More Than WE Know

Recently, I published an article written by Tracy Phaup called the Top 10 signs you Need an Assistant. Today, I thought I’d balance out the message by identifying the Top Seven Signs that You Aren’t Ready to Hire a Virtual Assistant.

1)     You’re the only one who understands the vision.
When your business is new, it’s hard not to be protective of it. You are sure you are the only one who really understands what it’s all about and the beautiful future that lies ahead. And that might be true. Sometimes our ideas are still only half-formed and unclear. You know what you want but you don’t know how to articulate it.

It’s important to define your business as clearly as possible – for yourself and for others. Having a business plan, a marketing plan, a projection of growth – all of these are ways for others to see what you see, whether they are an assistant, a client, an investor or a loan officer.

If you are really struggling with articulating your vision, consider hiring a specialist to help you clarify it.   The clearer you can make it for others, the more they can help you make it a reality.

Until you can accurately describe your business, you are probably going to set yourself up for frustration and miscommunication if you hire an assistant.    

2)  You’re the only one who can do it the way you want
It’s hard to let go of control. It can feel scary; especially when you are sure you know exactly what you want and how you want it.  But sometimes it’s good to let go of control; it allows for more creativity. It enables you to use other people’s ideas.

Go ahead and describe the task in as much detail as you can: identify what you want, and when you want it, but don’t specify how you want it done. 

Your assistant is an expert in knowing how to do the things you ask. He or she has done these things for multiple clients and knows what works and what doesn’t. If you take the chance to let him or her do it their way, you might find that they have a more efficient or creative way to meet your needs. 

You always have control of what and when your tasks get done, but unless you can let go of some of the control of how they get done, you’re probably setting yourself up for aggravation if you hire someone else to do the work.  

3)   You are not sure exactly what you want
Maybe you know that you want a new web page, or an email campaign, or an accounting system, but you don’t really know the details of what you want. It’s outside of your area of expertise and experience.

You have a sense of what you want, but you can’t clearly articulate what you have in mind.  If that is the case, it is doubtful that the assistant is going to be able to come up with something to suit you.  You should have some idea of what you are looking for before you hire someone to build it. 

You can solve this gap by collaborating with an experienced assistant who can ask insightful questions, or show you portfolios that help you identify your needs. But don’t make the mistake of jumping in and giving assignments without being able to clearly describe the outcome you are looking for.

Unless you clearly identify the outcome you are looking for, you risk paying for re-work and extra hours, as your assistant struggles to get it right.  

4)   You’re not ready to share  
It’s okay to admit – early on your business can feel a lot like your baby – you want to do everything yourself.  But just like with a baby, if you insist on doing everything yourself for very long – you will get overwhelmed and burned out.  Pretty soon, what started out as fun and exciting, will turn into drudgery and stress.

Don’t get caught up in the honeymoon phase for too long – this is business after all – and you are your business’ most valued asset – you need to treat yourself with respect and care.

Be sure you really want help before you hire an assistant – otherwise you run the risk of continuing to be overly involved in the work itself, and not getting the benefit of increased time and productivity.  

5)  You have difficulty trusting others
Hiring an assistant may mean opening up parts of your business that make you uncomfortable.  For some assignments, your virtual assistant may need access to passwords, accounts and client information. There are certainly tasks they can do that are not confidential, but if the thought of letting someone in to that level of detail makes you worried – you may not get the full benefits of using an assistant.

Until you’re really comfortable sharing confidential information, don’t hire an assistant to help with sensitive tasks.    

6)  You’re not sure it is a real business  
Many entrepreneurs grow their businesses out of a hobby or special interest. It takes them a while for them to concede that they have a business and to treat it in a professional manner.  When you can confidently refer to yourself as a businessperson, and make plans for revenue and growth, then you are ready to treat your business, as a business. 

Until you are ready to admit that building your business professionally and taking it seriously is important to you, don’t bother investing in an assistant.   

7)  You are not yet earning any profits
While an assistant is an important person to hire soon in your business – because it enables you to focus on more of what is profitable – it is difficult to justify hiring one while you are still unprofitable. 

Early on, it’s possible you can handle the workload yourself. If there is little revenue, there is probably also little book-keeping to do, and few administrative tasks to handle. 

But as soon as possible, when the phone starts ringing, the receipts start piling up, and the products start needing to be shipped, hire a virtual assistant to help with the overflow, and free yourself up to do more of the value-added stuff. 

Until you have some positive revenue stream from your business, you might not want to add the expense of an assistant.  

In conclusion:  
When done for the right reasons and at the right time, working with a virtual assistant can give you a competitive advantage.  He or she can free you from routine tasks and enable you to focus on expanding your business without taking on the commitment of a full-time payroll.  But, done at the wrong time or for the wrong reasons – it can end in frustration, wasted expense and even disaster.

So, before you hire one – read the signs – are you ready for an assistant?

Have you hired an assistant? Why or why not? How has it worked for you?

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As a follow up on the discussion about effective time management, I was going to write an article about Virtual Assistants, but I found this wonderful article written by Tracy Phaup and decided I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Written by Tracy A. Phaup

Many executives and self-employed business people often find themselves in a position where they are struggling and they sometimes get stuck there. Here are the top 10 signs that you need an assistant to turn it around.

1. Creativity has dropped.

In today’s marketplace being creative is almost a necessity in order to be able to drive a successful business. Competition is fierce and customers are inundated with information.

Protecting your creativity and designing an environment that nurtures it could make or break you in the market place and hiring an assistant could be the deal maker you’re hoping for.

2. You feel overwhelmed.

Nobody operates at their best when they’re feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes just being able to delegate some of the busy work can create just the space you need to start working smarter - not harder!

3. Details are being overlooked.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said that “God is in the details”, and certainly projects and tasks run a lot smoother when attention is paid to them.

Having an assistant working in harness with you means that two pairs of eyes - not one - are looking out for the details.

4. Opportunities are being missed.

If you find yourself smacking yourself on the forehead on a regular basis because you’ve realized you’ve dropped the ball on a great opportunity then you are an ideal candidate for a personal or virtual assistant.

Sometimes self-employed business owners feel that they can’t afford to hire the help they need, but if you’re missing opportunities then maybe you can’t afford not to.

5. The doing has overtaken the managing.

It takes leadership to get to the finish line of running a successful business. If you’re spending all of your time “in the trenches” and never get to the business of actually managing your business then you could be in some very risky territory.

When was the last time you devoted a significant amount of time and energy focusing on managing your business?

If it’s been a while, you might really want to consider taking immediate action on hiring an assistant.

6. You simply recognize the opportunities it offers.

If you’re looking forward to working with an assistant but something is stopping you, then how can you remove the obstacle to making it happen?

Now is always the time to take action.

7. The busy work is consuming your time and energy.

If you spend your entire day working like a demon but don’t feel that you’ve accomplished anything meaningful by the end of the day it may be because the busy work is consuming your valuable resources.

Beginning a brand new relationship with an assistant certainly has a learning curve for both of you, but bringing your assistant up to speed is an investment; throwing your time and energy at the busy work isn’t.

8. You have lots of great ideas that you don’t follow through on.

I’m incredibly creative and brainstorming is one of my strengths, so I know that for me even if I had a battalion of personal assistants I’d still never get to take action on all of my ideas, but having an assistant not only frees up more of my time to take action on the best ones, it also gives me a partner to help me sift out what the best ideas are from the ideas that I find exciting but wouldn’t be a profitable use of my time and energy.

A personal assistant can be a lot more than someone to delegate to if you’re willing to develop the relationship. They could turn out to be your most committed cheerleader as well as your coach and advocate for your highest success.

9. There are never enough hours in the day.

It can be a lot of fun to be engaged in a challenging life and constantly stretching to meet its demands, but if you never get to end your day feeling like a winner then it’s time to step back and re-evaluate how you’re spending your time.

10. You’ve reached a frustrating impasse.

If you’re just throwing up your hands and feeling like you don’t even want to play in the sandbox anymore, you need to expand your team. And maybe the team member you need to add is a personal or virtual assistant.

How could an assistant help to move you through the impasse?

Your partner in saying “YES!” passionately to life,
Tracy A. Phaup
http://www.tracy-phaup.com
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Tracy does a great job of describing the situations that a Virtual Assistant could be useful. The beauty of the arrangement is that you can add help without having the responsibility of a full time employee and a regular payroll. You can hire a virtual assistant for only the hours that you need and for only the tasks that you want - leaving you free to focus on the areas in which you add value to your business.

What about you? Do you have an assistant? What would you use one for? Would you consider hiring one? Why or Why not?