Deciding to work with a Virtual Assistant can feel like a daunting task.
You are probably already in overwhelm, and feeling too busy to do anything extra, but doing a little bit of pre-work will go a long way in helping you to find the right person to support you in your business.
Here are the 3 important things to consider when you are looking for a VA:
1 – Create Your VA Wish List
To figure out the best place to start, I advise business owners to do the following exercise – I call it your VA Wish List.
Starting on Monday, compile a list of every single thing you are doing related to your business. Each time you do something, write it on the list. Break down every task and make the list as exhaustive as possible. Do this for a full week. If you don’t currently have a VA, you will likely have a fairly long list. That’s great!
At the end of the week, start to categorize your list (coloured highlighters or circling like items with coloured pen works well). You can categorize in a bunch of ways – similar tasks, things you love to do, things you hate to do, things you could outsource, things you don’t know why you are even doing them. The possibilities are endless.
The idea is simple. You want to make a short list of things that you might be able to outsource first. That’s why I call it your VA Wish List. You wish you could have someone else do these things.
That’s where you begin when you start looking for a VA – with the most pressing things, the easiest things to outsource, or the biggest number of small tasks you can. Whatever you decide, you are heading down the right path.
2 – Set Your Budget
What is your budget for a VA? I know, I know, as little as possible. You probably still think you can’t afford a VA. But look at that list you just made above. YOU are doing everything right now.
How many hours is it taking you to do all of that stuff? What is your billable rate? What is it actually costing you to do the admin in your business?
Let’s think about this – a VA charges anywhere from $25/hr to $50/hr and beyond. AND they know how to do a lot of that stuff on your list much better than you do. Do you realize that you probably will only be paying for a fraction of the time you are currently committing to your admin – and at a lower rate than your billable rate?
When you think of it that way, fix a number to your budget. What can you afford?
Any VA you talk to should be able to work within your budget. If your budget is low, you might not be able to get everything you want done, but you can build up to it. Once you start outsourcing and freeing up your time to work with your clients and to find new clients, you will understand the value of it.
Knowing what you can afford to spend makes it easier for the VA to figure out the best way to help you within your budget.
3 – Ask for References
Be sure that when you interview people you ask for references. Why is this so important? Like anyone coming in to work with you, you want to be sure that they know what they are doing.
Even if you decide that you want to work with a new VA (because you think it will be cheaper), they should give you references to check. You need to make sure they know how to do the things you need them to do.
Growing together is fine – but it is important to get the best value for your money, especially when you are trying to get out of the state of overwhelm you are in.
And virtual workers can sometimes not be who they say they are. It’s a warning of sorts, sure, but you want to be able to know that this is an actual person you will be working with. Speak on the phone with them if you can before agreeing to work together, and seek out people that they have worked with before.
It’s precautionary but it’s an important step that many business owners miss. Don’t miss it!
Those are my best tips to get you started as you are considering bringing support into your business for the first time. I hope you find them useful!
Want more tips on hiring a Virtual Assistant?
I would love to get to know you better and answer any questions you have on my Facebook page. I do a Facebook Live video training session every week there that I invite you to join us for – Thursdays at 11 am Eastern.
For more tips and resources, I hope you will join me there!