SVA Forum

[cathpooleva]

I have a dilemma at the moment regarding marketing myself, something which Sally@Stonetext pointed out in my 'introduce yourself' section. I'm a bit worried I'm pricing myself too high for a start up at the moment and want to get a few more opinions on this before I make any changes. I'm currently quoting a straight £20 an hour but haven't yet got any clients from my marketing to date, which is admittedly only my website, listings on various online directories, emailing everyone I know, passing out business cards to all and sundry and an article/ad in my local Families magazine.

So I'm wondering where to go next. I am about to try out networking, starting with a Business Gateway evening event, and I've volunteered to co-ordinate the Scottish Mumpreneurs Network meetings in Dunfermline, so there will be one of those before the end of the month.

On the upside, I have probably secured some committee servicing work, but this is at a lower rate (between £10 and 11 an hour) as it's public sector and they don't have room to negotiate (I approached them after finding out about the position through a contact). However it's a fixed 20 hours a quarter and ongoing so I'm pleased about that.

I know a lot of this is a confidence issue with me, so any advice would be fab.

Thanks!
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Catherine Poole Virtual Assistant
www.catherinepoole.co.uk
catherine@catherinepoole.co.uk
Twitter @cathpooleva

[suzi]

oh pricing - its soo hard!!!

I think you need to take each case on its own merit.

Example is you could offer a discount rate for the first 2-3 months making it clear from the start that after this period the rate will be ???? This way you have proved how good you are and how they couldn't cope without you.

I then think that the couple pound an hour I have dropped is classed as "marketing" It would cost alot more than that on leaflets, adwords etc.

But you have to look at it on a job by job or client by client, don't de-value yourself.

On the other hand with my locksmith business we had a lot of one man bands start up in the last 18 months, really undercutting our prices.

We decided to stick to our prices as we provided a higher level of service, had insurance and part of an association.

Hope this helped.

Suzi

[caroline]

As Suzi points out - it's a balance between having something and having nothing.... But if you get it wrong, you'll be shooting yourself in the foot.

So too high: and you don't get any business.
Too low: you can't afford to carry on working.

And the thing is, I get loads of VAs coming to me when they've priced themselves at £10/hour and then can't afford to take time off to go networking and get more clients, or to market themselves properly, or to upgrade their software or pay their tax at year end. And what is really surprising is they get cross with me for saying that there's nothing I can do to help because their clients are spoilt for working with any VA since they've been paying such low rates and can't understand why they should suddenly pay much more. They might as well shut up shop now.

Now some people's overheads are lower than others - e.g. I have an office and a fairly hefty marketing budget to pay for each month but I don't go round updating every time Apple or Microsoft bring out a new version. So I can't say where your break even point will be.

You need to work out how much cash you need in order to keep going, how many clients you need to find in order to get that cash and at what rates and you have to be realistic - will people pay £20 an hour for what you're offering? Is it of benefit to them or are they only earning £5/hour themselves and therefore it's completely not economical? You can't afford to work with people who can't afford your fees, no matter how much they might need your services.

Did you look into how you were going to get these clients before you started? Did you speak to some of them and get a feeling for their industry, what their own margins are and whether there's something you can work with there? If not, I'd get my notebook out and go on a fact finding mission - there's no point in doing any marketing until you know if it's of feasible as a concept.
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[dawnjlane]

I agree with all that Caroline has said and personally don't think that £20 per hour is unreasonable, which ever part of the country you are based in.

Have you looked at what the cost of a temp is /permanent member of admin staff is being paid? With temping agencies, the amount they pay the PA/secretary is not what they are charging the client, so it may be worth looking at the rate the client pays and see where you could add value to the client's business without increasing your/their costs. I know when I first started out, temping agencies in Plymouth/Cornwall areas were charging clients around £17.50 per hour and paying the temp £6.50 - £7.00 per hour. If you can show that you offer a better/more reliable service/better value/added value/continuity/branding/ etc etc, then I am sure you should be able to persuade a prospective client to use you instead. It may also be worth speaking with a temping agency to see whether you could offer your services for those jobs they don't usually want ie short notice 'we need a minute taker for one afternoon' type jobs where the agency finds it difficult to source someone - I had a few offers for those sessions from agencies in Plymouth and Truro when I first started.

Unfortunately, I believe that many people entering the VA industry now think that it is going to be easy to set up and get clients but, as you are finding out, it isn't that easy. Once you have one or two clients, word of mouth/testimonials will help bring other clients in.

You don't say how long you have been going - it can take a number of months to get your first client and, although I was still working when my first came along, it was another six months or so before I felt financially able to give up paid work to go it alone and that was still taking a drop in income each month. It has taken 4 years for me to feel that I am where I want to be in terms of client numbers and hours worked per month to get the income I want coming in.

It's not easy but stick with it if you can.

Dawn
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Dawn Lane VAcertified MAMS MInstAM
Your Office Online - www.your-office-online.co.uk
Virtual Business in a Box Ltd - www.virtualbusinessinabox.co.uk
dawn@your-office-online.co.uk
dawn@virtualbusinessinabox.co.uk

[cathpooleva]

Thanks ladies. Lots of things to think about.

I've only 'officially' been in business since January so it's still early days. Plus I'm trying to juggle it around having a two year old at home and doing the school run etc etc so I knew it would probably be a slow start. I'm fortunate to have my husband's support so it's not like we're going to starve if I don't get work, but we could certainly do with me bringing in an income. Although I do know some might think that would make me less determined because I have a back up to a certain degree, but it's more of a confidence thing for me just now because I haven't worked for a while.
_________________
Catherine Poole Virtual Assistant
www.catherinepoole.co.uk
catherine@catherinepoole.co.uk
Twitter @cathpooleva

[Sally@Stonetext]

Hi Catherine,

Another issue you should consider is whether the jobs are one-off or ongoing. It will be difficult to increase your prices significantly for retainer clients so these are the ones that you really need to focus on getting the price right. You can make a few mistakes with smaller one-off jobs that won't financially cripple you whilst you are finding your feet and getting in those all important testimonials. As has already been said by Caroline and Dawn, if your target market are only pricing their own time at £5 per hour then £20 will be a non-starter.

It's also useful to rehearse your responses to the standard objections so that you're not flummoxed when faced with them at a networking event or potential client.

Good luck.
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Sally
Stonetext Online Admin Services www.stonetext.co.uk
Spida Web & Graphic Design www.spidawebdesign.co.uk

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