How our VA Partnership Works

In the VA world partnerships are a bit unusual, so we thought we would share with you how our partnership came about and why it works so well.

Syma and I have known each other for many years and have worked together as sub-contractors too. When we set up Coastal VAs we already had a good idea of which areas we would each take the lead in. We take equal responsibility for the business and the clients and we try to divide the work evenly too. We talk daily and have a proper planning meeting at least once a week. There is also a lot of work that needs to be done to build the business and, as we are both committed to the business, we share this responsibility too.

In broad terms, Syma manages the website design projects and I manage the administration and social media projects. Although we both put time in on all projects. We meet with clients together for the initial chat and we will both communicate with clients as needed.

More subtle, but equally important, is that I have taken on the role of the “scribe” in the business. So when clients have questions or we need to communicate more complex ideas to them, I spend the time drafting and sending the emails. I also write the blogs. Syma, on the other hand, has taken the lead on the strategic planning for the business. For example, she is focussing on how we will market ourselves and what areas of our business we want to develop.

There are a lot of different areas of responsibility, even in a small VA business. We’ve been lucky in that knowing each other well has meant we have quite naturally found our different roles. So far, things have very neatly fit into our outlined division of responsibility.

For us, equal responsibility and an equal share of the workload is a winning formula. Good communication is the key to keeping it all together.