When you start your VA business, the last thing we ever think we will do is, compromise on our offer. The drive for the almighty dollar is powerful; we can’t do without the stuff that helps our world go around. Sometimes it is all we appear to be focussed on, and when we do this, we are dropping the ball somewhere else.

When you first start out in your business, you wonder how you are going to pay the bills, the rent or the mortgage or put the food on the table. These are all drivers that push you to make your business a success. In the pursuit, however, you will sometimes compromise on our offer and values. When you do this, you undervalue yourself, and as time goes by you will feel isolated, guilty and challenged.

When JMJ was starting out, I took on pretty much anything the client’s asked for, even if it was not in our original scope of works. I foolishly believed that if I said no, then the client would find someone else who would do the admin tasks they required. It took me a while to pluck up the courage to say no.

When I started JMJ – EA for a Day, it was because I wanted to do only what I loved. After all, JMJ would give me the drive and determination I needed to succeed. I found that by doing tasks I didn’t love or like, my interest and heart was not in them. It made me miserable to think I had to get up and do work I didn’t want to or didn’t like to do. I had compromised my offer for the sake of the dollar.  Something had to change.

The funny thing about saying no is that the sky didn’t fall, my clients didn’t leave me, in fact the exact opposite happened, I got more clients. It’s amazing what can happen when the paradigm of power shifts from thinking your client controls your destiny, to being aware you, in fact, hold it.

You don’t go into business to do what you ‘don’t mind doing’ or what you don’t like doing. Clients will come and go, you need to accept that. You need to have prepared both yourself and your business for this eventuality. This is what I found happened when I stopped compromising.

Here’s what happens when you don’t compromise on your offer

  1. My business continued to grow
  2. I was in charge
  3. I maintain control
  4. I regained my self-worth
  5. I drive my business forward
  6. I am proud of my accomplishments
  7. My personality remains in my business
  8. I work only with my target market
  9. I get to work in my niche area
  10. I am an SME

The VA Project is designed to give you a great start in creating your VA business or give you that shove you need to take your business to the next level.

Question: Have you ever had to compromise on your offer? Share a comment below.