Have you ever had a really great idea for your business, that gives you all the feels? You know what I mean, those feelings when you can’t sleep for excitement, you just want to dive headfirst into it, it’s all you can think about and your stomach does somersaults, backflips and pretty much a 10.0 gymnastics routine every time you do.
But you never go ahead because of time, or should I say lack of? That great business idea remains just that, an ‘idea’. Whilst you think about it all the time you just can’t seem to find the time to start planning, to get your teeth into it and figure out exactly how you are going to get it out to your clients. The thought of doing that makes you feel scared, nervous, out of touch with the idea and kind of makes you lack the confidence to go with it.
Being a business owner means you must always be thinking one step ahead, always be thinking about what is around the corner and how you can adjust and adapt to what your clients want. For so many independent business owners, who don’t have a team around them, they feel trapped with a capacity that only they can handle. That there is only so much they can achieve because it is just them on their own. They don’t particularly want a team of people, and at that point there isn’t quite the work for an employed member of staff, but it would be so nice to not have to do those boring tasks that they feel they have to do, not that they want to do, and be able to take their focus back to why they started their business in the first place and scale it to the next level.
With running a business, regardless of the size, product or service, there comes an element of the following:
· Marketing (mainly social media)
· Finance
· Sales
· General admin
· Email management
· Diary management
· Client management
· Business development
How many independent business owners out there can hand on heart say they love every single one of the above, and are extremely good at them all? I mean absolutely no disrespect here, and I have the upmost admiration for small and independent business owners, but very few excel at all the nitty gritty behind the scenes. They start their business because they love what they do. They have a passion for something, be that a product (or range of products) or a service that they want to share with the world. They want to take that product or service and put everything they have into making it the best it can possibly be and have other people experience it too.
They don’t set up their business to sit behind a computer getting stressed out about social media, sending invoices, chasing invoices, managing their diary, putting together spreadsheets…. The list is endless. They set up their business to do what they love and what they are good at, which quite often isn’t these tasks.
When your business is at a point where you need some help, be that with social media, managing your time, helping with admin tasks, marketing documents or just all around support with the things you don’t quite have the passion or understanding for, the best thing you can do is consider outsourcing.
I know, outsourcing can be extremely daunting. How on earth do you hand over your pride and joy to someone else?
Take a look at these four ways that finding the perfect VA can help you to grow your business, and it might just make you feel differently about outsourcing.
Gives you back valuable time.
This is probably the most obvious and well-known advantage of a VA. It goes without saying that after they have found their feet they will be able to support you in such a vast range of services so that you can finally focus your energy and attention on the reasons you started your business in the first place. The new products or services that will help you drive income to your business. This valuable time that they give you back doesn’t necessarily need to be spent in the business. It may be that you find yourself so run down and not spending quality time with family and friends that you are not performing your best when you are in the office. We all need self-care, we need to fill our cup and give back to us what we give to our clients. Without doing this we can’t look after them.
So, by hiring a VA they can take away the stresses of tasks you find you are putting off and not doing, or the tasks that you are doing but that are getting in the way of you doing what you love. This undoubtedly frees up your time for you to focus your energy on what really matters to you.
Allows an ‘expert’ to focus on the important things.
Most VA’s will have specialist areas that they focus on. Areas that they enjoy, that they are trained in and that they are good at, so that they can ensure they offer the best possible outcome to their clients. We don’t all do absolutely everything, if I’m honest it would be kind of counterproductive to do that and wouldn’t be the best use of our time. Finding the right VA for certain tasks will mean things get done quicker, more professionally and ultimately at a lower cost to you, thus helping you to grow your business.
If you find the perfect VA for one task, but they aren’t the perfect VA for another task don’t panic. Talk to them, they may have a contact who can help or a network of VA’s that they can go to for you. Don’t feel like you have to use the same VA for absolutely everything. A good VA will always be honest and if they can’t do something for you they will tell you.
Increases the engagement with your customers.
Unfortunately, and even though we know it’s not the best way to run a business, it’s often our customers that suffer when we get busy. Especially our loyal and understanding ones. When we are so busy that we struggle to respond to emails in a timely manner, or get back to phone calls quickly enough it can really have a negative impact on our customer journey and not to mention the number who go elsewhere because they don’t hear back from us quickly enough.
It happens, we are human, and unfortunately in this digital age we (as consumers) expect responses pretty much instantly and sadly as business owners we don’t do ourselves any favours by responding to messages at all hours of the day because we don’t have time in office hours.
I have (before becoming a VA) worked with many business owners who find themselves responding to social media messages and emails at midnight because it is the only time they get to sit down and do it. The vast majority of these people have then found that those they are replying to at that time of night are the ones who also expect a reply at that time (or later) when they send another question or query. By responding at silly hours throughout the day we set an example that this is the norm, and our clients begin to expect us to be available 24/7.
By hiring a VA to help keep on top of emails, social media messages and phone calls you will increase the first touch point with your customers, increase engagement with them and make sure they feel loved from the start of their journey. You don’t need me to tell you how priceless that is!
Accountability and strategic advantages.
When there is only you (or a very small number of employees within a business) it is hard to hand over to someone else, but a good VA will treat your business with the respect, understanding and care that you do and will want to support you in scaling your business to the next level. They want to see you successful and they want to help you, it’s why we become VA’s in the first place.
Having someone there, reminding you, asking you for things, keeping a track of your to do list means you have some accountability, and I don’t mean in a nagging way.
It’s often hard as a solopreneur and independent business owner to have accountability, strategic support or just a ‘colleague’ to connect with. Hiring a VA can give you all of these things and more.
Don’t be afraid to say no to a VA, it is vital that you are a right fit for each other, and equally don’t be offended if a VA says no to working with you. We all need to be comfortable with the job we are doing, so always make sure you find the right person for you.
My main priority as a VA is to build lasting relationships with my clients. I would much rather support you for the long term than for a few hours here and there. I want to know about your business, I want to help your business bloom and grow, I want you to be successful. The way I do that is to support you every step of the way, and be there to work alongside you in driving your business.
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