If you’re considering starting a VA biz, there’s a lot to think about before you get going. Books have been paramount to the success of my business. They’ve helped set me on the right path, get organized, changed my perspective, opened up my mind, and encouraged me to create systems for myself and my clients in ways that blog posts and other internet research couldn’t.
These 10 books are some of the best books if you’re building a virtual assistant business.
1. Become a Successful Virtual Assistant by Melissa Smith
Melissa’s book is a wonderful resource for anyone launching a VA business. She shares her own experiences along with practical tips for you to use as you set up your own biz.
2. My So-Called Freelance Life by Michelle Goodman
This is the first book I ever read about going freelance/working from home. She covers a lot of important topics, like self-employment taxes and so much more.It was written in 2008 and a LOT has changed since then, obviously! But I still think this is a good tool to get started.
3. Choose Yourself by James Altucher
Just the title made me excited. James writes like no one else and I love his style. And he makes some great points! If you’re nervous about making the leap from a day job to doing your own thing, this will fix you right up.
4. 12-Week Year by Brian Moran
This.system.is.awesome. It’s very robust and if you’re anything like me you might need to read it twice to get all the pieces through your thick skull. However, implementing it will help you achieve more each year, get super focused, and cut out the fat from your wish list of goals and to-dos. Highly recommend this for your VA biz and for your clients’ as well.
5. Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
Set your business finances up for success by following this system from the get-go. I waited too long to start using the Profit First system and I regret it! You’ll be better prepared when tax time comes around, when you need a day off, or when you decide you want to invest in a program or course. Read it! Do it!
6. The Art of Money by Bari Tessler
Embarking on an entrepreneurial project is bound to bring up some money stuff. This book is an invitation to explore your emotions and heal your past, get things in order, and make a plan for the future.
I recommend following Bari’s methodology from beginning to end, but the Three-Tier Money Map will help a lot when envisioning the life you want with your business.
The Three-Tier Money Map will also help you figure out exactly how much your most basic needs budget will cost. Once your biz is bringing at least that in on the side, you might consider quitting your job, or you might want to wait until you’re closer to your mid-range tier. Either way, the map is a wonderful and practical exercise.
7. Picture Your Prosperity by Ellen Rogin and Lisa Kueng
It’s great that you think you want to start a virtual assistant business, but why? What are you hoping to get out of it? This book will help you visualize what you want, what you’re drawn to, and how to get it.
Visualization is a wonderful, potent tool for success. Plus, I love almost any book with activities and this is definitely one of those! Get your scissors, printer, and poster board ready.
8. Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin
All about habits! Working for yourself requires a lot of self-discipline. Gretchen explains the 4 tendencies that we all tend to fall in and how that can help or hurt us with effective habit creation. She’s got lots of examples and ideas to help you set up good routines that work for you right
9. Manage Your Time to Reduce Your Stress by Rita Emmett
Time management is crucial when you’re running a business. The 12-Week Year, mentioned above, is perfect for systemizing your goal achievement process, but Rita’s book will give you a mountain of practical ideas for specific situations.
For example, while working from home you might get visitors dropping, not quite understanding how disruptive this is to your productivity. She shares a story of one woman who had a family member drop by her house without notice on a regular basis and she put them to work folding laundry! Might discourage these types of interruptions from them in the future. 🙂
10. Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
This is a wonderful book that will help you learn to move stress through your body. As a VA, there will be times when even if you’ve got great systems in place, there most likely will be a time when you feel close to burning out. It has happened to me on and off over the years. Recognizing it before it overwhelms me has been key.
These are 10 books that helped me build a sustainable, healthy VA business that I adore. I hope they help you too!
What books have been a help in building your biz? I’d love to fill up my library list!
*I sometimes link to books, tools, and other things that I adore and may receive a small commission for it, at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here.
Thank you much I need all the tips I can get as im embarking on my new found passion for va.
My pleasure! So happy to help. 🙂
Thanks for these suggestions! I am currently brushing up skills in order to move to a virtual assistant role. I am also heading off on holiday for three weeks and would like to spend some of that time reading up about how to go about making this move, in particular what kind of structure/steps needs to be set up in order to get there. If you could whittle your list down to the top 3 picks for information necessary to get started, what would they be? (finger on the amazon button ready to order). 🙂
Hi Lynn, Happy to hear you’re jumping into a VA career! The book that really started it all for me was The Bootstrap VA, by Lisa Morosky. She just goes step by step on what you’ll need to start your business. For me, it was perfect because it wasn’t too much info all at once, just some actionable steps chapter after chapter. I think she’s updated the book quite a bit since I first read it, so it should be even more helpful. Also – she has a Facebook group that was incredibly helpful in finding my first clients. Secondly, I love the 12-Week-Year by Brian Moran. The book is a little dry, but the system is really great and will help you accomplish your VA business goals, as well as personal goals. The third book I would say Bari Tessler’s The Art of Money as I think getting prepared emotionally to deal with the ups and downs of being in business for yourself and the variable income, though it’s not specifically about being a VA or necessarily about being in business. (Also, I work with Bari and she’s wonderful.)
I’m wanting to start a VA business in addition to my full time job so I can have an income when I retire in 5 years, however I don’t really know what service(s) I want to provide. I have years of office management experience. I’ve been reading up on starting a VA business and see things like email management, social media content and management, editing, ghost writing, etc that sound interesting but I don’t necessarily know how to do those things. Except editing…I could do that. Do these books cover things like how to get training and decide what you want to do?
Thanks!
Hi Peggy,
So excited for you to start a VA business. Those sound like some amazing goals. 🙂
These books don’t cover that, The Bootstrap VA covers how to start your business, how to structure your packages. The others are more about getting in the right mindset, time management, planning, things like that, all of which is really important, IMHO, when starting a VA business.
With your office management skills, have you considered becoming an Online Business Manager? There are training programs that could help and might fit nicely with your current skills.
I also really like Freelance U (formerly VAClassroom) for learning new skills. Craig and Kelly run it and it was through taking one of their courses years ago that I landed one of my biggest clients (who I still work with today).
Hope that helps!
Hi Ali!
Thanks so much for responding so quickly and for the great information! I haven’t heard of Freelance U or of online business management so I’ll investigate both of those a little further.
Your blog is very inspiring!
Peggy
I want to thank you for this list as it helped me get on the ball with my agency. I started with 12 week year and it changed my life as well as my partner’s. Now I’m moving to start My So-Called Freelance Life.
Thank you for the insight!
That is wonderful to hear, Brianne! The 12-Week Year framework changed how I set goals and I love it too. Big congratulations on getting the ball rolling for your agency and thank you so much for sharing. 🙂