When you run a small business that is doing well (and therefore taking over your life) its sometimes hard to stop and see the bigger picture. Are you just fire-fighting or is your business growing but in a rather chaotic and haphazard manner? There is no doubt that growth is vital for survival in a crowded market-place but you might as well try and do it properly.
A Virtual Assistant can help you maximise your business’ potential in so many ways – here are just five..
Experience
Every VA has different strings to their bow, but you will usually find a wealth of experience from all sorts of working backgrounds. Certainly the traditional PA skills are useful, but don’t discount the core business skills and more importantly the niche skills that they will have too. For example, my experience has taken me from customer care, to sales and marketing, to HR, and I have always veered towards internal comms projects in all my roles. So even if you take on a VA for adminy type things to start with, you will probably find they can bring a lot more to your business longer term.
Organisation
To be a successful VA you have to be organised, that’s just a given. You’re balancing multiple client needs, running your own business and in most cases working from home and resisting distractions! So I can pretty much guarantee a VA can help you get on top of those unruly parts of your business. It can be something as simple as chasing outstanding invoices (routinely, not just when you have time), tidying up your inbox, or managing your diary. Or it might be about streamlining some of your processes and finding better ways of doing things.
Headspace
You will know what sort of business you want to be, and often just taking time out to make a plan is the hardest thing to do. A recent survey by Storey found that 52% of SME owners spend an average of 11 – 42 hours a month on admin. I always ask a potential client, if you took on a VA for just 5 hours a month, what would you do with those extra 5 hours of your time? Likewise, I make sure I have time to dedicate to my business each week, not just my clients, because those few hours can be invaluable in terms of marketing and growth.
Nurture
Its so important to look after the clients you have, and yet so many businesses are just really bad at it! I had a really sour experience as a consumer just the other week with a company that we have been using for a long time now. Despite having contracted them for a while, my feedback was completely dismissed and I know it is because the business owner is just too busy to deal with it. Your core business should never be neglected and a VA can help you keep those existing clients feeling valued, when you just don’t have the time.
Opportunities
A combination of all of the above can lead to great opportunities to grow your business. I know with my current clients I have
- given them back time
- sorted things that they keep meaning to get round to
- implemented tools that have worked for my own business
- drawn on a whole variety of skills from research to writing to tech
- become a valued member of their team
That’s a pretty good place to start a plan for growth!