How You Can Afford to Be a Stay atHome Mom, By Becoming a VA

Let’s face it, it’s not easy. Being a one-income family, on a low income, is especially difficult. I so get it! I racked my brain and researched everything I could find on how I could afford to be a stay at home mom. I wanted it sooo bad.

The first day I went back to work after my maternity leave, was the worst.  (I literally called my mom midday to tell her I was going to quit the next day. She talked me off the ledge, at least until I was better prepared.)

Trust me, I know the struggle. “If only I could find a way to make a little bit of money at home.”

Right. Something to cover a few bills, maybe groceries too? What a relief that would be.

Have you considered becoming a VA? If you haven’t heard of it, VA stands for virtual assistant.

This isn’t your typical assistant job though. (Conventionally, most assistants don’t make as much as they deserve hourly.)

No. A virtual assistant is a trained professional that helps businesses accomplish their goals.

They do this by using their specialized skill to take over time-consuming tasks, or tasks the owners don’t enjoy.

That way the business owner can put their efforts into maximizing profits.

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Can becoming a VA actually help you afford to be a stay at home mom?

Short answer, Yep. If you’re trying to figure out how to afford to be a stay at home mom. This may just be your answer.

Most VAs make at least $25 an hour, but many make much more than that!

I personally choose to create a blog for some side income. But during my own income journey, I have met many moms online who are rocking their VA business and make more than enough to afford to stay at home with their children.

I took an awesome VA course when I was looking into becoming a VA myself. The only reason I didn’t pursue it further, I was already making money on my blog. I wanted to spend my free time there.

Figure Out if it’s Right for You

Becoming a virtual assistant isn’t easy. It takes work and dedication, but it’s totally worth it. When you become a VA you are building your own business.

Seriously, how cool is that?

It’s your business. You choose what hours when your work and what you’ll do.

It takes a bit of work up front, but it’s manageable and will pay off in the long run. Another consideration, with any business, is cost. It will cost you a little bit of money to start, but the overhead is really low compared to most businesses.

Mostly you’ll be paying for hosting on a website, (a few dollars a month) which sounds scary but isn’t, and any training you might take, which will help you get up and running faster. Which means you’ll get an income faster too.

But how do you know if it’s the right job for you? You can check out our 7 signs that you were made to be a virtual assistant, and see if it sounds like it’s up your alley.

Decide What Services

There are so many services you can offer as a VA. To make the job enjoyable, pick things you enjoy doing, or wouldn’t mind learning how to do. Find something (or a few things) that looks interesting, and learn all you can on how to do it well.

The most common services offered are things like:

• Email management
• Social Media Marketing (Things like posting articles on FB and Pinterest)
• Content Creation (Writing posts)
• Creating Graphics
• Bookkeeping

But you can get creative too. If you’re really good at something, and you know that you can help someone make their business better by offering your services, go for that!

Gina Horkey (who makes a killing in her own VA career) created a full downloadable list for FREE you can get here, with over 150 services you can offer as a VA.

Start Marketing Yourself

If you’re not used to putting yourself out there, this may take a bit of practice. There are lots of ways you can market yourself as a VA.

You can create a simple website, post your services on social media, even directly email business and tell them how you can help them grow their business. (Which you can, because you will give them the gift of time. Time to work on those projects and ideas that will make their business flourish.)

Figure Out Your Worth

This is a hard one for a lot of women out there. Especially when you’re starting out.

It’s a delicate balance of knowing how valuable your services are, how much you want to make per hour, and how much someone is willing to pay you.

Most of the time, many women undercut themselves. Don’t do this!

If you are going to start your own VA business, do it right. This means learn as much as you can, provide great service, and charge how much your worth. (I personally wouldn’t charge less than $20 an hour, even as a beginner.)

You have to take in consideration taxes, the fact that you don’t get benefits like you would in a “normal” job, and that you are helping another business thrive. You are investing yourself into someone else’s baby.

Educate Yourself

You can find so much information for free on the internet. It takes a lot of searching and research.

Make sure you are taking advice from reputable sources. It may take a while to figure it all out, but it can be done.

Personally, I love taking courses. You can read my whole review of The Fullybooked VA course,

She walks you step by step on how to start your business, from the bottom up. It takes a while to go through the whole course, as shes very thorough.

She helps you figure out what exactly YOU want from your business, how to figure out who you’ll want to take on as clients (this is a big deal in the enjoyment factor.)

How to market yourself and find those clients, in case you are wondering how virtual assistants get clients.

It’s a huge support group that helps answer questions and helps fellow members navigate the new waters of VAing. I’ve spoken to quite a few amazing women in there.

Which brings me to another point, you don’t have to do this alone.

Find people are doing this like you too! Everyone starts somewhere and most women genuinely want to help each other reach their goals. So reach out!

Remember Why You’re Doing It

This all may sound really intimidating, but it’s really not that bad. Go through the steps, one at a time.

This makes it manageable. You’ll be hitting your goals in no time.

Remember why you are doing this though, to be with your kids while they are still little! (A dream of mine since I was a kid.)

If you are struggling to find a way to make it as a stay at home mom, why not take a shot at VA work. It could be your solution to your dream life with your kids.

The idea of starting my own business at home was super intimidating. I also didn’t want to invest money into something when we could have used that money on something else that seemed more important.

I decided if I wanted to be with my kids, this was the only way to do so. So I jumped in, all or nothing.

I purchased courses that would help me understand what I needed to be doing. I found the best free resources I could to further my education.

I spent all of my free time working hard to figure out what I was doing, and how I could do it better. I found other people doing the same thing as me and we support each other.

It’s paying off. I get to have something I’m proud of, leave a job I wasn’t happy in, make a side income, and be at home with my kids full time.

You can figure it out too! I believe in you, you can find a way to afford to be a stay at home mom!