Getting Serious About A Virtual Assistant

Business getting a little rocky?

Relationships becoming ‘unseated’?

Too many details to ‘rassle‘ with?

Many small business owners start out with a great idea for a product or service and great intentions but quickly find that there aren’t enough hours in the day to take care of all the tasks that are required to run a successful business. The worst case scenario is that they discover they don’t have the skills to deal with the everyday demands on their own.

Before long, the relationship between them and their business, clients and prospects begins to suffer and so too, the bottom line.  If you are relating to this scenario, maybe it’s time to get serious about finding the right kind of help to move your business forward.  And a Virtual Assistant might well be the answer. Here are a few things to consider.

1.  You CAN Afford the Help:

I hear business owners saying that they can’t afford to outsource. I say you can’t afford not to.  If the time you are spending on details is taking you away from billable time or closing sales, then you are being ineffective.  Furthermore, the income you are losing could be paying for your VA.  

But choosing to work with a VA shouldn’t be about a ‘quick and dirty race to the finish‘ of that one-time task.  Instead you should be looking to find and build a lasting relationship with a Virtual Assistant who, as a professional business owner like yourself, has the necessary business experience, skills and industry knowledge to help you propel your business forward. 

2.  Virtual Assistants are more than data entry people.

It’s time to start looking at a VA as a valuable business partner.  They aren’t just filling in your excel spreadsheet with your stock items. They are acting as your Inventory Manager.  If you are involved in Social Media, they’re not just posting your blog, they become your Public Relations Representative or your VP of Marketing etc.

A good partnership with a Virtual Assistant can be like a well oiled dressage team. Each contributes masterfully. One excels because of the other. The magic comes from repeated long term effort on both parts to achieve success and will overtime, appear effortless.

3.  It’s OK to trust someone else with your business.

Finally, a good working relationship with a VA requires trust on both parts. VAs have an innate willingness to help you succeed in your business goals.  That’s why we do what we do! A good VA will help you leap over those obstacles.  A really good partnership means both parties know when to be the horse and when to be the rider.

What are your thoughts?

While physically located in Newmarket Ontario where Joanne lives with her family, as a VA, she is virtually yours anywhere….

Thinking Outside the Box

I love thinking outside the box.  I am told I have a flair for the creative and I love using it not only in my home life but in business as well.  There is something very satisfying about taking a problem or challenge and turning it on its head to come up with a workable, interesting solution.

Take my friend’s tree for example.  She had an ornamental tree in her front garden that unfortuately did not survive.  She cut it down and had it sitting in her scrap heap ready for recycle day.  Well, I looked at that thing for a minute and instead of seeing a dead tree, I saw a chandelier! Crazy? I don’t think so.  What a wonderful opportunity to re-purpose nature’s beauty.

I took it home, adorned it with low wattage lighting and hung it under my pergola.  Now when guests come over, we have a softly lit dinner table that fits in beautifully with our natural woodland setting.  My biggest problem now is keeping the robins out of it come nesting time!   Even they think it’s wonderful!

I also used some shower curtain material which naturally repels water and mounted them on spring-loaded curtain rods (so as not to damage the wood decking).  This created a cafe-like feel. It’s very private and very cozy and in the winter time, I can easily remove them.  Both of these projects were easy on the pocket-book but high on the impact scale.

It was a great opportunity to extend our living space, and we have so many wonderful memories of dinner parties with close friends and family.   What could be better than that?!

While physically located in Newmarket Ontario where Joanne lives with her family, she is virtually yours anywhere….