Many small businesses are afraid to hire a virtual assistant. Why? I really don’t know.
Because when you think about it, hiring a virtual assistant is the lowest risk way possible to grow your business!
Let’s dig into that statement a bit deeper.
If you want to grow, you can’t do everything yourself forever
I get it, your business is your baby. You started it, you want everything done perfectly. But at some point, you’re going to run out of time and you are going to have to trust someone else.
In fact, as I’ve said before, handing over the things you don’t exactly love to someone else is by far the best way to grow. Not only do you have more time, but those things get done better and more efficiently!
When is it time to start looking for help?
We all know that time is money. But we don’t always think about what that means. Whenever you spend time doing something, you want to get value out of it. That value might be money you earn, or it might be learning, or it might be pleasure. The point is, there is always a time-value exchange.
But sometimes, that exchange isn’t very favourable for you. You might spend ages doing something, but make no money, learn nothing and not enjoy it either. (Cleaning the oven, for example!) And unfortunately, you can never get that time back again.
The same kind of thing happens in business. There are jobs which have to be done. You don’t enjoy them. You don’t learn a lot from them. And you don’t make any money either!
Take a moment to think about the things in your business which take time, but where you don’t really get value.
Ask yourself a few questions:
- What’s the value per hour of your time?
If you charge per hour, you know this already.
If you don’t charge per hour, it’s a bit harder. How many hours do you spend on work for clients? How much do you make? Use those numbers to calculate how much your time is worth to your clients. - How much of your time did you spend on admin this week? And how much did that time cost you?
Every hour you spend doing admin is an hour you don’t spend on a client, or on sales. It’s an opportunity cost. - If you weren’t doing admin, could you charge that time to a client and make more money?
If the answer to the last question is yes, it’s time to get help!
If the answer is ‘maybe’, you might want to look around anyway. When you’re too busy, you don’t have the time to make sales and get new clients. Freeing up some time could be a way to invest in your leads and future business.
Remember, you don’t need to have the business perfect before you hand it over. That makes as much sense as cleaning the house before your cleaner comes!
Sure, you need to tell your VA (or your cleaner) what you want done, but you don’t have to instruct them on every detail of how to do it. Not if they’re any good, at least.
Your VA is an expert on admin tasks. They can help you set up processes and systems. They can improve existing processes – for example, automate overdue invoice reminders – or set up brand new ones, like a welcome automation for all new subscribers to your email newsletter. Or even create your first newsletter and a template to use for the future!
4 reasons to hire a virtual assistant instead of a staff member
Of course, it always depends what work you want someone to do. If you’re an electrician and you need someone to help you on the tools, a virtual assistant is no use to you at all. But if you’re trying to cut down on admin, a VA usually makes sense. Here are my top four reasons why:
1. Avoid the complications of payroll
You still have to go through a recruitment and selection process, but you don’t have to set up payroll. So you don’t have to worry about super, leave entitlements, payroll tax, all that kind of thing. You just pay 1 invoice for the VA. Simple!
2. Quick and easy setup
A virtual assistant comes with their own desk, computer and so on. So you don’t have to worry about getting equipment and setting them up. You don’t need office space for them either. (And while lots of people used to worry about someone working remotely, after the experience of COVID that kind of thinking’s been proven wrong!)
3. Flexibility around hours
You have lots of flexibility about hours. You might only need someone for half a day a week, or an hour or two a day. It can be hard to find good staff to work such short times – but a VA has other clients, so that’s not a problem for them.
4. Easy to exit if necessary
Finally, it’s so much easier if you have a problem with your VA. You can just terminate the contract. Compare that to the hassle of dealing with a difficult employee, and the performance management process you’d have to go through.
So, for all these reasons, a virtual assistant is the obvious choice to handle your admin and paperwork.
The only real question left is, are you ready to hire a virtual assistant now?
And a final word of advice – don’t leave it too long! It’s easy to stop if you want to, but the sooner you try it, the sooner you’ll appreciate how much a VA can help you get free time – and relax knowing things are taken care of!
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