This one hits close to home as a freelance virtual assistant/operations director/project manager myself. There are as many different kinds of support staff as there are names for them, but as those of us who are executors know, the relationship between the dreamers and the doers is a sacred one.
If you’re wondering if it’s time to hire a virtual assistant or project manager, Austin L. Church has a valuable rubric for you to review.
Not just for your clients, but track every moment that you are working on your business, especially including your admin work.
If you’re organizing your project board, track it.
If you’re answering emails, track it.
If you’re doing your favorite work that makes you the most money, track it.
Now that you have a week’s worth of your work mapped out, take stock of the time that you spent doing your best creative work. The work that makes you the most money. This should be at least 50% of your time.
Compare to the amount of time that you spent doing the other work. The work that doesn’t give you life and doesn’t make you much or any money. If this is more than 50% of your time, something needs to change.
Coach Liam Carnahan recommends thinking of the math this way. If you charge $100 per hour for your main work with your clients and it takes you 2 hours to do your admin work, that’s $200 that you have taken away from your business. If you can hire someone to do that 2 hours of work for less than $200, you’ll still come out ahead.
The next logical step in growing your business is getting someone to help you.
I personally find actual join in answering emails, finding the perfect slot for a complicated meeting, keeping track of details, and creating and maintaining a great spreadsheet.
Every time I share this, my creative and visionary friends are shocked. The idea that someone would actually enjoy the tasks that they dread is brand new. Unheard of.
But it’s true. We need each other.
There are complimentary people out there for the type of work you love and the type of work you need to do. All you have to do is ask.
Where can you find a great VA? Try out our Facebook Community (plus get some hot tips on how to use Moxie too!) or look on a job board like Freelancing Females. Someone is out there ready to take the tasks you dread and manage them quickly and with actual joy.
See the full workshop on what it’s like to hire a VA and how to develop a killer partnership here.
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