I’m updating a book I wrote a few years ago that includes hundreds of resources. While it’s not hard to go through the list to check which are still valid and which aren’t, the task is long and tedious. My time is better spent on activities that directly earn income, which is why I gave the task to my virtual assistant.
Many home and small business owners don’t feel they can afford to hire virtual support, when in fact, they can’t afford not to. Business owners make more when they focus on the activities that make money. If you can make $50 an hour providing your service, it makes more sense to pay $15 or $20 an hour to have a virtual assistant take care of busy work, while you spend your time making money. Using a VA nets money, while doing the busy work doesn’t do anything but waste your time.
You don’t have to delegate all your business tasks right away. Start with tasks that you don’t enjoy or aren’t very good at. As you get used to relinquishing control, you can delegate more work to virtual support people. Here is a list of tasks you can outsource.
- Tasks that you aren’t good at.
- Tasks you don’t enjoy.
- Administrative duties such as email, phone calls, appointment setting, transcription, research, etc.
- Technical duties such as website set-up and maintenance.
- Marketing tasks, such as social media and publicity.
- Writing tasks including articles, blog posts, ad copy, reports, etc.
- Creating audio or video materials.
- Money management such as bookkeeping and billing.
- Outsourcing. Yes, you can hire someone to be in charge of finding and managing virtual support help.
Outsourcing work doesn’t mean you want to relinquish total control. While you want to trust the people you work with, you still want to keep an eye on what they’re doing. I once received a shocking email from a business and a few minutes later, the owner emailed an apology indicating the first email was sent by an assistant. Your goal is to find quality, conscientious people, provide them with clear instructions on what you need them to do, and screen their work without micromanaging. Doing so will give you more time to do what you do best and enjoy the most, while still taking care of all the tasks required in running a business.
