It’s got to be a good thing that, as a business owner, you’re getting busier!

It can catch many people out though… 

You have been doing everything yourself up until now and things have been working well and it becomes habit. 

By not determining when to start outsourcing it can create huge limitations on you and your business.

‘When’ is key…

If you find yourself spending more time on non-core business activities (which are just as important as those that are income generating), it is time to bring someone on board who has the expertise to be able to do this for you so that you can focus on what you went into business for.

If the non-core business activities are preventing you from spending your time on other business matters and you charge more than what you would pay a Virtual Assistant, it should be an easy decision to make.

The ‘Who’ is essential…

There could be several reasons why you haven’t engaged with a Virtual Assistant properly until now, including a lack of trust, an insufficient budget or even a previous negative experience.

It is essential to make sure that when you outsource business matters to a Virtual Assistant, you feel naturally comfortable when you meet them so that when you do work together, that is not something that plays on your mind. 

There are plenty of Virtual Assistants out there and making sure that there is a good fit between you is essential.

In order to find the right Virtual Assistant for you, you should not feel rushed in your initial meeting with them. 

‘What’ should be done next?

Many business owners ‘just do’ things automatically, in their subconscious.

For you to define exactly what you want a Virtual Assistant to do can sometimes be tricky... 

It can be a challenge to work out exactly what would be beneficial to outsource, however, it is worth taking the time to be clear and decisive with your Virtual Assistant so that the partnership becomes strong, with effective communication and earned trust contributing to its longevity.  

Equally, a professional ‘career’ Assistant will have had many years of experience working with senior individuals such as CEOs, MDs, Partners and Founders in  a corporate environment and will be able to decipher exactly what might be required and what the best use of their time would be to support you in the way you need.

It wouldn’t do if we were all the same… 

Everyone is different, requiring a variety of services, and it is best to keep this in mind when outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant.

Just like you, they cannot be good at everything and concentrating on the things they can provide excellent support to you with is far better than them having a go at things they are not qualified or confident in.

For the purposes of this article, a Virtual Assistant is defined as those with senior experience, strategic capabilities and the expertise of being able to serve Clients proactively on high level business matters rather than directionally. 

These types of Virtual Assistants are often referred to as OBMs (Online Business Managers) and so when considering to work with someone who you seek support from, it is worthwhile exploring  what suits you and your business better. 

Here’s just some of the things you may consider outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant.

1. Mailbox Management 

It is all too easy to let your mailbox run away from you...  

With incoming emails mounting up in your inbox and perhaps not being responded to as quickly as you would hope, there are ways to manage them so that they work for you rather than against you. 

Whether you are in the ‘short and sweet’ camp in which one word responses are avoided or the more ‘chatty’ conversations, your mailbox is most likely to be your first post of call for any business matters arising that require an action. 

It is therefore helpful to keep a handle on your mailbox regardless of how you use it. 

If you are at a loss of where to start, you can read the 10 tips for effective email management to make it work for you rather than against you. 

2. Customer Services management

Once your mailbox is organised and working well, it will be easier to serve your clients / customers better. 

By allowing your Virtual Assistant to have access to your mailbox they will be able to fight fires for you... 

Not only can then they effectively manage your mailbox, they can triage incoming emails and alert you to any urgent ones that come in.  

They can draft responses, remind you of outstanding actions and bring forward any follow-ups that you have so you can fully focus on other matters. 

If your Virtual Assistant has more strategic experience they can suggest and recommend higher level business matters. 

3. Invoicing and Bookkeeping 

A strong contender to outsource is invoicing and bookkeeping (if your Virtual Assistant has knowledge of the systems and procedures that you use together with any registrations that are required to complete certain tasks, eg as anti-money laundering registration).

 If a system is currently in place, a Virtual Assistant should be able to follow exactly what has been done before to continue what is a regular process that can be a time-consuming and unnecessary but essential task for you. 

With some guidance, a Virtual Assistant with no knowledge of how you maintain your invoicing system should be able to pick this up from me quite easily.

4. Event planning

Research heavy and time-consuming, any event planning or project management task can zap your time without you even noticing.  Hours will have passed before you sometimes notice!

Any experienced Assistant will have had experience in planning events using only their best project management skills to do so. 

They will be used to working within dictated budgets and timeframes and by utilising their expertise in this area, you will free up days, possibly weeks and even months, of your time in allowing them to do so.

Their transferable skills will be beneficial for lifestyle management events, such as holidays, school events, fundraisers, parties and so on. 

5. Travel coordination 

A staple skill of all ex-corporate Assistant roles is travel planning. 

This can include research, costing, liaison, coordination and itinerary creation which is something that, again, you want to avoid yourself and outsource to someone who can do it quicker than you, utilising a network of people they can go to in order to get the best prices.

With a few questions of preference to answer (preferred airline, airport, train station, aisle or window seat, dietary requirement as examples) your Virtual Assistant can do much of the heavy lifting for you.

Whether it is commercial or charter travel that you require, a Virtual Assistant will be able to take this off your hands and present you with the best options for you to choose from. 

6. Lifestyle management 

If your Virtual Assistant has been in a senior corporate role for a CEO, Partner, Founder or MD in the past, the likelihood of them having had extensive experience in the management of private households and properties is quite high.

From managing housekeepers and chauffeurs to paying household bills, maintaining contracts, organising regular services and even keeping a family organised is something worthwhile asking your Virtual Assistant about. 

The life admin tasks are often put on the back burner when you are a Business Owner and by outsourcing at least some of them to your Virtual Assistant you can be assured that your personal life will keep running the way in which it should.

7. Content creation and Proofreading 

Writing can, at times, take up valuable time and so by outsourcing it to a Virtual Assistant who has the skill to create content that represents your tone and voice, it could be a good task to hand over to them.  

Whether it is an article for publication, either digital or written, a blog or social media content, by providing a brief to your Virtual Assistant they can be getting on with this type of work while you are generating business.

If you wish to write everything yourself, your Virtual Assistant could help you with proofreading your content which provides a second pair of eyes and a good sense check so that your audience will gain fully from the purpose of your written content.

8. Social media management 

There are many ways in which to manage social media content and by scheduling pre-written content it can, and often does, save a lot of time.

Your Virtual Assistant can certainly schedule and manage your social media content using the platform of your choice using the content that you provide.

Again, by retaining your true voice and identity and giving the process driven tasks to your Virtual Assistant in order you can save a lot of time. 

Identifying and choosing appropriate (and copyright friendly!) images for social media can take up an unnecessary amount of time up and it might be worth investing in access to images that are permitted so that your Virtual Assistant can create an image library for you along the way so that you can reuse images. 

9. Market Research and Competitor Analysis

It might surprise you to hear that your Virtual Assistant could undertake market research and competitor analysis for you.

 If your Virtual Assistant has had experience from a senior corporate background, they should know how to tackle this.

It may well be that you have one or two sessions together to discuss specific ideas as well as goals and objectives, however, your Virtual Assistant will definitely be able to get the ball rolling and draft something that is worthy of discussing.

By researching your market and analysing your competitors at regular intervals, it will keep you in touch (and ahead) in the fast moving environment that you find yourself in as a Business Owner. 

10. Business Strategy & Planning 

Completing a business plan is probably one of the first things you did as a Business Owner. 

If you don’t have a Business Plan, now is the time to create one!

How often do you review and update it?

Having worked with your Virtual Assistant for a period of time, they can review it for you and make recommendations of how it might be updated.  

By doing this on an annual basis, and preferably with optional quarterly reviews, it will allow you to keep on top of all that matters to you in your business together with your ethos, mission and vision for it.  

Whilst the list above is not exhaustive, some of the ideas might be just what you need to give you some time back whilst your Virtual Assistant gets on with important business activities on your behalf. 

Ideally, you shall work with a Virtual Assistant who can do all the things you need them to under one roof, however, if this is not possible that should not put you off.

If you find a Virtual Assistant who is a good fit that can support you at both ends of your business: the directional task based work that is driven by your leadership skills and the high level strategic business matters where two heads are better than one that comes about from your Virtual Assistant’s expertise and experience, you will no doubt create a business partnership which, in time, will prove why you should outsource more to a Virtual Assistant. 

If you are ready to get your business more organised without feeling stressed and overwhelmed, please get in touch. 

Anna

anna@akavirtualassistant.com