AMVA - Amanda Moore Virtual Assistant

NOTE: Make sure you read the comments for follow-up to this post.

Kieron over at Full Time Blogger is wondering just that. And he’s challenged me to give him the answer. In Kieron’s case, given the information that I have, the answer is probably no - not yet anyway.

Typically, before I’d suggest services - or not suggest services, as the case may be - I’d want to know more about the potential client. I’d want to know their goals (both personal and business), what they love about their business, what they hate about their business, and what they have to force themselves to do only because if they didn’t their business would implode. (That’s a bit of a simplistic summary, but you get where I’m going.)

Basically, I want to know what they are and are not passionate about. Touching back on my post from yesterday about how my passion is changing my life (which was inspired by this Dosh Dosh post), if you’re doing something you’re passionate about, your chances of success are higher. I believe this applies not only to business but also personal success. So, my answer to the question “Do I need a Virtual Assistant?” would be:

Yes, IF you’re spending a large amount of time doing things you’re not really passionate about.

It stands to reason that if doing something you’re passionate about contributes to success, then doing things you’re not passionate about could contribute to failure. Those are the things you should outsource to a Virtual Assistant. That will give you free time to focus on what you really care about - and that’s the point of having a VA (at least from my perspective).

In Kieron’s case, he’s passionate about everything he has on his plate right now (at least the things that could potentially be outsourced - I’ll leave helping out with showers up to his wife) so it doesn’t make sense for him to hand them off to someone else. Could that change in the future? Absolutely.

As his business grows, there will probably come a time when, no matter how passionate or interested he is in what he is doing, he just don’t have the time to get everything done (and still have a life). That’s when I hope he’ll call in me (or another VA) to help him out. At that point he’ll have to say to himself, “I love it all, but what do I love doing least?” - that’s what should go to a VA.

You may be thinking “Wow, shouldn’t she be trying to sell her services more instead of saying I don’t need her?” and the answer is maybe - but that’s not how I work. I want to work with clients who want to work with me, need to work with me, and are excited about working with me, not ones that work with me because I conjured up some tasks I could do.

I’m willing to bet that if I took a closer look at Kieron’s life there are things I could do for him - like tracking his personal finances, planning his vacations, cleaning out his spam box - but doing those things, unless he really hates doing them, would be more about making business for myself than helping him out and that’s not how I want to do business. I don’t like people who hard-sell me products I don’t need so I’m not going to do that to someone else.

So Kieron no, you don’t need me…but maybe some day.

Now readers, in my last post I asked you “What is your passion and what are you doing to follow it?

With this post I’m wondering:

What are you doing that you AREN’T passionate about, and what are you doing to change that?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while because someone recently asked me why I became a Virtual Assistant, and the post on Dosh Dosh just brought it to the forefront so I thought I’d put it out there.

In his article, Maki talks about how, when you have passion for your business, things just seem to be easier. The motivation is there, the business is likely more successful and life is good. The problem with this, at least it was for me, is finding something that you can really be passionate about and allowing yourself to take the chance in following it.

For years I followed the safe path: corporate job, corporate hours, corporate stagnation. It was sucking the lifeblood out of me. Finally, I said enough. I wasn’t happy doing what I was doing and it was time to make a change. So, I quit my corporate job and founded Personal Finance 101.

Now THAT is something I had a passion for. Educating other young people about how to effectively manage their money. Not selling them expensive, useless products, but actually teaching them how to make good decisions. I loved it. It thrilled me. But there was a down side. The services I offer are ones that I actually have to be there to provide (though I am writing an Ebook to solve this issue) which keeps me from my true passion in life, which is travel.

So, I was on a quest. A quest to discover a way that I could travel and explore and learn about other cultures while also doing the financially responsible thing and saving money for the future. It took a while, but I think I’m there with my Virtual Assistant services. It allows me to do all of the things I love to do:

1. I can set my own hours (so when I get my creative wave at 2 am I can ride it).
2. I can work from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection.
3. I’m helping people. I’m helping them save money, time and effort and giving them the free time to do the things that they’re passionate about. THAT makes my day.

So, while it’s still early days, I’m excited about what I’m doing and the path that I’m on. The return on that excitement is a business which is growing at a pace I never imagined it could. It’s long hours, but it’s worth it because in the end, I’m going to get to do exactly what I want and follow where my passions take me.

So I ask you, dear reader: What is your passion and what are you doing to follow it? Leave a comment and let me know.