There’s a blog post that’s been sitting in our founder’s drafts since 2014.
It was written during a season when the conversation around earning an income online was loud, hyped, and a little too easy. The advice was well-intentioned — research the opportunity, show up to the trainings, don’t give up — but it never made it to publication. Maybe because the timing wasn’t right. Maybe because the work hadn’t been lived yet.
Twelve years later, we’re a virtual operations agency.
We’ve spent that time learning what actually holds up when you’re building a business — and a service — from the ground up online. So we wanted to come back to that old draft, pull out what still rings true, and say what couldn’t have been said then.
This post is for two readers: the aspiring virtual assistant trying to figure out if this work is for her, and the business owner trying to figure out if bringing on a VA is the right next move.
What 2014 got right
The original draft wanted readers to know two things: first, that just because there are more online business opportunities than ever doesn’t mean any of them will work for everyone. And second, that the people who succeed are the ones who actually do the research, show up to the trainings, and stay in the rooms where the learning is happening.
That part still holds.
The loudest voices online are still selling shortcuts that don’t exist. There is no single course, no single platform, no single niche that works for everyone. The VAs who build sustainable businesses — and the clients who build sustainable working relationships with their VAs — all have one thing in common: they took the time to understand what they were actually getting into before they committed.
What we’d say differently now
The original draft offered three pieces of advice: research hard, show up to everything, and don’t give up.
We’d soften all three.
On research. There’s a point where research becomes its own form of avoidance. We’ve watched aspiring VAs spend a year studying, joining every Facebook group, watching every webinar, and never actually take a client. The research matters. But at some point the work has to start. The work itself will teach more in three months than another year of studying ever will.
On showing up to everything. You don’t have to. You shouldn’t, actually. One of the most useful things we’ve learned about building an online business is that being everywhere is a fast track to burnout. Pick the rooms that match your pace. The most intentional, slower-moving spaces are often more valuable than the loudest ones.
On not giving up. This one we’d reframe entirely. “Don’t give up” can quietly become “ignore the signs that something isn’t working.” Sometimes the right move is to pivot. Sometimes the right move is to rest. Sometimes the right move is to keep going. The wisdom is in knowing which one you’re in — and that takes time to develop.
The one piece of advice that’s more relevant now than it was then
The original draft made a small but important point: if you’re not getting the support you need from the person who brought you into a business, it’s okay to seek guidance from someone in a different business. Someone who isn’t doing the same thing as you, but who is also building an income online.
That insight was ahead of its time.
The skills that make a virtual assistant excellent — communication, systems thinking, anticipating needs, holding things together quietly — show up in every kind of online business. Travel planners use them. Real estate professionals use them. Coaches, course creators, e-commerce founders. The cross-pollination across industries is where the real growth happens.
That’s also true on the client side. The business owners who delegate well are usually the ones who’ve learned from people in completely different industries — about how to document processes, how to communicate clearly with support staff, and how to build working relationships that last.
The lane next to yours has more to teach you than you might think.
What we’d tell someone considering this work today
If you’re an aspiring VA: The field is more crowded than it was in 2014, but it’s also more legitimate, more specialized, and more sustainable as a long-term career. The VAs who thrive are the ones who treat it like a real business — not a side hustle to escape a job, but a craft to build over time.
If you’re a business owner considering bringing on a VA: The right one will not just take tasks off your plate. She will help you see your business more clearly, build systems that outlast any one project, and give you back the kind of mental space that actually lets you grow.
In both cases, the work is slower and more intentional than the loud corners of the internet would have you believe. And that’s the part the 2014 draft couldn’t have said yet.
If you’re thinking about working with a virtual assistant — or you want to talk through whether Phoenyx Jo Virtual Agency is the right fit for what you’re building — we’d love to hear from you. Book a discovery call here.
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