My outsourcing starts at home

I’ve visited the idea of hiring a cleaner for my home countless times over the years, though in my head I was going to justify it by becoming so busy with work that I wouldn’t even have time on the weekends to do it myself regularly.

It sounds ridiculous when I type it, let alone say it out loud!

That all changed a couple of months ago when I was asked to speak at this year’s National Home Staging Symposium about how to find and work with a virtual assistant (VA).

I knew that I’d need to explain what a VA was, because of the blank looks I often get at events when I’m asked what I do (there is a reason Rogue Monday references “business support services”!). Though that part was easy.

What I really needed was inspiration to explain why anyone should hire a Virtual Assistant.

Now there are plenty of different opinions on why and when you should get a VA, though I would say it’s when you find yourself working on things that aren’t the best use of your time and, of course, when your business has started generating an income. VAs don’t work for free!

But what did that mean to my audience? How could I explain the concept of “the best use of your time”?

As I was “researching” (procrastinating) for my presentation, I read a post by the event’s keynote speaker, Denise Duffield-Thomas about the types of paid support she gets at home which allows her to focus on her business and family.

I had a cleaner booked in within an hour of reading that blog post. Being 7 months pregnant may have helped as well!

That life-changing decision de-stressed my life and I remembered that I’ve always determined the best use of my time by seeing my time as an hourly rate.

You may think you aren’t busy enough to justify a virtual assistant because there is not enough work coming through the door. Though if a VA worked for just 3 hours a week to give you back 3-5 hours, how much more chargeable work could you bring in the door?

I’ve assumed you know what this is, from when you decided how much to charge your clients!

If you don’t know, your homework is to work out how much you would have to pay someone else per hour to do your client work for you. Not your admin or quoting, the work your clients engage you to do.

…you should be able to work out what your budget is for a virtual assistant. Just remember, that the less you’re willing to pay, the more likely you are to find yourself spoon-feeding tasks, repeating instructions and fixing mistakes.

Likewise, the more you’re willing to pay, the more likely you’ll find someone experienced and highly efficient who you can delegate responsibility (not individual tasks) to.

It’s up to you to decide what you’re willing to spend more of – your time or your money – but remember your time as an hourly rate!

That’s also why I always recommend writing a scope for the virtual assistant role you want to fill to ensure you make the hiring process as quick as possible, however, if you’re like many of my clients and take care of decisions in one phone call – I’m ready.

One last note – when you are budgeting for a virtual assistant, factor in the extra 5-10 hours someone will need to spend learning about your business. When you are interviewing, make sure you ask them how long they think this will take and whether or not they charge for this time.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Inbox out of control?