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 People decide to engage in doing business online for some possible reasons. After all, a lot of processes can be done electronically nowadays, and we may have that image that everything becomes "easier" in the online world. When I first considered shifting to an online job of providing virtual assistant services, I did not know where or how to begin, but as I am continuously learning the business and how to improve in this profession, I realize that this is something I am quite suitable. These are three areas that I have pondered on lately that, in my opinion, supports why I can do this kind of work, and if you are someone who plans to do the same, you may also want to think on these things to see if you are cut out for it as well.

1. Changes in Work Environment

Coming from an office-based, 8 to 5 (and sometimes even longer hours) job, deciding to become a VA means I can work from home where I am more comfortable and can provide for other special needs that my family needs as of the moment. I am not the type of person who feels unaccomplished because I am just working at home, as compared to some people who think of the typical picture of a productive employee that travels to and from work daily and feels unproductive if not in an office environment.

Having potential clients outside of the country, I also embrace the possibility of working with different time zones. Because of previous experiences in logistics and field operations that run almost 24 hours a day, unconventional working hours is something that is not new to me (however, it is always important to get enough rest no matter what profession you engage in).

2. Drive and Passion for Service

Just like any other service-oriented job, the passion for helping other people is essential. From the title itself of a virtual assistant, you need to facilitate services that will make it easier for your business clients/partners to finish tasks or projects. I am happy to be continually improving to have a higher level of interpersonal skills that will enable me to handle customer communications better and become more proactive in my work.

Being a work-from-home VA does not necessarily mean that I will always be working alone, but it is beneficial if you are someone who can work independently and can learn efficiently and quickly on your own. I also know that some people are more of socially and externally motivated workers and may find it challenging to shift to a work-from-home job where they may need practice being more internally motivated to advance.

3. Dedication to Continuous Improvement in Skills

Skills is a highly, if not the most, significant aspect of being a VA because it all boils down to what you can offer as a service-oriented business. There are a lot of skills considered from administrative, creative, and technical areas, and even more fields of specializations that can be learned (I can go into detailed technical descriptions of these, but I will not be doing that here, maybe in another article). I, for one, LOVE learning new skills, and I am willing to try it if it is something new to me. I may have told before that I am a reasonably teachable person, but only because I am also willing to admit if I am not able to do well in something (fact is you cannot learn everything).

The best thing about learning these skills is that people are willing to help you with this, aside from other open resources you can also learn from it. Since the beginning, I am much thankful for those who helped me and unselfishly shared their learnings and experiences since as I mentioned earlier, I needed help in starting this. Moving forward, you can go on your own pace, but I also personally support consistent and regular improvement and updating of skills, not just to be more competitive, but because I would like to help more people and I can do that by increasing my skill sets as well.

I guess my overall point here is that, if you regard that you are doing the right thing, then you become more confident to promote yourself and potentially be more successful in it. It is okay to start doing small virtual assistant services at home, so long as you are capable, and more importantly, willing in continuously improving yourself.