project basis.

Hourly Wage Virtual Assistant:

Hourly pay may vary depending on job, industry and experience. In Germany, the average hourly wage for self-employed virtual assistants is between 20 and 50 euros. If you specialize in specific activities, you can also ask for a higher hourly wage. For example, virtual assistants who specialize in programming, design or translations often charge more than 50 euros per hour, even 100 euros per hour occur, although these are then no longer virtual assistants in the true sense, but freelance programmers.

Project-based:

For project-based work, you agree on a fixed price with the client for the entire project. Here you should make sure that you realistically estimate the scope of the project and the number of working hours, so as not to run into time constraints or financial losses later on.

If you’re just starting out in your self-employment as a virtual assistant, it can be difficult to calculate your salary correctly. You should make sure that you can live on your hourly rate, even if you are currently receiving fewer orders.

Another way to increase your earnings is to specialize in certain niches and become an expert in a field. You must try to stand out from the crowd and increase your visibility. Ask yourself: Why should an entrepreneur employ me for €40/hour when a Virtual Assistant from the Philippines will gladly do the same work for €7/hour?

Virtual Assistance: Advantages and Disadvantages

As with any profession, there are also pros and cons to virtual assistance. Here are some of the main advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages Virtual Assistant

Flexibility: As a virtual assistant, you have the ability to work from anywhere as long as you have access to the Internet. You can work from home, in a coffee shop, or even abroad. You have the freedom to adjust your working hours and working conditions to fit your lifestyle.
Varied Work: As a virtual assistant, you’ll have the opportunity to take on a variety of tasks and projects. You’ll work with a variety of clients from different industries, giving you the opportunity to tackle new challenges all the time.
Independence: As an self-employed virtual assistant, you are your own boss. You determine your own working conditions, working hours and tasks. If you no longer want to work with a customer, you can terminate the cooperation.

Disadvantages Virtual Assistant

Loneliness: As a virtual assistant, you often work alone and have no colleagues or collaborators with whom to interact. This can make you feel isolated and have difficulty staying motivated.
No fixed working hours: Although flexibility is a great advantage, it can also be difficult not to have fixed working hours. It can be hard to find a clear separation between work and free time, which can lead to overwork and burnout. But of course, this doesn’t just apply to VA, it applies to every self-employed person: you need to find the balance between work and free time so you don’t overwork yourself.
Unpredictable Workload: As a virtual assistant, you’ll work on a project-by-project or hour-by-hour basis, which means your workload can be unpredictable. Sometimes you have a lot of work, sometimes less, which can make planning your finances difficult.

Conclusion: Is it worth it to work as a Virtual Assistant?

Whether it is worthwhile to work as a virtual assistant depends on various factors. If you like to work remotely and want to be flexible, virtual assistance can be a very good option for you. The diverse range of tasks also makes working as a virtual assistant very exciting, and the barriers to entry (both professional and financial) are low.

If you’re planning a life as a digital nomad, working as a virtual assistant is a good way to earn money online for the first time. Along the way, you can then build your own business and increase your passive income.

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FAQ

Muss ich als virtueller Assistent ein Gewerbe anmelden?

Das kommt darauf an. Bist du als Virtueller Assistent bei einer Firma angestellt, musst du natürlich kein Gewerbe anmelden. Bist du dagegen selbstständig, dann kommt es darauf an, ob das Finanzamt deine Tätigkeit als Gewerbe oder freiberufliche Tätigkeit einstuft. Die Einstufung hängt im Wesentlichen von deiner genauen Tätigkeitsart ab. Frage am besten in deinem Finanzamt nach.

Sollte ich als virtueller Assistent die Kleinunternehmerregelung in Anspruch nehmen?

Mit der Kleinunternehmerregelung nach §19 UStG weist du auf deinen Rechnungen keine Umsatzsteuer aus. Eine Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung ist im Normalfall nicht erforderlich. Für den Einstieg als VA kann die Kleinunternehmerregelung Sinn machen, da sie weniger bürokratischen Aufwand bedeutet und du deinen Endkunden günstigere Preise (netto, ohne USt.) anbieten kannst. Um sie in Anspruch nehmen zu können, darf dein Umsatz des vergangenen Jahres allerdings nicht über 22.000 € liegen und der voraussichtliche Umsatz des Folgejahres darf 50.000 € nicht übersteigen.

Wie werde ich als virtueller Assistent schnell reich?

Indem du im Lotto gewinnst. Spaß beiseite – reich werden nur die wenigsten Virtuellen Assistenten und schnell reich noch weniger. Denn als Virtueller Assistent bist du im Grunde Dienstleister, das bedeutet, du bietest deine Zeit anderen Personen oder Unternehmen gegen Geld an. Du bist dann zwar selbstständig und kannst dir gewissermaßen deine Kunden und Projekte selbst aussuchen und kannst von überall arbeiten -was definitiv große Vorteile im Vergleich zu einem „9 to 5“-Job sind- dennoch arbeitest du für andere bzw. hilfst anderen bei der Umsetzung ihrer Projekte.
Daher macht es Sinn, mittelfristig eigene Projekte bzw. ein eigenes Business zu starten. Die virtuelle Assistenz kann für dich der Eintritt in die Selbstständigkeit sein, die Arbeit, mit der du anfangs hauptsächlich Geld verdienst. Und nebenbei kannst du dir etwas eigenes, wie einen Blog, eine Agentur… aufbauen, mit dem Ziel, andere Leute einzustellen und Prozesse so weit zu automatisieren, dass du eine Art passives Einkommen generierst. Dann klappt das auch mit dem „reich werden“.