Research conducted by Simply Business found that 49% of UK small business owners struggle with time management, highlighting the need for flexible and agile support mechanisms. Managing multiple responsibilities while aiming for growth and efficiency can be challenging. Hiring a VA can be a great and cost-effective solution to reduce administrative tasks and improve operational effectiveness.
What Do You Need Assistance With?
For most small business owners, the biggest headache is the back-office tasks like administration, emails, proposals, invoicing, and other similar tasks. Whether you employ a part-time person or opt for a remote freelancer, their help can be invaluable and free up your time to concentrate on running the business.
As a freelance Operations Manager, I support small business owners with various things, but I am currently focusing more on providing IT and tech support to their clients. Most importantly, I always ask my clients to give me clear guidelines, time frames, and goals. You are paying for my support and advice and need to make the most out of it.
Improving Communication With Your Support
Working with a VA or freelancer can be an excellent way to streamline your workload and achieve your goals. To ensure a successful partnership, the first key is communicating clearly. They need to know your preferred mode of communication (Slack, Asana, WhatsApp, etc.) and your working hours so you can work together most efficiently. Setting clear expectations and defining tasks and responsibilities can create a solid framework for a productive and successful partnership.
Investing in comprehensive training programmes and professional software can be an excellent tool to help them understand your processes and preferences. The goal is to help my clients save money. Still, I also appreciate the value of investing in certain aspects of their projects, such as essential calendar events or lengthy video meetings. Balancing paid and free resources allows you to set realistic targets and timelines while carefully monitoring progress and results.
Finding The Right Assistance
As I work with more clients, I have found that “niching” down or specialising in a sector or task is becoming more critical. When I started, I wanted to be all things to all people. Three years in, I realised that specific tasks suit my skills better, and I deliver better results for clients. I also know that my personality only works for some people, which will always be true – you can’t get on with everyone!
Determining the specific assistance needed for your business and your personality involves a strategic assessment of your current challenges and long-term objectives:
- Before even starting to talk to a VA, agency or recruiter, you must comprehensively review your daily tasks and responsibilities.
- Examine your long-term business objectives and identify crucial tasks for accomplishing them.
- Identifying areas where your business is inefficient and could be overloaded is an essential and manageable member. These are tasks you may need to delegate, so make sure your list is one you are comfortable with.
- Determine which areas require the most external assistance based on urgency, complexity, and strategic importance. These could be time-consuming, more repetitive, or outside your core competency to free up resources for strategic initiatives. The key is knowing yourself best, the type of personality you work best with, and what you need help with.
- Make sure you have a Discovery call with potential support, and be clear on what help you need. It gives you a chance to get to know them as much as possible in a short time, and it also provides the VA with an opportunity to work out if their skills match your requirements. Be bold and say they are not the right person for you if you feel the match is wrong.
The Relationship
As you start to work with the VA, make, you have to make a connection – work ethics, working hours, time frames – this will be a partnership and like any meeting of the minds, you have to be comfortable working together, and trust will play a large part in this.
The last thing I want as a service provider is to think that I missed something critical, didn’t deliver the right results or let you down. Many VAs are, by definition, supporting staff and strive to please the client, so having that relationship and honesty is crucial for me to enjoy what I do.
Selecting the right Virtual Assistant or freelancer is vital for small business owners who want to increase efficiency and achieve long-term growth. A mismatch of personality or skill set can cost you time, money, and add stress to your working days. Try the freelance route first before deciding on a part-time employee. You can make a limited financial commitment and get a better idea of how to interact with a support person or team and the results you want to achieve. It’s all a learning experience!
If you want to talk over your business requirements or even to talk about if a VA could help (the answer may be no!), contact me here and let’s have a chat about things.
Additional Resources:
- According to a report by the Professional Association for Freelancers and the Self-Employed (IPSE), the number of freelancers in the UK increased by 46% between 2008 and 2016.
- Research conducted by Simply Business found that 49% of UK small business owners struggle with time management, underscoring the need for strategic support mechanisms such as VAs.
