Maximizing Profits Using a Virtual Assistant
As a solopreneur or small business owner, you have probably struggled with - and
maybe pulled out a few hairs over how to play all roles necessary for managing and
running your business successfully. You are the service/product provider, business
strategist, marketing expert, web developer, cart manager, bookkeeper, administrator,
etc. You’ve learned to do all of these jobs but have mastered none very well and that’s
because your time is divided in too many directions. You are spread too thin. How
you really want to spend your time is by providing your services, selling your
products and generating revenue. You would happily hand over these other "hats" to
other people but the quandary is "who" do you hand them over to?
At some point, you may have decided to hire an employee only to find out that you
now have to manage their time and work tasks, provide them with benefits, manage
payroll (which requires more administrative tasks - UGH!), and you may even have
decided that you want them to work out of your home office space where you now
have to provide them with the proper equipment necessary to fulfill their duties. So,
instead of sharing the roles to alleviate the pain, you have effectively created more
work for yourself.
Luckily, there is a better choice that is growing in popularity ... outsourcing to a qualified Virtual Assistant. The best definition of virtual assistance that I've come across is defined by Cindy Greenway, author of Virtually Successful. Cindy defines a Virtual Assistant as "a professional independent contractor who provides expertise, skill and assistance to other professionals to help them build their business and generate more revenue." Virtual Assistants (also known as VAs) operate on a professional level and “partner” relationally with their clients to bring expertise and skills they already possess to the relationship. You do not need to payroll your VA nor do you need to manage her/his time. VAs work independently from their own home office and use their own equipment.
According to a new survey commissioned by Elance, Inc. and conducted by Harris Interactive®, 1,005 U.S. adult men and women were surveyed about outsourcing to Virtual Assistants and the results are that:
- 64% of U.S. adults would happily outsource a wide variety of tasks they dread.
- 55% say that working with a Virtual Assistant would allow them to focus on more important tasks and errands.
- 52% say they would have more leisure time to spend with friends, family, exercising or on vacation.
- 34% feel that their job performance would improve.
If you haven’t considered working with a VA, you should. Outsourcing projects and tasks that are weighing you down will free you up to focus on the areas of your business that only you can provide and will allow you to generate revenue for your business, thereby maximizing your profits. As an added benefit, working with a VA in a collaborative and long-term relationship will give you freedom you never realized you could experience.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this language with it: Virtually With You is a virtual assistance business delivering the highest quality professional administrative support services available in today's market. Karen Schatz, the founder of www.VirtuallyWithYou.com, is an administrative professional with 27 years experience in all aspects of office administration and management including web maintenance, email campaigning, desktop publishing, communications, IT and eCommerce development. Most recently, Karen has completed the Professional Virtual Author’s Assistant training and the Social Media Marketing training programs.
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