Lesson 15: Only take on work you are qualified for.
If you are professional, authentic and ethical this should be a no brainer, but I have seen so many times on lists VAs saying things like “I’ve been approached by a client who wants me to do XYZ but I’ve never really done that before so what’s the best way for me to get the job done”.
My answer? Refer it to someone else!
You bring the entire industry down when you do a half baked job on a project someone else would be more skilled at. Not to mention you subject yourself to ridiculous amounts of unnecessary stress – and wasted time for the client.
If ever I have a client contact me with a request for something I’m not qualified for I always refer them. I don’t just say “Sorry I don’t do that” and hang up. And I have received calls from potential clients who have told me a number of VAs they contacted prior to calling me have done just that.
I don’t take on work if I know it is beyond my skillset (resumes for example, or bookkeeping). Instead I offer them solutions. In this way I have had potential clients come back to me – sometimes years later – because they remembered I was the one who solved their problem for them. Even if it was sending them to someone else and there was nothing in it for me.