BLOG_2020_09_17 HIring a Virtual Assistant for Your Business
Hiring a Virtual Assistant for Your Business
17 SEPTEMBER 2020
The objective of any business is to grow and make a profit (not necessarily in that order). For the solopreneur and small business owner, growth may be hindered by low energy levels, caused by all your other commitments. You feel pulled in several different directions.
You might find your “to-do” list is getting longer and longer and you can’t seem to find the time to focus on the “big” stuff. If you are handling all of your daily tasks alone, growth may not be possible in the way that you’d like to see it. If you find your day is taken up mostly checking off things on your “to-do” list rather than focusing on activities that lead to income generation, there are two things you can do:
1) Take control of your time by re-configuring your daily schedule (if you book a free one-hour complimentary strategy session with me I can help you do this – see below for details); and
2) Consider hiring a virtual assistant for help.
What Is a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual assistants are highly skilled people who can be considered masters in their areas of expertise. These business professionals make their living by meeting the needs of other solopreneurs and small business owners through a negotiated contract. Their skill sets can comprise everything from back end tech support, administration, bookkeeping to marketing and customer service to website design. Some virtual assistants even provide personal assistance type services; managing calendars and appointments, returning calls, following up with customers, etc.
Virtual assistants are proving themselves to be invaluable to solopreneurs who work online, myself included. Many spent time in the private sector and have made the transition to business owner so others could benefit from their years of experience. This profession maintains accrediting bodies for its credentialing programs.
Benefits of Working with a Virtual Assistant (VA)
So what do you have to gain by utilizing such a person?
Maintain a low overhead—Since VAs work virtually, you don’t have to provide space in your office for them. Everything is done via electronic media. They are contract personnel so payment is for services rendered only—unlike a traditional employee.
Business owners—Virtual assistants own their business. You are one of their clients. This means that they pay for their own insurance and calculate their taxes. You have no worries about providing benefits, disability, retirement plans, or any of that paperwork. Since they work by the hour, the cost is a bit more for their services, but overall you save on the extra expense if they were an employee.
Familiar with deadlines—These business professionals know what it is like to juggle multiple projects and deadlines. If you have need of something right away, a virtual assistant may be able to help. Mine helps me set priorities, keep communication with my prospective clients flowing, and gets me out of some binds when deadlines are approaching.
Nothing but work—In an office, there are lunch breaks for employees, downtime for this and that, and more ways employees can be distracted. How many hours of a workday is an employee actually getting things done? With a virtual assistant, all of the time devoted to you is productive time. You pay for that time by the hour; you do not pay for their downtime.
Good quality work—Your satisfaction directly ties into their business reputation and vice versa. It is in their best interest to always provide high-quality output for their clients. It is very important to establish the standards expected at the beginning of the relationship so things run smoothly for both parties. It is important to remember that the VA does have other clients so they need to manage their calendars too.
Variety—All virtual assistants are not endowed with the same skill sets. If you need someone to run your website for you, then you can hire a VA with those specific skills. If you need to hire one who excels in marketing, it would be beneficial to hire a different VA. There is not any reason why you can’t have more than one. Thankfully, my VA is able to handle the vast majority of my needs so I only have one.
So when you are struggling to grow your business because time is running away from you, remember Virtual Assistants have the versatility to be useful to any number of business enterprises—including yours.
Challenge...
Identify and list at least 10 activities in your business where a Virtual Assistant would be more qualified and efficient, freeing you up to take action on your strategic goals and generate income!
Download this list and keep it handy for the next week.
