It’s not all about the money, money, money…
Hiring a VA is a big step, hiring abound to help you is actually a massive step in any business but if you get that person or that choice right you’ll never regret it. There is a difference between employees and people you retain to help you run your business- one has very little investment (generally) I’m the business and one should (in theory) be a passionate member of your team.
If you can find someone who shares your passion, values and work ethic then you’ve hit the jackpot and that relationship will only help you drive your business forward and nine times out of ten that person could be a VA.
However, there so many limiting myths about hiring a VA that many people don’t take that plunge. I thought I’d take a moment to dispel a few of those misconceptions:
What’s the point of hiring someone when I’m going to spend all of my time managing them? Well if you employ the right person with the right set of skills then that should never be the case. There might be some initial teething issues as you learn how to work together, how to best communicate or how you both like to do things. Micromanagement never helps any employee and it should always be avoided, if you find yourself doing it make look at why you do, what makes you anxious as it may not be the work at all but something deeper.
It’s quicker to do it myself! That may be true at first but ultimately once your VA is up to speed then you will be saving yourself hours in time and you’ll get more confident at delegation too as the trust builds.
It’s too expensive for me. Okay let’s look at this logically, if you want to employ a cleaner to free up your time and they cost £20 per hour which sounds a lot you need to think about the opportunity cost of you doing it- for the two hours you’re not working and cleaning you’re making £0 but if you can earn £30 an hour then earning over that time whilst someone else cleans makes financial sense. The same is true of VAs, they take the tasks that waste your time, take you longer than they should or just don’t enjoy and allow you to use that time in earning money. So think about it in terms of your own value and how much more you can put into your business.
I tried it before & it didn’t work. Finding the right VA is like finding the your soul mate (that might be a bit dramatic!) but it’s true in a way, you might need to kiss a few before you find your VA Charming but it is worth it so don’t get disheartened if it’s not the perfect for first time.
The first, and most valuable step, is to have a conversation. Get recommendations, read reviews, do your research but ultimately you need to talk your potential soulmates and find the right fit for you. Think of it as an investment for you and for your business rather than it just being about the money.