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Buying or Selling a Virtual Assistant Business
Buying or Selling a Virtual Assistant Business
Every now and again we get unsolicited emails sent to us, mostly considered spam but when one came through marked “Private and Confidential”, we took a read. This particular email was asking whether we were interested in selling Red Desk Ltd. Although this isn’t anything we are considering at this moment in time, it did get us wondering how do you sell a Virtual Assistant business?
According to the particular business sales advisor who approached us, there are strong levels of market activity and they have sold a number of businesses similar to ours. So, what are the different options? Well, it became very apparent that you need to see this from the perspective of someone who wants to set up their own Virtual Assistant business. From our own experience we know that this takes time to not only to find the clients but to also build your brand.
Franchise
If you have the funds then the quickest way to buy a Virtual Assistant business is by purchasing a franchise. With a franchise you may get:
- Access to many resources including manuals, templates and other essential information to help you set up your business
- Training – either as a training manual, in-person training, mentoring, on-tap advice or on-going support from the business
- Strategies into helping you find clients – the company owners have made a successful Virtual Assistant business so know all the tips and tricks for increasing sales and getting you onto social media
- Supplier list – access to offers and deals from vetted suppliers
- Branding – this will include a website and all the logos you will need
Some of the main franchise options include Time Assistant and Pink Spaghetti. Sometimes there will be existing franchisees willing to sell on their current franchise which will include an established list of clients.
VA Businesses for Sale
There will be two main options for buying a Virtual Assistant business. One will come with a number of existing clients that you would takeover working with and the other will come with Virtual Assistants and their clients.
You may find that owners of small VA businesses wanting to either retire or go in another business direction will be selling on their client list, limited company details, website and related social media. This will mean that although you will have access to a well-established brand and pool of clients, there is always a small risk you can’t support all the clients in the way they want.
Therefore, Virtual Assistant businesses that come with Virtual Assistants readily-attached might be the best option. They will continue to support their clients whilst you get used to the way the business works and you can then take on new clients when time permits.
Here are two adverts to give you an idea of how to package your VA business for sale. Advert 1 and advert 2.
Whichever way you go, you may find these three articles of interest:
Setting up your own VA business or buying a VA franchise?
How to Start a Virtual Assistant Business
A Guide to Selling Your UK Business
We’d be interested to hear from you of your experiences of either buying or selling a business. What would your advice be? Email mel@reddesk.co.uk
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To DotCom or CoDotUK – Which is Better?
To DotCom or CoDotUK – Which is Better?
A key factor of consideration for running a small business should be your online presence. When choosing your website URL one thing to 
add to the mix is whether you choose .Com or .Co.Uk. Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of both.
.Com
Many people automatically assume that .com is American-orientated but this extension is actually short for Commercial. It is the most popular website domain extension as it encompasses many website purposes and ideas.
If your business customer is international then this is a good choice. It was also thought that If websites end in .Com then these sites carried more authority over .Co.Uk sites, although this isn’t necessarily the case anymore.
.Co.Uk
This is for UK specific domains and servers. This narrows the search down on the internet allowing you to target customers or visitors to your country-specific page.
The advantage of .Co.Uk is for businesses wishing to establish a local presence, is that .Co.Uk clearly indicates that the website is a UK business. If your business sells items then it will indicate lower postage costs and delivery times over one ending in .Com. It is great for businesses which want to tap into the “buy local” movement as many customers wish to support UK made products over cheaper items made overseas.
However the downside of .Co.Uk is also the same as what may be an attraction – international customers or visitors may be discouraged as postage to non-UK countries will be higher than those within the UK. It can also indicate lack of presence on a global market, and therefore some businesses can be overlooked for services over ones with a .Com extension.
Red Desk verdict
It really depends on the type of business you have. In an ideal world, if both URLs are available (.Com and .Co.Uk) then buy both. You can redirect one of the URLs to point to the one which you wish to use to grow your online presence. Of course, cost can be a big factor to consider and on the whole, .Co.Uk URLs are cheaper over .Com.
Choose .Com if you are a UK business with an international customer base, or selling or renting overseas properties.
.Co.UK should be consider by local tradespeople, UK estate agents and those wishing to establish a local presence.
Other alternatives to consider
These days there are many other extensions to consider such as:
.Co – originally used to designate Columbia’s domain, this is now widely used by start ups
.Net – originally used for internet service providers or networks this is now open to anyone
.Org.Uk – designed for not-for-profit organisations, this again is now open to anyone
.Gov.Uk – for government agencies
.Ac.Uk – for educational institutions
You can read a wider list on Host Reviews.
Further Reading
You may also be interested in other Red Desk articles:
Building a Website – Do’s and Don’ts
Rebranding: When to change your business name
Rebranding your Small Business – what to consider
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