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Referenced Links:
- Episode 82: Three Month Actionable Plan to a Profitable Year
- 21 Day Upwork Challenge Guide
- Upwork
- Grant Cardone
Tweetables:
Don’t let anyone control your destiny. #vatip 
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Keep going and don’t let anything stop you. #vatip Gotta Tweet!
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In Words:
Hey there! Welcome to episode number 85. You’re listening to The Business of Being a Virtual Assistant. We are back for another great episode. Let’s see. I have some notes here. I’m not sure exactly where we’re going to go in that. I just kind of let the Lord lead me on where today’s episode would go in regards to our topic.
But first, I want to give you an update. I think it was our first episode of this year, I gave you the list of ten things I was going to work on for the first quarter. It was episode 82: Three Month Actionable Plan to a Profitable Year. It was episode 82. I want to give you an update on that and let you know where I am on that list.
The 90 Mentorship Program, I did a bunch of different mentorship reviews. I sent out an email to my VIP list to see if anyone was interested in the program and we did like a quick chat, which was a mentorship review to get a feel of where everyone was in their business. Some people just had questions to ask me and are ready to go to the mentorship program, and others were not. You know, they know they’re at the starting point, not quite ready, but did have some questions.
It’s always cool to take advantage of any opportunity someone gives you to ask questions about the things that you want to do, somebody that’s been there where you’ve been. It’s a great opportunity when you can talk to them directly and ask questions. Those of you who took advantage of that, hats off to you. For those of you who are continuing on to the 90 Day Mentorship Program, I am excited to be working with you in the next 90 days on your business.
The other thing I got done was getting the Upwork Guide live on the website. It is there if you go to TiffanyParson.com. You mouse over Courses or you can click on Courses, whichever. You’ll see the 21 Day Upwork Challenge Guide. It is available for you to purchase. You can get that. It’s 59 pages. 21 days of getting set up on Upwork. What to do from day 1 all the way to day 21. That is live on the website. Make sure you grab a copy. If you’re wondering where should I start, what should I do, Upwork is the place to start because that’s where clients go, a lot of them, looking for virtual assistants just like you.
If you are in the pre-planning stage and have not started your business and wondering what should you do, go to Upwork. Look around. See what people are asking for. Get a feel. But just know, there are people there looking for exactly what you provide. So that Guide is out there if anyone wants to grab it. Make sure you grab you a copy and get going. Get moving in your virtual assistant business.
One of the things that I discovered in the review sessions, that a lot of you are at the beginning stage of your business. You are still in the research phase of what being a virtual assistant means, what that looks like, and how that could fit with what you want to do, whether it’s staying with your job and doing it part-time, or whether that means working your way out of a job. I think either way, the beauty of it is that it can look however you want it to look.
What I want to share with you in this episode is that it’s easy to get a job, and I don’t mean the whole hiring process. I know the job market can be difficult, but I mean the decision. It’s easy to decide, okay, well, I’ll just apply for a new job. I’ll just go here. I’ll just go there. But it takes courage to start a business, and the reason why is because when you start a business, it’s yours. Everything that happens in it, good or bad, belongs to you. You’re now responsible for getting people through your doors. You’re now responsible for generating income for yourself in that business so that it can continue to grow, and so that you can reach the goals that you have for yourself.
If you are wanting to do your business full-time, it takes even more courage because there are no guarantees. No guarantees.
Clients will come through. No guarantees you’ll make any money. However, if you have faith in yourself, you believe, and you’re a hard worker, oh, you will accomplish everything that you set out to accomplish. This is why everybody is not doing it. This is why people may be looking at you when you are sharing what your dreams and your goals are. They may be looking at you like what, really, you think that will work? You know, they may be asking you questions that may cause you to be frustrated at them, but don’t be.
If you’re looking for validation from someone who has never started a business, don’t expect them to know or understand your desire or what you have ahead. You know, they don’t know what your road ahead looks like. They’re used to a job, and so the way they respond to you is from the standpoint of having a job.
When I started back in 2008, there were a lot of people who also wanted to start businesses, who had desires to do that. Back then, I was, oh my gosh, gung-ho. I wanted to free everyone from whatever cage they felt like they were in and set them on their way to fulfill their dreams, and I quickly learned that, yes, people have big dreams, but they don’t have big courage to go out and see their dream through.
It’s sad to think about now, if I think about a few people who back then were in an ideal place, not knowing they were in an ideal place, to start their businesses, you know, different businesses. Not necessarily virtual assistant business, but different ones. But back then, ’08, they were in a great position to start.
It is 2017. I can count on one hand, not using all my fingers, how many I know who we talked about it back then, who have not done it or are not doing it right now today. It’s unfortunate, but if their dream changed, it’s not unfortunate. But to me, gosh, because I love having my own so much, I want everybody to be in a position where they’re happy with their life and they’re satisfied and they’re in control of their life.
We can’t control anyone else. You can walk in your job tomorrow and things change. You get switched to another department. You get changed to another position. You know, it doesn’t have to be so detrimental where, oh, you could lose your job. No, they could change things around right where you are. They could change the process, how things are done. “Oh, well, you’ve been doing it this way. We’re not going to do that anymore. We’re going to do this,” and it might be something that you don’t find as enjoyable as the way you all were doing it before. It could anything.
But when it’s your own business, you have the privilege to decide on what the changes will be. You can accept or reject projects, client offers, rates, all kinds of stuff, because it’s yours. Every decision you make, you get to learn from it. Every decision you make, you get to learn from it.
Are you looking to please the crowd? If you’re a crowd-pleaser, oh, gosh, you’re going to struggle with having your own because the crowd doesn’t want you to have your own. The majority of people don’t have their own. Again, if it were like that, everybody would be doing it and it wouldn’t be special. It wouldn’t be a thing. You wouldn’t be looked at funny by friends and family right now because you’re talking about something that they cannot imagine. They can’t wrap their mind around.
You might get questions like, “Well, what about retirement? What about taxes? What about your health insurance?” Those are things that everybody has to work out for themselves, whether at a job or at a business. For me, I’d much rather be in position where I can decide what that looks like for me, rather than someone tell me, “Okay, you have three options, you know, you choose.”
Are you concerned that it won’t work? Has that crossed your mind, what if it doesn’t work? Would you enter a marriage thinking what if it doesn’t work? If that’s a question that comes to mind in a relationship that is trying to move towards marriage, guess what? Fail. You’ve already failed. You’re in danger if you enter a marriage thinking what if this doesn’t work. If that’s the case, you know?
Years ago, in my early 20s, I was engaged, and that question didn’t cross my mind, but I remember my mom telling me, “Well, when you get married, you know, your dad and I – you will be the responsibility of your husband.” In so many words, she said it like that. Because you’re supposed to, you know, leave your parents, cleave to your spouse, and all that good stuff. Great, that’s exactly how it should be.
But in that situation, I felt like a kid that had gotten lost in the mall and could not find my mother. How I felt on the inside was like, no, you’re not going to leave me. There’s no way I could have entered a marriage feeling like I’m not in good hands if you leave me with this man. So that didn’t work. I stood up, cancelled everything. Never looked back, and met my wonderful husband a million years later [laughs]. Met my wonderful husband and joked with my mom like, okay, if you leave me now, you know, by then, unfortunately, my dad had passed so he wasn’t here. By then I was like you can leave me now. I’m good. I’m safe, you know. That’s how you should feel.
In your business, you should feel good about it. It’s yours. It’s your baby. If you think about what if it doesn’t work, that means you’re not working. That means you didn’t work. It’s kind of crazy to think about that. But if that’s your concern, you might want to rethink it, whether even getting into a business, whether it’s a virtual assistant or anything. Don’t even think about it. Just continue doing what you’re doing if the question is what if it doesn’t work. Because my thought is this: if it has to do with me, everything that happens is based on me. I know how much effort I put into something and I know how much effort I didn’t put into something. I can’t complain about something if I didn’t put my 100% into it, right? It’s me. It’s on me.
Those are just some questions to ask yourself. Are you looking for validation from someone who has never started a business? Are you a crowd-pleaser? Are you concerned that it won’t work?
I’m here to tell you – no, I’m not here to convince. I’m just here to let you know that it’s real. It’s a real thing, having your own business, working full-time for yourself from home doing what you love, and having it look however you want it to look. It’s real. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not possible. Don’t be afraid of things that are out of our control. Don’t be afraid of that. Don’t be afraid of how you’re going to do your taxes, how you’re going to get insurance and this and that. Don’t be afraid. It’s out of your control. Everybody has options. Whether you’re in a job or on your own, we all have options.
There’s a guy that I follow on Facebook and I love reading his books and listening to his books. Grant Cardone. You know, he’s into sales and making big money. He talks about, you know, “There’s some people out there that will teach you how to save money. I teach you how to grow money.” Yeah, things may be more expensive, but how can you get more?
See, in a job, you can’t get more. You can’t demand more. In your business, you can get all that you can go out there and get. You can get all that you can handle, right? You’re in control of that. That’s the beauty of it. That’s the excitement of it. That’s what keeps me coming every single day no matter what.
I’m not telling anybody to quit their job. Let me be very clear. If you have a job right now, you’re in a great position to get started because you don’t have to worry about the necessities, you know, your bills and all that stuff. That is taken care of. So you don’t come from a place of desperation when working with clients and discussing projects, proposals, rates, and all that stuff. You don’t come from a place of desperation.
For those who are unemployed, maybe all you have is unemployment, don’t be afraid to start your business because you’re getting unemployment. Don’t be afraid of that. There may be rules in your state about how much you can make because you are receiving unemployment benefits. Okay, great, so if you start making more money than the minimum or the max, if you start making more money than the max requirement, okay, what’s the big deal? That means your business is growing. Day one, most likely you’re not going to make the max amount that they let you make in addition to your unemployment, so don’t be afraid to start.
Don’t call up the unemployment office and ask them if you can start a business. I’ve heard that a couple of times, people doing that. Why would you do that? [Laughs.] What would you do that? I don’t know. That’s just me. Maybe that’s just – I don’t know. Maybe that’s just my independence. What am I asking you for? You’re working a job. What am I going to call them for? They’re working on their job. What do they know about starting a business? They are the unemployment office. They’re not the small business office. You already know what the max amount is. It’s in your paperwork, the max amount you can make.
Anyway, I’m not going to go diving into that. I can feel myself really, ooh, getting frustrated about that. Some questions that get asked, I don’t know. I don’t know. I just wonder if people think. I know people don’t think. People don’t think and they don’t read. I’m not talking about you. I mean, overall.
You say you want to start a business, dive deep, dig in, use your best friend Google. All the information is out there that you need. Don’t wait for anyone to answer you before you move on. It’s crazy to wait. It’s crazy to wait, right? What are you waiting for? Now, I realize everybody is in a different situation.
I have been in a corporate job where I was getting paid on the 15th and the 30th, health insurance benefits, all that stuff. I had a cube. Then, I moved to an office with a door and window and all that stuff, and I hated my job every single day. You know, I did my job, but I hated going to work. I hated that job because I knew it was not where I was supposed to be. I wasn’t in IT. It had nothing to do with my interests. It was bad, and I thought that if I went out for a manager position that would help. That would make it better because, okay, I’ll be making more money, dah, dah, dah, whatever. It didn’t help. I got fired from that job. I have no problems telling you I got fired from that job.
I can remember December ’06, I was in my office just sitting there, and it was the second time in my entire life I ever heard the voice of God literally like someone was sitting there talking to me, and God told me to get my personal effects, take them home. I looked around. You know how you decorate your office and stuff. It was in December, so a lot of people were out on vacation, different stuff all through the month. It was very easy. I took things home little by little, little by little. I didn’t know why, but I just did. Followed instructions, little by little, took everything home.
January rolls around. January ’07 comes. Towards the end of January, I have a meeting scheduled with Human Resources. Go in there, they let me know that my services are no longer needed. I was not upset. I was grateful. I was grateful. They were unlocking my cage. I was single. I did not have any children. I was not responsible for anyone. I was grateful. It was mix. I was grateful, but I was also kind of mad about why. I felt like I had gotten thrown under the bus. But at the same time, I knew it was a setup because God had already told me to get ready.
So when HR told me, “We will mail you your stuff. We’ll ship your personal stuff to you,” and in my mind, I’m thinking you all ain’t mailing my stuff. My stuff is at the house, right. I just let the HR director know, “I don’t have anything except for my purse, my coat, and my lunch. You’ll walk with me to get that, won’t you?” That’s what I asked them. “Oh, yes, yes, we’ll walk with you to get that.” So walked with me, you know, they try to humiliate you. Walk with you, and of course, everybody sees you walking. So you’re getting all your stuff; you’re heading out. People know. Walked me to get my coat and purse out of the office, to the breakroom to get my lunch, and on downstairs right to the front door.
So those mixed emotions of why, but at the same time grateful because I’m free. I would have never left that job, even though I hated it, I would have never left it without having somewhere to go because the traditional thing is you don’t leave a job unless you have job. At that time, I didn’t know anything about Elance, virtual assisting, nothing, but I had the desire in me to work from home. I didn’t know what. I thought I was going to do personal training, teach group fitness. I thought, okay, maybe something in there. I didn’t know, because I had given up on my dreams of being in IT because it didn’t work corporately. But that didn’t mean it would never work, right? It was in ’07.
Here we are ten years later. Oh, my gosh. I’m getting a little emotional, guys, because I’m thinking about the date. I’m thinking about the date. Oh, God, I thank you. Wow. Now, I’m understanding why we had to be on this topic because by the time this episode goes live, y’all, it will be ten years since that day, and I believe my courage came that day because I had never in my entire life been fired from a job. I’d been laid off before, and laid off twice before. I was in IT during 9/11 and all that stuff. So I went through a couple layoffs with IT, but this was the first time I had ever been fired. Never got fired from a job as a teenager. You know, it’s easy to do then. But this was my first time ever having corporate job.
Yeah, I know I got my courage walking out that door. If you’re still listening to this episode, I extend that to you, the courage to see your dreams through.
Don’t let anyone control your destiny. Don’t let anyone control it. God has a plan and a purpose for your life, and the enemy does not want it to be fulfilled. You may be coming up against a lot of roadblocks. Keep going. Keep moving. Keep going. If you know that where you’re headed is where you’re supposed to be going, keep going. Keep going. Don’t let anything stop you. Don’t let fear, don’t let a person, nothing. Get out of your own way. It’s time. It’s time.
Thanks so much for tuning in. If you like what you heard, stay tuned. We’ll be back. Tell me what’s going on with you. Come on over the Facebook page: facebook.com/tiffanyparsonbiz, or if you prefer a little shorter message, come on over to Twitter: @tiffanydparson.
See you next time!
I love your faith, I love your candor, and I love your courage. Happy 10th anniversary!
Thanks so much Diane! 🙂 <3