What's Your Specialty?

What is so special about your business? Have you narrowed it down yet? As you build your business, you will realize that being very specific about what it is you are best at, is an essential part of your success. Many VAs start out as generalists, providing various administrative services to their clients ... working with everyone and anyone ... and building their business very slowly. As time moves along, in order to really recognize success, you realize you need to focus on one (or two) specialties ... and you also need to work with one (or two) types of clients. Specializing is something that can help you see more success for various reasons: 1. You provide fewer services, so you really become an expert at what you do. 2. You can proactively identify specific ways to help your clients because you really know their business model. 3. You can charge higher rates because you are a specialist. Let's look at how this all works: Provide Fewer Services By providing fewer services, you jump from task to task less frequently during the day - which makes you more productive. If you do 10 or 20 different things for your clients, that's a lot of changing gears all day long. If you specialize and provide just a few services within your specialty, you become more productive because you build structure into your day by being able to block larger amounts of time doing one thing for many clients, instead of many things for many clients. Be Proactive By specializing what you do and who you work with, you get to know your clients' businesses as well as your own. You can stay ahead of the curve for their industry, and make suggestions to them that will improve their business. You will be able to help them build their business, which in turn provides you with more work, building your business. If you really dedicate yourself to being proactive for your clients, this can be a great way to build your business to a referral only business. Increase Your Rates When you become a specialist, you can market yourself as an expert in your field - and people will pay more to work with an expert. Instead of being a jack (or jane) of all trades, considering being an expert at just one (or two) things. You can easily adjust your rates to earn what you want, since you will be supporting your clients at a more elite level. Know what you do inside and out, and you can adjust your rates accordingly. If you haven't settled on a specialty yet, you really should think about it. Think about what you love to do every day. Think about who you love to work with. Then think about how you can put those two things together to develop your area of specialization in your business. Not only will you make your day to day business much more fun, but you'll make it more profitable too!