3 Tips for Keeping Your Virtual Assistant Business Running While on Vacation

Working long hours every day to get your virtual assistant business up and running – or to the next income level – is admirable but it’s also a formula for quick burnout.

Our bodies need some down time to relax. We need time to socialize with family and friends, enjoy a hobby, and to switch off.

However, many Virtual Assistants don’t know how to disconnect from work because they have built their businesses on the dollars-for-hours model - you only make money when you’re physically working.

If you want to take regular time off – or take a trip – you need to find ways to keep that income flowing even when you’re out of office.

Tip 1: Create Passive Income

Passive income is money you earn from a one-time investment of your time, such as affiliate income or selling your own products. Yes, you put in the time and effort to create your products or to create the emails touting the affiliate offers but those products and emails can still sell months or even years down the road. That’s the perfect example of passive income.

You’ve certainly heard the term “multiple streams of income”. Creating multiple products – even short reports, ebooks, or longer self-study courses – all count as a different income stream. Create enough of these and your business will bring in money, even while you vacation.

Tip 2: Automate Social Media and Autoresponders 

Planning ahead will alleviate many headaches while you’re on vacation. Use a third-party service to schedule social media posts on a regular basis while you’re away. Schedule a series of emails to be sent with strong calls to action to purchase affiliate products or your own signature products. The beauty of this technology is you can automate several processes in your business. In other words, set it and forget it for this one week of the year when you want to unplug and you still can earn income from those sales.

Tip 3: Hire a Subcontractor

Are you cringing at the idea of hiring someone? Are you thinking, “This is exactly why I got out of my corporate job, so I wouldn’t have to deal with other coworkers”? I hear what you’re saying but you’ll actually save money by hiring someone to cover the mundane tasks of running a business, even while on vacation. 

How much time do you spend on customer service, social media, writing on your blog, and answering client emails? These are all things you can easily delegate to an assistant so you can free up more of your time to coach clients or to write more products. While on vacation, your assistant can hold down the fort and keep people happy until you come back, well-rested and ready to conquer the world.

Final Thoughts

Before you run off on your vacation, think about ways your business could still operate while you're gone. What are some ways your business could operate on auto-pilot when you step away?