Handle email, scheduling and admin for entrepreneurs.
Time: 10–25 hrs/week
Solo founders and small businesses drown in admin — inbox, scheduling, invoices, social posting — and happily pay $25–$50/hour for someone reliable. You need zero capital, just competence in the standard tool stack and a reputation for responsiveness. The move from hourly gigging to monthly retainers ($800–$2,000/client) is what turns this into real income.
Gmail, Google Workspace, Slack, Calendly, QuickBooks, Canva, basic WordPress. Your tool fluency is your product — write the list out; it becomes your service page.
Sell bundles: '10 hours/month of inbox + scheduling + invoicing for $400'. Retainers beat hourly gigs for income stability and let you batch similar work.
LinkedIn (search 'founder' + your city), local business Facebook groups, and co-working Slack communities. One good client referral chain can fill your roster.
Real-estate agents, podcasters, coaches and clinicians all have repeatable admin. A VA who knows a realtor's workflow is worth $40/hr; a generalist starts at $20.
Write SOPs for every recurring task as you do it (Loom videos are perfect). Documented clients are easier to keep — and systems you can hand off let you take client #3.
From your first invoice: income, software subscriptions, a share of home internet and a home-office deduction. VA income is self-employment income in full view of the CRA.
Fastest way to land your first 3 clients and reviews.
Where Canadian founders and realtors actually look for VAs.
The scheduling tool you'll live in — learn it cold.
Record SOP videos as you work — the backbone of a systemized VA business.
What you can deduct: home office, software, phone, equipment.