5 things you need to do before hiring a VA
So, you’re thinking about hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA)? We don’t blame you. The demand for VAs has rocketed of late as more and more businesses are seeking remote workers who aren’t tied to a permanent contract of employment. As many businesses have had to pivot and increase their online presence, so too have VAs become more popular. And it’s easy to understand why.
Add value to your business
Hiring a VA is an investment and will add value to your business when utilised properly. It’s no good hiring someone to do all the jobs you yourself don’t want to do if you yourself don’t make great use of the hours that have been freed up. If you’re looking to grow your business but you’re drowning in the day-to-day running, repetitive tasks, necessary admin or you don’t have the expertise yourself for areas which need addressing, hiring a VA is a must.
Optimise your operations
A VA can help optimise your business operations, giving you more hours to work on what you do best, safe in the knowledge the day-to-day stuff is covered. A VA should be considered an extension of your existing team, one who adds value and whom you can rely on for support. VAs come armed with knowledge, experience, and expertise in a variety of areas and usually have a niche skillset to offer alongside general duties. Bear this in mind when on the hunt for the right person.
That being said, there are some necessary things YOU need to do first before you go out and hire your ideal VA.
1. Know why you are hiring a VA – what is it you want to change/achieve?
Understanding WHY you want or need a VA is really important.
- Is your business growing and you no longer have time to deliver the best to your clients because your time is spent on admin?
- Is there a specific area in which you’re lacking expertise such as social media or marketing?
- Are you disorganised or do you lack processes or struggle with managing projects from start to finish?
- Do you simply wish you had more hours in the day to get done what needs to get done?
There could be a multitude of reasons, so it’s worth sitting down and identifying exactly what it is you’d like to achieve before you begin your search for a VA.
2. Know what it is you want to delegate
If you don’t know what you want to delegate, you won’t be able to identify the deliverable tasks a VA is able to achieve for you. This can be frustrating on both sides of the relationship, if you hire a VA without first assessing what you can relinquish as things will be unclear. This can lead to crossed wires and wasted hours which benefits no one.
There are some simple ways to figure out what to delegate to a Virtual Assistant and fortunately, I have a handy Delegation Checklist you can download to get you started.
3. Know your budget
Assuming you’ve already factored in how much you think you can afford to invest on a VA, you may not have thought about what added value they’ll be bringing.
Sure, a VA will achieve results with an hour or so a month but given 20 hours, for example, can be a game-changer for your business. As I’ve already mentioned, a VA is bringing more to the table than merely doing the tasks you don’t want to do or find too time consuming. When you factor in the additional benefit of having more of your own time to focus on revenue generating tasks that lead to attracting new clients and business growth, you’ll come to realise a VA can be worth their weight in gold. The more you work and communicate with your VA, the better understanding of your business they’ll gain meaning you’ll receive fresh ideas, loyalty and dedication, and a genuine care for your business.
Read our testimonials to see how we’ve made a difference to our clients.
4. Have procedures and guidelines to follow
When you can communicate clearly what you need your VA to accomplish, they’re in a much better position to do so with efficiency and delight. You don’t want to spend hours training your VA or trying to explain to them exactly what you need.
When you have clear, documented processes, brand guidelines, video tutorials and suchlike, your VA will be able to hit the ground running, lowering your initial costs and shortening the time in which it takes them to learn the ropes.
5. Learn to let go!
Yes, it’s easier said than done, but to get the best from your VA you must learn to let go and let them do what they do best so you can do what you do best. Stay in touch regularly, communicate often, but trust your VA. They will come to you should they need further instruction or if something is unclear. It’s time for you to enjoy the desk space and headspace that comes with hiring a great VA.
Once you have most or all of these areas mastered, it’s time to reach out and speak to a few different VA companies to see who you gel with. If you’d like to talk to us, you can call us on 07814218142 or email joanne@joannemanville.co.uk.
We recommend you take our quiz to find out what type of support you need to help you to create the business you want and you can download our ’30 ways to use a VA’ guide here.