As a Coach, Entrepreneur or Small business owner at what point should you consider outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant or Freelancer?
- Do you wait until your To-Do list is longer than your arm?
- Or perhaps until your partner or kids start to forget what you look like?
- Perhaps it’s when you realise you have no social life any longer, or have not been to your yoga class or hit the gym for weeks?
As a small business owner, it can be difficult to decide at what point you should bring in help. In the beginning, everything is new, you are learning all the time and are excited by all that you do.
At the start you are keen to keep costs low, so you learn to juggle many hats and multi-task!
However, as your business grows so does all the work that is entailed to keep it going. These tasks soon start to take up more and more time and lots of your energy too.
You may start to realise that some tasks are just not fun anymore. Other tasks are just not your forte or are taking too long to complete.
All your ideas for business growth and expansion sit on your To-Do list day after day, week after week as you get bogged down in all the day-to-day administration.
Before you know it, you are not moving forward. You are not finding the time to be creative, or the energy to go out and network and make new connections.
Your enthusiasm starts to wane. Perhaps your health may not be so optimal either as you start to burn the candle at both ends as you try to keep on top of everything.
If this sounds familiar in any way, then it is most definitely time to consider outsourcing and bringing in help.
However, I would actually suggest that this is not the optimal time to get started with outsourcing. The smart, savvy Coach, Entrepreneur or Small Business Owner will get started with delegating long before they get to the stage of exhaustion and overwhelm.
Remember bringing in help doesn’t need to involve recruiting full time or even part-time staff, with all the costs that that entails. Outsourcing can start with bringing in a Freelancer or Virtual Assistant for just a few hours per week or month. You can even outsource to a Virtual PA on an ad hoc or project basis to start with.
By starting small and starting early you have the time and energy to decide which are the best tasks for you to delegate. You can test with some low-risk tasks. This give you the time to get to know the person you have hired. It also allows them to get to know you and your business too.
You will start to build a strong working relationship with your freelancers. As your business grows, you will already have the team in place that you know well, that you like and most importantly trust. You will have no hesitation or feel any stress around delegating more complex tasks to them.
So, if you would like to find out more about working with a Virtual Personal Assistant or would like to have a chat about how to get started with outsourcing, then do not hesitate to contact me for a 30-minute discovery call (no charge)?
Your business, your family and your health will thank you for it!
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