I’m overwhelmed and stressed out! One of the largest reasons most solopreneurs decide to hire a virtual assistant.
Do you sometimes feel like your business is holding you hostage?
Tired of things falling through the cracks?
You’re probably shaking your head yes! I am all for delegating if it supports your business model. You need to be organized to support that decision.
Hiring a virtual assistant is a very strategic move. The amount of work involved to hire the right one at the right time tends to come as a bit of a surprise to you. It’s a process of its own that you need to navigate carefully if you want to delegate successfully.
Are you really ready? first let’s talk about how you benefit when you hire a virtual assistant.
4 Benefits You Experience When You Hire a Virtual Assistant
Money Savings ~ A virtual assistant is an independent contractor. This means you save the expense of hiring an employee including health insurance, employee benefits and taxes. They also have their own equipment, their own office, and don’t require training.
Valuable Skill Set ~ A virtual assistant has the skills and experience to provide consistent and professional administrative support services you need. Most of them have a broad range of experience in addition to working in a specific niche or specialty (administrative tasks, bookkeeping, social media management, etc). And it’s more than likely a skillset you don’t have so you need to outsource.
You Can Budget for Support ~ When you work with a virtual assistant you can budget in advance. You should know what you will pay each month in advance and can plan accordingly because you know the service fee. Hopefully it’s a flat rate agreement.
Quality of Work ~ A virtual assistant is running a business just like you are. If they don’t deliver value to their customers, their business won’t succeed. A good virtual assistant will become more like a collaborative partner for your business. They will help your business grow and prosper which in turn benefits them. It’s a two way arrangement so you don’t have to micro-manage them.
3 Keys to Help You Succeed When You Hire a Virtual Assistant
Communicate Clearly and Regularly ~ Be sure to establish the best means of communication (e-mail, phone calls, video calls, etc) in advance. Make sure you talk to your virtual assistant at least once a month via telephone or video just to keep the lines of communication open.
Provide Detailed Instructions ~ DOCUMENT YOUR PROCESSES. If you need help identifying the six core systems your business needs to have in place, be sure to check out my blog post Sexy Business Systems Every Mompreneur Needs.
Detailed instructions reduce waste which is time and money. This is important when you begin working with a virtual assistant so that they can pick up the process without you having to walk them through things step by step. After you have worked together for some time, your virtual assistant will be able to anticipate your needs and fill in the blanks.
Set Realistic Expectations ~ To avoid frustration, be sure you know your virtual assistant’s working hours. Be realistic in your expectations when they are available. Make sure you’re available and are responsive and aren’t the bottleneck.
Don’t forget they are a BUSINESS OWNER WITH OTHER CUSTOMERS. Therefore, they may not always be available when you want them to be. Ask for regular meetings (15 minutes) to get a status update on your tasks. This keeps you both on the same page.
How to Decide What Tasks to Delegate to a Virtual Assistant
You handle a lot of tasks so you probably have no idea where to start delegating. Grab a pen and paper and track what you work on for just one week. At the end of the week follow these steps:
- Draw a line through the tasks you don’t like and/or shouldn’t be doing because they don’t generate income
2. Put a star by the tasks you need to complete to grow your business (marketing, networking, etc)
3. Highlight the tasks you enjoy completing (but you may need to delegate some of these too if they don’t move the needle forward)
Take your sorted list, pick a few tasks that have lines drawn through them and get ready to delegate! What should you do next?
Commit to delegating the repetitive tasks first.
Now you have the basic knowledge you need to decide if you are ready to start delegating! Take the necessary steps ahead of time so you can get more done because you partner with the right person.
As your virtual assistant takes on more and more responsibility, they’ll feel more deeply invested in your business’ success!
You can decide to stop winging it, stop struggling, and prepare your business so you can hire some help. Here is a three part series that can help you with this process:
Part 1: Debunking the Myths About Hiring a VA
Part 2: 3 Mistakes I Made When Hiring A VA and How You Can Avoid Them
Part 3: 3 Ways to Successfully Partner With a Virtual Assistant
If you really want to start documenting your processes and working smarter not just for yourself, but for your family too, then schedule a 15 minute Discovery Call and see if how can help you get started.
If you would like the audio version of this topic, be sure to check out episode 38 of the podcast. Tune in on your favorite platform by clicking one of the links below.
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