What if we told you that working just 3-4 hours daily from your home in India, you could earn more than most full-time Indian jobs?
Let’s start with a very simple calculation.
Let’s say you decide to start freelancing and charge USD 10/hour (although this is a very conservative estimate – you cannot even get someone to flip burgers at this price at McDonald’s, forget hiring a freelancer. The minimum wages in the US are much higher.)
This is a very competitive rate when you begin, given that it’s lower than minimum wage in most advanced economies.
Let’s see how much the minimum wages are in these countries:
- Australia: Minimum wage is AUD 23.23/hour (USD 15)
- Canada: Minimum wage ranges from CAD 13-17/hour (USD 9.50-12.50)
- UK: Minimum wage is £11.44/hour (USD 14.30)
- European Countries: Germany’s minimum wage is EUR 12/hour (USD 13), the Netherlands EUR 11.05/hour (USD 12).
Good virtual assistants in these countries charge at least USD 60k to 100k per year.
Imagine if they are able to hire a remote virtual assistant at a fraction of this cost, at just 2000 dollars per month.
They are getting premium talent at a fraction of what they would pay locally.
Isn’t it a hands-down win-win value proposition for them?
Let’s see how this works out for you.
If you work for 200 hours monthly, at USD 10 per hour of work, that translates to USD 2,000/month (approximately INR 1.70 lakhs).
And it is not just freelancing. Remote employees from India working for international companies often earn USD 1,500-5,000 per month for full-time positions.
Now, naturally, this leads to a few important questions.
What if I want remote jobs? How can I get them?
Most people only depend on job listing sites like Naukri, LinkedIn Jobs or Indeed.
They keep applying, sending CVs and cover letters, and then keep waiting.
After some months of no reply or only rejections, they feel that remote work is not for them.
This is the crisis.
The opportunity is that this is not the only way to get remote work.
For global remote work, you need three things together: the right skills, a visible track record, and proper outreach.
Skills alone are not enough. You must show your work, and you must know how to reach out to the right people. Most people do not know how to do outreach. They do not know how to write to a client, how to pitch a small project, or how to follow up. Once you learn outreach properly and you start doing it every week, this fear starts reducing because you are no longer just waiting; you are creating opportunities.
One very simple way to start is this: pick one person, do three assignments for free, and do them really well.
For example, help a coach, a small business owner, a founder or a consultant with three clear tasks that you can finish in a few days.
In these three assignments, you get real work, real feedback, real results and real proof that you can deliver. That proof becomes your first case study, your first testimonial, your first track record.
In our ecosystem, we do not depend only on job portals. We guide on creating strong LinkedIn and social media profiles, building a work portfolio from assignments and client work, and setting up freelance profiles on platforms.
We also teach them how to write effective cold messages, proposals, and follow-ups so they can reach out directly to small business owners, startup founders, agencie,s and professionals in countries like the US, UK, Canada, Dubai, and Europe, instead of waiting silently for a job ad.
Each time you serve a client or an employer, your track record grows, and that makes it easier to get the next client, the next project, and then a more stable part-time or full-time remote role.
When you keep doing this, it is very much possible to get a remote job or client work that pays around 1,000 US dollars per month or more, especially when you work with international clients and combine a few services.
It does not happen by magic, and it does not happen only by clicking “apply” on job sites.
It happens when you build in-demand skills, do a few small projects even for free to prove yourself, show your results, and consistently reach out to the right people.
What is the difference between remote freelance work & remote jobs? How can I decide what is best for me?
As a remote freelancer, you decide which clients to work with, what kind of projects to take, how much to charge, and how to plan your time.
You may work with three to five clients in a month, some for small one-time projects, some for longer ongoing work.
You usually get paid per project, per hour, or per task, and you send an invoice or use a platform to receive payment.
Your income can go up as you increase your skills, raise your rates, and get better clients, but there can also be some variation from month to month in the beginning.
If you want to have maximum flexibility, work during some periods while taking breaks at other times, remote freelance work is a great idea.
However, many of the women we work with want to work consistently on a part-time basis.
Some work for 3 hrs per day while others work for 5 hrs.
They are able to secure part-time remote jobs, too.
This keeps their income predictable, and the responsibility to find new employers is very limited.
A remote job means you are employed in one place. You work for one company as part of their team, you have a manager, fixed responsibilities and usually fixed working hours.
You receive a fixed monthly salary, maybe with some bonuses or incentives, just like any normal office job, but you work from home instead of going to an office.
The company provides the work, sets the targets and handles the clients.
Your income is usually more predictable and steady, but your freedom to choose projects, timings or clients is less compared to freelance work.
Some of the women we work with take up part-time remote jobs to earn a minimum basic income of say INR 30k per month, while occasionally doing additional freelance work when they have more time to earn more.
If you want more flexibility, want to choose your projects and clients, and are comfortable building your own pipeline of work through outreach, then remote freelance work may fit you better.
If you prefer fixed timings, one employer, a clear role and a stable monthly salary, then a remote job may be better.
What if I want to work part-time?
You can start with just 2–4 hours a day and still make it meaningful.
For example, even if you work only 3 hours a day for 20 days in a month, that is 60 hours.
If you charge even 5 US dollars per hour (for your first remote job), that is 300 US dollars in a month, which is around ₹25,000.
You slowly move to 8-10 US dollars per hour as your skills and track record improve. The same 60 hours can give you 480-600 US dollars, which is roughly ₹40,000-₹50,000 per month, from part-time work only.
This can happen with the same employer in 3-4 months as well, or with a different employer.
You can decide your working slots around your children, home, and other responsibilities, take fewer clients, and still build skills, confidence, and income step by step.
What is the future of remote work? Can I continue to grow in the future?
This is just the beginning; you can earn more with experience. Many of the women we helped charge USD 20-30 per hour after 1 year of doing remote work.
Here is someone who is charging more now:
Over time, you can grow into head business verticals, and even get equity!
A reasonable goal is to earn at least USD 1,500-2,000 per month.
Bonus opportunity: How AI helps you as a remote virtual assistant
Now, you can ALSO take advantage of AI to produce work that people with years of experience can – because lots of knowledge is no longer a differentiator.
Many people are worried about the implications of AI – will AI take up jobs that were performed by humans?
Well, AI still needs humans to run and operate it. If we use it right, it can increase our efficiency by 1000x, but it cannot do work by itself.
Those who learn how to use AI in their professions will have a massive advantage over those who do not.
Those who do not learn how to use AI-based software are highly likely to become redundant and lose their jobs to those who can use the new tools and software.
Learning how to use AI could also provide you with an advantage that enables you to stand out and beat the competition – even the old guard who rest on their decades of experience and believe that they are immune to competition or market changes.
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