Just think about their attitude for a moment. These people are effectively asking their competitors for free advice to start up in business so they can compete and possibly poach business from the very person they expect to give them that advice. Can you imagine a retail shop giving away all its business secrets? Can you imagine a solicitor nursemaiding a colleague and helping him start up in business with free advice? No, nor can I. Yet that is exactly what happens in the Virtual Assistant industry each week. Many of us freely and willingly give advice and support. However, a small part of me still remembers the effort I made starting my own business. Years ago, there was very little online help available and certainly none of the outstanding email lists we have today. Sometimes I'm very tempted to turn round and say, go figure it out for yourself - I had to!

The range of advice and help available to newcomers nowadays is tremendous. The VA world is full of generous, knowledgeable people who are willing to share their experience with others - and all for nothing. How often on the mailing lists do you see a plea for help to which other VAs immediately respond, no matter how busy they may be? Almost every day I see examples of this unstinting generosity.

Most of the organisations and articles you see on the internet are provided by volunteers. Successful business owners who have decided to share their knowledge with others. They don't have to - no one pays them for it. They do it because they remember their struggle to succeed and hope that they can assist others, thereby helping them to avoid the mistakes they made. That's partly why the Alliance of UK Virtual Assistants was founded, to raise awareness of virtual assisting in the UK.

It's such a pity that a minority feel they have a right to this free information without expending any effort themselves. The harsh reality is that no one owes you any favours. No one owes you a living and it's unrealistic and unprofessional to think otherwise. There are no quick fixes, no get rich-quick solutions to developing your own business. I'm sorry if that sounds brutal - for once, it's meant to. I've written previously about the mental attitude needed to work for yourself. Ultimately, it's up to you to change your attitude and adapt to self employment but not everyone is capable of making the changes necessary to succeed in business.

When you read articles full of advice, do you think "That was interesting. That's given me some good ideas to try for myself" Or do you think "Yes, that's all very well, but surely there must be an easier way - a short cut? Why can't they tell me exactly how to go about it"? Now ask yourself. Which is the correct, professional attitude? Which is the one more likely to succeed in the long term?

Sitting at home in front of your computer and deciding "This is the life for me" is not enough. That alone does not make you a successful business owner. All the advice, articles and support are valuable, but the rest is up to you. The sheer hard graft, long hours and worry associated with making a home business successful is your responsibility. No one person or organisation can guarantee you work - not even the online agencies can do that, whatever they claim. No one will hand you work on a plate or spoon feed you an easy solution. The responsibility for gaining clients, making a living and nurturing a successful business is yours and yours alone.

Irene Boston
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I would like to thank Irene for taking the time to write these articles and also for allowing us to use them. I also hope that you enjoyed reading and gained some idea of how many very busy Virtual Assistants feel when they are e-mailed and even 'instructed' to phone the person considering becoming a VA to tell them exactly how to do it and as in a mail I received recently exactly how much they should expect to earn in the first, week, month and year... My response to that mail was to get this site up and running - help in all forms is always useful but in the end, it is down to each person to make their home, Virtual Assisting or PA business a success.