Have you ever wished that there were two of you? Thought to yourself, if only there was someone else out there as good as me at my job? If you own your own business, I am sure these thoughts have run through your head. You have asked yourself, at what point do I hire a virtual assistant? What happens if I can’t find someone that is as good as I am at my job? Have you told yourself: it’s easier and quicker for me to do the work rather than train someone? These questions all lead to one conclusion: you need help with your day to day and it is time to hire a virtual assistant.
Most businesspeople have at one point thought about hiring a virtual assistant but have not either due to financial concerns or lack of structure regarding what this individual would do.
Here are 5 signs that it is time to hire a virtual assistant:
You are spending too much time on administrative tasks
Emails, calls, quotes, billing, invoicing, bookkeeping, consultations… the list goes on. As a business owner, you wear many hats. All of the tasks fall on you. It is hard to grow your business and focus on the bottom line when you are constantly working on admin tasks that consume your time.
These tasks are important to the overall success of your business but they consume your time and make you feel bogged down by admin work that is not your favorite area.
Requests slip through the cracks
You constantly catch yourself remembering that email you forgot to respond to. Or, that customer that called asking for you to resend the invoice. The quality and personal attention that you built your business on is quickly becoming a hot mess as you get busier and busier.
We are all human and can only do so much at once. When you find things slipping through the cracks, it is time to hire help.
Missing out on important opportunities
A new potential customer calls for a consultation but you have to turn them down because you don’t have enough bandwidth to take them on. New customers mean your business is growing which means you make more money. Your skillset is best spent brining on more customers and not focusing on the administrative work. Hiring a personal assistant will ultimately allow your skills to be focused on bringing in more money while the day to day gets completed by someone else.
Lack of work life balance
Your business is holding you hostage. You feel that you cannot take a vacation because your customers will feel abandoned. Emails won’t get answered. A new customer may call and you can’t miss that call!
These are all valid concerns for any entrepreneur or business owner, but you went into business to set your own hours and have more time. However, if you can’t find the time to step away from work, it is time to hire a virtual assistant to help.
You're ready to grow
You have a vision. You are ready to implement your ideas and grow your business. The three things you need to scale your business are funds, systems and people. When it comes to people, a VA will help you any role or capacity needed.
Yes, hiring a VA will cost money but it will free up your time allowing you to focus on the parts of the business that make you money.
When you are ready to hire, here a few smart ways to find the right virtual assistant:
1) Get a referral from someone you know that is using a VA
2) Partner with an outsourcing agency that can source candidates for your position, screen, and collaborate with you on your specific position and needs.
3) Utilize a freelance platform to find someone to help with your one off tasks such as Upwork.
Hiring a virtual assistant will help you gain back your time, focus on goals and ideas to grow your business, and enjoy your job more. You don’t have to do it all yourself. There are financial and emotional benefits to getting help and creating a team that can make your business more successful.
