Course description

Good at organising, typing, handling email and keeping a diary under control? This course shows you how to turn those skills into your own virtual assistant (VA) business in the UK: choosing what to offer, setting up properly, staying on the right side of the law, pricing your work, finding clients and running the business day to day.

You begin by looking at what VAs do and choosing a niche from the skills you already have. Then you set up as a business, work through the legal points every VA needs to know, from data protection to records and tax, and build a service menu with prices worked out from your own costs and hours. Later sections cover proposals, contracts and onboarding, finding clients without spamming anyone, doing great work, keeping client data and accounts secure, managing your workload, getting paid and growing.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons. Each lesson has a worked example, common slips, questions people often ask and a short exercise to try, and each section ends with a short quiz. You follow Azilis, a former legal secretary who sets up as a VA near Wetherby and wins her first clients, mistakes included. In the final lessons you write a launch plan for a made-up new VA, with full worked answers. Every section has a practice pack with exercise sheets, answer keys and cheat sheets, plus a skills and niche finder, service menu templates, a rate calculator spreadsheet, a contract and onboarding checklist, a client welcome pack template, outreach message templates, a weekly planner and time log, a data security checklist and simple diagrams.

What you'll learn

• What virtual assistants do: the main kinds of VA service, choosing a niche from the skills you already have, realistic expectations with no income promises, and a 90-day plan.
• Setting up your VA business: sole trader or limited company at a high level, registering with HMRC, your business name and a separate bank account, a home office and insurance.
• The law and compliance: data protection when you handle client data, controller and processor in plain words, the data protection fee, confidentiality, bookkeeping and money laundering supervision, employment status, IR35, records and VAT.
• Services and pricing: a service menu, hourly rates, packages and retainers, working out a rate from your own costs and hours, quotes, minimum charges and reviewing your prices.
• Proposals, contracts and onboarding: discovery calls, clear proposals, what your terms should cover, a welcome pack, a kick-off call and paid trials.
• Finding clients: your network and referrals, local groups, a simple website, outreach that respects PECR and data protection, messages that aren't spammy, platforms, directories and a pipeline.
• Delivering great work: communication and response times, inbox and diary management, systems and project boards, time tracking and reports, and quality checks.
• Access, passwords and cyber safety: your own login and the least access the work needs, password managers, two-step sign-in, phishing and payment fraud, devices, backups and what to do when something goes wrong with client data.
• Workload, boundaries and getting paid: capacity and planning, working hours and looking after yourself, scope creep and difficult clients, invoices and polite chasing, and late payment rights.
• Growing your business and your final project: client feedback and reviews done fairly, raising prices, working with associates, and a final project launch plan with full worked answers.

Who it's for

Admin workers, parents and career changers in the UK who want to work for themselves remotely as a virtual assistant. No business experience is needed. If you're already freelancing in another field, the course shows you the VA side of the work in detail.

What this course is, and isn't

This is a practical beginner course. It isn't legal, tax or financial advice, and it makes no promises about what you'll earn or how quickly clients will come. Every price in the course is a made-up figure worked out from a fictional person's own costs and hours. Legal points come from GOV.UK, HMRC and the data protection regulator's guidance, read on 1 November 2026. Rules and fees change, so check the official pages before you rely on a detail. Tools are described by type, never by brand. Azilis and every other person in the course are fictional.

What will I learn?

• Choose VA services and a niche from the skills and experience you already have, with realistic expectations
• Set up as a sole trader or understand the limited company option, register with HMRC and organise your name, bank account, home office and insurance
• Explain controller and processor in plain words, check whether you need to pay the data protection fee and keep client information confidential
• Know when bookkeeping support brings money laundering supervision, and keep records, Self Assessment, Making Tax Digital and VAT in view
• Build a service menu and work out an hourly rate and packages from your own costs and billable hours
• Run discovery calls, write clear proposals, check what your terms cover and onboard new clients with a welcome pack
• Find clients through your network, referrals, a simple website and outreach that respects PECR and data protection
• Manage inboxes, diaries, systems and time tracking, and get access to client accounts safely without sharing passwords
• Protect accounts with a password manager and two-step sign-in, spot phishing and payment fraud and handle a data breach
• Manage workload and boundaries, invoice and chase politely, understand late payment rights and grow with fair reviews, price rises and associates

Frequently asked questions