A Virtual Assistant can help you serve more clients, have more time to work on your business and work towards your big mission, and give you more free time to enjoy life outside of your business as well. A great VA can help you do all of this by doing the things in your business that you should not be doing.
However, you need to be ready to bring on a team member. Here are 3 tips for knowing when the time is right.
When you can afford help
First and foremost you need to be able to afford to commit to a team member long-term. Your business should be generating enough money where you can save for taxes, generate a profit, pay yourself, and pay for your expenses and someone to support you. A good VA will charge anywhere between $30-$65+ / hour (rates will vary greatly depending on experience). You can work with a VA for a few as 10-15 hours a month. And, if you find the right person who is excited to grow with you, you can increase the number of hours as your business grows.
TIP: If you are implementing Profit First in your business, your team expense should be no more than 50% of your operating costs.
When you are (pretty) clear there are things that you should not be doing
It’s not necessary to be 100% clear about everything you want to delegate. In fact, if you wait to make sure you are 100% clear, you might be procrastinating! Have a good starting point and at least an idea of the things you can get off your plate. Keep a running list on your desk and write down the things you do that you know you could delegate to someone else. A great VA will jump in and take these things on AND help you see other things that you can hand off.
TIP: You do not need to know HOW you are going to delegate these things. You just need to know what you want to delegate. Your VA will figure out the HOW!
When you are ready to commit to a long-term partnership with your Virtual Assistant
The magic in working with a VA really happens when you are working with someone long-term. If you are looking for someone to just handle a few tasks for you on an off and you aren’t really looking for a long term commitment, you can probably find someone on Upwork, Fiverr, or some other freelance site. However, you are NOT going to really feel what it’s like to get the support you need in your business until you are ready to commit to creating a long-term partnership with your Virtual Assistant.
TIP: In addition to creating a long-term relationship with your Virtual Assistant you are also looking for someone who is inspired and motivated by your mission <= this is the sweet spot!
There will come a time in your business when you can no longer go it alone. Being a solo-entrepreneur will hold you back from your next level of success. You need a team to support you.
If you are ready to hire a Virtual Assistant, please email me so we can schedule a time to speak – sarah@elevationobm.com. Seriously – just send me an email. I would love to share some additional tips and resources that will really help you find the right person. If you want to go this alone, that’s fine! But let’s have a call first. 😉 Let me help you avoid an expensive and time consuming hiring mistake.
I’m passionate about helping Transformational Leaders and Coaches find the right person to support them so they can have a bigger impact in the world – this is my mission! And, if I can also help an amazing Virtual Assistant connect with their dream client, this makes my day!
P.S. Read more about 3 things you should look for when hiring a Virtual Assistant here: https://elevationobm.com/3-things/