Last Updated on March 21, 2019 by Paula
Hiring a virtual assistant is a huge step for any entrepreneur. It means giving up some control over your business. But it’s also your first move towards scaling up your business so that it can grow beyond its current limitations.
If you’re thinking about taking this crucial first step, there’s a certain mindset you need to cultivate first.
Learning to Let Go
When you hire a VA, you’re not giving away the keys to the kingdom. But you are letting go of some part of your business operations, even if it’s just a handful of tasks.
Your business is your baby. Up until now, you’ve done everything yourself. It’s easy to understand why outsourcing tasks is scary. The way to overcome this fear is to focus on the positive. Think about the immediate benefits you’ll receive from outsourcing some aspects of your business.
You can also mitigate this fear by being careful about what you hand over. Hire a VA you can trust and only share with them what they need to get the job done.
Outsourcing Costs Money
It’s certainly true that hiring a virtual assistant costs money. How much does it cost? This depends on what you need done. It’s also not a good idea to cut corners. If you pay as little as possible, it’s only natural that you’ll get what you pay for.
You can mitigate this risk by allocating a budget you can afford. Work out the numbers beforehand and make an offer that doesn’t break the bank. Hiring a virtual assistant, if done right, will earn you greater profits in the future.
One way to adjust your mindset is to think of hiring a VA as buying time. You pay for the VA to take tasks off your hands so that you have time to focus on more important things.
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Managing Others Is No Fun
One mindset challenge that many face is that they don’t want to become managers. Up to this point, you’ve only had to manage yourself and, for some of us, that’s enough of a monumental challenge. But now you have an assistant to work with.
Working with a VA isn’t the same as managing a busy office. First of all, as the name suggests, it’s “virtual.” You give the VA tasks to do and check in regularly to see how they’re doing. Once the training and onboarding is finished, they’ll require little management, and the investment you make in training will pay off with the time you gain.
So Many Things Can Go Wrong
You may have heard horror stories about virtual assistants who caused terrible headaches for other businesses. Especially the first time, hiring a VA isn’t easy and there are many things that can go wrong.
While it’s true that it’s a complex and often difficult process, you can overcome this by being prepared. Carefully consider the jobs you need completed, search for the right person, and prepare a good training and onboarding process to get them on track. It also helps to realize that a bad VA experience isn’t a business-ending event but a learning opportunity.
Want to learn how to hire the right VA and get started growing your business?
Check out my eBook Outsourcing: How to Hire Your First Virtual Assistant.
