How to Prepare your Business to Hire a Virtual Assistant
“I know I need to pass some things off because I’m working myself into the ground, but I’m such a control freak that I have a hard time picturing what that would look like.”
Do you know how often we hear that sentiment from people reaching out?
ALL. THE. TIME.
It’s overwhelming. Everything about owning and running a business. Responding to emails in a timely manner. Managing invoicing your clients. Paying your own bills. Keeping track of all of the things. And then let’s not even talk about social media, email marketing or the dreaded CRA. Where do you find the time?
You don’t. We always say “If you don’t have an assistant, you ARE the assistant.” And if you are wearing all the hats, you aren’t wearing them well. If you are banging out all the work as the CEO or leader of your business, the administrative stuff is getting lost in the shuffle. If you are managing all of the administrative stuff, you aren’t working on your business and taking it to the next level.
These are some starting points to help you prepare to hire a Virtual Assistant:
- Start making a list of all the things that you hate doing in your business. These are perfect tasks to hand over – the soul-sucking ones. Maybe it’s responding to outreach emails. Or clearing out your inbox each day.
- Now add the things that are the biggest time-suck in your business. Is it creating social media posts? Managing your calendar and ensuring that your days, weeks, months are serving you the best way it can? Creating invoices? Do you have SOP’s or do you want your VA to create them?
- Last to add to your list of things to delegate is the things that feel icky. That might look like following up with clients for payments. Or letting people know that they were not selected for a job when the company is hiring. We do a lot of HR tasks for our clients – it’s a non-emotional transaction for us. We say it like it is and don’t “feel bad” for being the ones that follow up on missed payments, deadlines, or for hiring decisions.
- Think about communication. How are you going to keep the lines of communication open with your VA? We love Slack and also suggest a weekly Zoom meeting.
- What about passwords? How are you going to share passwords with your VA so they can access your systems? We use LastPass and 1Password because they are encrypted and secure.
- How are you going to provide feedback? Remember that your VA is not a mind-reader. If they are doing things in a way that you don’t like, just say it! We are all straight shooters on the Northern Primrose team. If you like how the work is being done – say it! If you want it done in another way – SAY IT!
