In recent years, more and more moms have been looking for opportunities to work and start small businesses from home. Well, you probably never thought that starting a new virtual call center was even an option for you. I know that I didn’t!
Owning a virtual call center is a little-known business idea that every mom should know about— especially If you are looking for the perfect side hustle that can bring in thousands of dollars in passive income! I’ll share exactly how in this post.
I’ve also interviewed a mom who started this business and within days was able to have over 1,000 virtual call center agents apply to work for her— enabling her to make $10,000 per 100 people. You do the math!
So in this post, I’ll share exactly how moms, just like you, are starting call center businesses right from home! You can get started and literally create a business that can make you thousands of dollars each month on autopilot.
Let’s dive in.
Post Contents
What is a virtual call center?
A virtual call center (VCC) handles answering and making phone calls for clients. A call center consists of customer support agents who manage these inbound calls and outbound calls. It may also include live chat support to ensure customer satisfaction for clients.
A remote call center allows agents to do their jobs from practically anywhere without having to be in a central office space. Because clients may be in different time zones, this can be an attractive business that allows agents to work flexible hours with remote work.
This is a long way from the traditional call center offices that you’re probably familiar with! Owning or even working for a virtual call center is a great side hustle or business idea because there are no overhead costs that you would have with physical call centers.
How do you start a virtual call center business from home?
Starting a virtual call center can be quite simple. Fortunately, there are already platforms that exist that will allow you to easily start your VCC.
Business coach and virtual call center owner Jaquada Renee recommends using the platform called Arise. This platform allows you to register your business and get access to companies in need of agents.
According to Arise, you can be registered within three days and have your business going! Here are the steps that you’ll need to take.
1. Register your business
If you don’t already have a business registered with your state, you’ll need to register one. You can register as an LLC or any other business entity that’s appropriate. I recommend speaking with a CPA and/or attorney to determine which entity is best.
2. Get an EIN number
This is an Employee Identification Number (EIN) issued by the IRS. It is free and you can apply for it once your business is registered.
3. Register with Arise
After your business is legally registered and you have an EIN number, you can now register as a partner with Arise. You’ll be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before accessing their list of clients.
4. Recruit agents
You’ll need agents to work for your call center. So the next, most important step is to start recruiting & hiring agents. I share more on how to do this later in this post.
5. Start servicing clients
It’s time to get your first client! You’ll now have access to the clients that have partnered with Arise. You can review opportunities that are a fit for your company and agents. Each client will require training and certification before being able to begin work.
Arise partners with household names and Fortune 500 companies that you or your agents can work for. You will review the opportunities that are available for these companies and decide who you want to partner with.
How much does it cost to start a virtual call center business?
You don’t need a complicated business plan or know much about the business world to launch your virtual call center. Outside of investing in education around the business, you’ll need to cover the general costs of starting a business. The costs will vary; however, a few hundred dollars to $1,000 can be expected.
You will need to cover the costs of:
- Registering your business with your state (if you don’t already have one). The type of business that you register as will depend and it’s a good idea to consult with an attorney or accountant.
- Securing a trademark
- Getting a website and logo done
You’ll want to make sure that you have a professional brand for your business since you will be hiring other people.
Recurring Costs
Recurring Costs
Once your call center is started, you’ll also pay a monthly recurring fee to the Arise platform for every agent that you hire. This fee is $19.75 twice per month, per agent. However, I’ll share later how you can avoid this fee!
Equipment Costs
In addition to these start-up costs, if you choose to also be an agent, you’ll need:
- Cloud-based phone system – $75 installation
- Hardwired headset – $35-$100
- Background check – $30
These will be costs that will need to be shared with your agents when they onboard. In addition to simply having a reliable internet connection, they will need all of these things completed in order to begin work.
How to get agents for your virtual call center?
The bottom line is that you have to get remote agents into your call center if you want this to be a business. So the most important thing that you’ll have to do is recruit team members.
Many people want to have flexible working hours and to be able to make money on their own terms in a home environment. Being able to effectively communicate these benefits will make recruiting virtual agents easy. The opportunity speaks for itself!
Nonetheless, Jaquada does have her own process for doing this by leveraging social media. She recommends using social media to do live videos and talk about the opportunity to work from home through your call center. Using this strategy alone, she was able to get 1,000 applications in 48 hours for her own call center!
In addition to your own marketing, Arise also provides a list of companies for agents who a looking for work. So your company can be listed for agents to apply for.
How to hire agents for your call center
You will be able to set the expectations and requirements for your company and agents will be able to apply to register through your company. Their process for approval will include a background check that they will have to pay for.
How to make money as a virtual call center owner
So how do you make money? Simply by taking a fee for each working agent. The amount of the fee that you take will depend on the type of call center structure you decide to use.
These fees will cover your costs for support and other business expenses, such as bookkeeping services, software costs, and payroll. Ultimately, your fees will be a requirement for your company and allow you to operate profitably.
As a partner with Arise, you will get paid for the work that your agents complete. From there, you are responsible for paying agents in your company based on the hours that they worked.
There are three ways that you can structure your fees as a virtual call center owner.
1. Staffing agency structure
With the staffing agency structure, you can take $1-$5 off or agent’s hourly pay as a service fee. So, the more hours that they work, the more that you’ll be able to make.
The pro to this is that you can make more money if they work more hours. The con is that it requires a lot of documentation and can become complex. It also means that your income will vary.
2. Percentage service fee
Another way to structure your company is with a percentage-based service fee. In this structure, you’d take 10-20% of agents total earning as a fee.
This structure can be tiered based—where those who service more will get a lower percentage. This will incentivize your agents to stay with the company longer, which ensures that you’re able to stay staffed.
3. Flat rate service fee
The third option is to have a flat fee for all agents. This is the simplest pay structure and it allows you to easily predict your income. For example, you can charge $50 per pay period for each working agent in your company.
How to make $10K per month with a virtual call center
The amount of money that you can make from your call center is largely dependent on the number of agents that you have working for your company and the structure that you choose.
In my interview with Jaquada, she shared how her goal is to have each of her students make $10K/month with their VCC.
The simple formula is to charge a flat fee of $50 per working agent bi-weekly. So, in order to hit $10,000 in gross income per month, you’ll need 100 working agents each month.
Here’s the math:
100 Agents X $50 bi-weekly X 2 times per month = $10,000 per month
The reason that you want to get 100 working agents per month isn’t just to make $10K. This is also the magic number where you no longer have to pay the $19.75 platform service fee per agent.
This means that you’re able to be even more profitable after your other business expenses are covered.
Tips for getting more agents
Based on the math, the more agents that you’re able to recruit and get working, the more money you’ll be able to make. So here are some tips for getting more agents into your business.
Recruit daily
Again, you can leverage social media to do this. Ultimately, you want to have as many working agents as possible. All agents who register will not work or may only be short-term. You need to constantly find new agents to apply to work with you.
Automate onboarding
Because this is a great opportunity for agents, you can expect to get a good amount of applications. With that said, you will need a streamlined way to process new hires and also easily get your agents registered and working.
Jaquada’s company, Virtual Call Center Solutions, offers end-to-end systems to help you do this seamlessly. You can learn more about her services here.
FAQS about starting a virtual call center
How much do you charge?
The great thing about partnering with a platform like Arise is that you don’t have to worry about pricing or setting rates. These are already established and your agents simply get to choose who they want to work for.
How much do agents get paid?
The pay is pre-determined by the client that your agent will be servicing. However, agents can expect to get paid anywhere between $10-$20 per hour.
What experience do you need to start a virtual call center?
The beauty of starting VCC this way is that you don’t need any prior experience. You simply need to start your business and connect agents to opportunities. That’s it!
What are call center setup requirements?
Your agents will be required to have specific systems, software applications, and tech for data security to perform their jobs for clients. This will vary. You can check out Arise’s tech overview for more information.
Launch your virtual call center
Hopefully, you’re just as excited as I am about launching your virtual call center! If you are, I recommend checking out Jaquada’s free masterclass where she breaks down how to start your own virtual call centers in less than 30 days!
She even teaches you the next step, which is how to offer a virtual receptionist service through your business, taking incoming calls and handling call routing. Jaquada really takes out all of the hard work so that you can get started as soon as possible.
I’ve taken the training and have learned so much! She also has a coaching program where she literally gives you a business in a box. Her clients launch their VCC in less than 30 days with the runway to make $10K per month!
This is definitely a business that I will be giving a try. Will you?
As Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI), she has been teaching personal finances to women & youth for over a decade.
Fo is an established writer and expert contributor on the topics of personal finance, budgeting, debt payoff, money mindset, saving, entrepreneurship, investing, motherhood, personal development, and more.