Growing your business can be hard when you are on your own. The tasks start to pile up and you soon realize you are spending your time on things you probably should not. So what do you do? You don’t need or want a full-time employee, but you need help.
Hiring a virtual assistant is a major step in growing your company. With a VA taking over certain tasks and aspects of your business, you can do more to grow your passion. They give you more time to plan and strategize, and more room to scale. The key to hiring and working with a VA successfully is to have a plan in place that supports growth.
How to Offload Tasks
When you decide it is time to hire a VA, you need to know what you will have that person doing. Start by thinking about what tasks you want to take off your plate. What are your biggest time wastes that could easily be done by someone else? Also, think about future tasks you will need help with as you grow. For example, you may have some daily tasks you can offload now, but also plan to turn over your social media management in the future.
You need to clarify which tasks you want help with so you can find a qualified person to handle them. This will determine the skills, experience, and even cost of the person you bring on.
Onboarding Your VA
The first few months with your VA are the most important when building a professional relationship. You want to start out on the right foot with your new VA and set them up for success. A few tips for getting started are
- Teaching them the important core values and vision of your business.
- Getting to know them and their work ethic.
- Discussing the best form of communication for both of you.
- Training them on the tasks and protocols you plan to hand off.
Follow up with your VA to make sure everything is going smoothly on both sides of the relationship. They will work harder for you when it is a good relationship for them as well.
These are great tips to keep in mind as you grow your business and continue handing off new tasks. To make sure you are getting the most out of this relationship, you need to have everything planned and in place before hiring so you can hit the ground running.
Communication is Key
We already mentioned communication, but communication is the key to making any relationship successful. You will want to make sure you have a plan for communicating, and make sure this plan works well for your VA as well as you. Since you’re working together virtually, having a plan in place is even more important because you won’t see this person every day at the office. It is always okay to make adjustments that work well for both of you.
There are a few tools you can take a look at for project management and daily communication including apps such as Asana and Slack. Even if they know what to do and the work is going smoothly, it’s good to have a place where you can see what they are working on. Once you offload so many tasks it is easy to forget about the small things that they are completing regularly. There may also be changes you need to tell them about and that is great to communicate through a project management app, especially if it is a reoccurring task.
Keep in mind that your VA may have their own way to manage projects. Because he or she likely works with multiple clients, it will be important to be understanding of their process. It would make them less efficient to be managing everything out of a client’s project management software if they have many clients where they have to log into something different for each. It is ok for you to manage a place where you offload things to them and them manage their own as well. You just have to work together to find way you both can get what you need in organization.
The Growth Mindset
There is a certain mindset you need to have to make your relationship with your VA successful. It can be really hard to hand over parts of your business to someone new. It is important to remember the benefits of hiring and working with a VA, and the future growth it allows for your business.
When you are working to grow, it is a great idea to build trust with someone who can be there to help your business grow and even help you onboard and train employees as you go. The steps you take in making this a successful relationship will lead to a lasting benefit to you and your business.
Finding the right person for your business and getting started on the right foot can be a difficult process. Especially if this is the first person you are hiring. If you have many tasks, it is better to find someone who can help you long-term and know what is going on in your business than have to manage multiple projects being outsourced. Having a good VA by your side can help you stay where you need to be in your business. As much as I believe in the process, I know it isn’t always easy. It isn’t something to take too lightly and just hire anyone. I have a full course that teaches you step-by-step how to hire and work with a VA so you can make sure you get the most out of the relationship.