Before you dive into the wonderful world of working at home, you need to fully understand the term Virtual Assistant.

I found a simple & easy to understand definition for it online:

VAnetworking.com: A Virtual Assistant (VA) is a highly-skilled independent professional who provides remote business support services.

This definition strikes the core of what VAs are and what they can do for businesses.

I’d like to separate the definition into sections for us to better understand it.

Highly-skilled – Virtual assistants are educated and Internet-savvy. They use different kinds of technology to assist clients but primarily they have a computer and Internet connection as a means of communication. Most VAs have worked already in a company but changed careers because of the freedom that the VA industry can provide them.

Independent – VAs are NOT employees. They work as freelancers or contractors for clients and as such, do not receive any benefits.

Professional – Virtual assistants are professionals in their own right. Although it’s a work-at-home job, they constantly deal with clients’ sensitive information. Thus, they adhere to strict moral and ethical standards that gain their clients’ trust. Being a VA provides you an ongoing creative and intellectually challenging work day in and day out.

Remote – Work is done and delivered from the virtual assistant’s location which is not in a regular office setup. Most often than not, VAs work from home. However, they’re not strictly confined to their home office as they can work anywhere they wish. It could be in a coffee shop, friend’s house or while travelling. As long as they have their laptop and internet connection, they can freely work anywhere.

Business Support – VAs are business owners themselves and they understand the problem of their clients which is most often than not, the need to save time and money and generate more income.

Services – Every virtual assistant has a different set of services that they provide their clients which means that the services they offer usually are the skills that they’re good at.

I hope by now you understand what a virtual assistant is. One thing, I would like to reiterate is that virtual assistants are not employees but are partners.  They are “self-employed” people  and are considered vital to their client’s success in their business.