Should I buy a virtual assistant agency or start one?

Both routes can work, and they ask different things of you. Buying means paying for a head start and then holding on to what you bought. Starting means keeping your costs low and earning your first clients one at a time. The honest question is which risk you would rather carry. Here is how the two compare for an agency that runs on remote contractors.

What buying can bring

An existing agency may come with clients who already pay, contractors who know the work, written processes, templates and a record of client reviews. That can save a long stretch of unpaid effort. Ask the seller to show how each of those pieces works in practice, not only that it exists, and ask what help the seller will give during a handover.

What buying can put at risk

Clients often chose the owner, not the company, and many have no long agreement. Ask whether contractors could leave or work for a client directly; their agreements say. Ask your lawyer how the agreements are written and what protects the agency. Ask the seller how clients will be introduced to you.

What starting offers

Starting from home has a low cost to set up, and you choose your clients, your niche and your way of working. The cost is time. You build a reputation, a pipeline and a bench of reliable contractors from zero, and income may be thin early on. A business plan helps you see how long you can carry that.

How to choose

Ask yourself how soon you need income, how much you already know the work and whether you have a client network that would follow you. Compare with buying or starting a call centre, which poses the same question in a different business. Your accountant can help you test either plan.