Are you finding yourself increasingly under pressure to keep on top of your workload?
Have you missed an important deadline because you were too caught up in day to day admin?
Whatever the trigger, you know it's finally time to regain some control with the support of a Virtual Assistant.
The first time I have contact with a prospective client is usually after a realisation that their small business needs some additional support. Ironically, the overflowing workload that prompts them to get in touch with me in the first place, becomes yet another stumbling block and so often clients say “I need help but I am so busy I don’t know where to start!”
As a business owner myself (and a perfectionist at that!), I fully understand that it's not as simple as just handing over some work - you are entrusting it to someone else. You've nurtured your business from nothing, you've tackled the highs and lows, you have juggled the finances and managed the day to day responsibilities - so handing over a bit of that control may not be easy but it is essential in the long term.
Help is at hand with my tried and tested outsourcing method which will allow you to begin the process of identifying areas of work that can be outsourced to a Virtual Assistant.
TOP TIP:-
It is crucial to know WHERE and HOW you spend your time each week in order to understand where your pressure points are and to identify the tasks that sap time out of your day. I log my time EVERYDAY and it helps me to stay on track and focused.
STEP 1:-
Over the course of a week, jot down all the things you spend time doing. If you can, try to put a time against each one. To automate this task, you could use @toggl which is a great time tracking tool (app or web based) and one that I couldn't live without in my business!
STEP 2:-
Review your list of tasks:
- Identify the tasks that generate income; tasks that sell your products, promote your services, make you money and drive your business forward. These tasks have to be given priority - some will be best handled by you as the business owner, but some could be completed by your virtual assistant.
- Look at the tasks that take up a lot of time each week and ask yourself whether those tasks need to be done by you. A personal call to a prospective client following a meeting should come from you, but entering orders or contacts into a sales system could be more efficiently handled by a VA.
- Review the tasks that appear more than once during the week and that need factoring in to your schedule on a regular basis such as raising or chasing invoices.
- Lastly, highlight the tasks that you dread doing and regularly put to the bottom of your list - be honest with yourself here, there is always one! This could be a task that you find time-consuming and therefore put it off because you know it will take up too much of your day or one that you don't feel confident doing.
STEP 3:-
Once your review is complete and you have prioritised your tasks in number order, you should have a good idea of where you can save yourself some time and will have a starting point for discussing your outsourcing process. Keep hold of your weekly log of tasks because this will be useful to your Virtual Assistant as they may be able to identify other ways of easing and streamlining your workload.
Final thought...
Don’t forget that outsourcing some of your work will be a gradual process so there is no need to hurry. Start with a regular task or a one-off project and slowly build up to a set of tasks or a longer term project. The process will naturally evolve as you start to work together and gain each others trust.
For me, the most rewarding part of the process is introducing my clients to new ways of working which make better use of their time. You simply wont know what to do with your new found time each day!
Ellie Lane
Fast Lane VA Ltd
E: ellie@fastlaneva.com
M: 07814 456740
