Are you ready to hire a VA?

You’re feeling overwhelmed at everything to get done for your upcoming launch. You get frustrated answering the same questions over and over again. You are finding it hard to keep on top of all the moving parts within your business. There is so much you should be doing but just can’t get to it all. Maybe that is a sign that you need to get some help in your business.

Your friends and fellow business buddies may suggest getting a VA or Virtual Assistant. But are you ready to take this step? You are busy and can’t keep on top of everything that needs to be done. Surely that means you are ready? Yeah, it might. However, there are so many more things to consider when you want to get someone to help with your business. It’s not just about being super busy. Just like your clients when starting their health and fitness journey, you too need to be ready, willing, and able to engage someone to help you.

So, let’s look at some considerations in determining whether you are ready, willing, and able to take on a VA.

Are you ready?

You feel like you need to get some help in your business before you crash into a spiral of exhaustion and burnout. To determine whether you are truly ready to take on a virtual assistant, ask yourself:

Do you know what tasks you want to be done?

Virtual assistants can take on a variety of different tasks. Determining what you would like to outsource will help you choose the type of VA you hire. In a previous blog, I looked at various tasks a VA could do for health and fitness coaches. You can find that here.

An easy way to work out what tasks you want to outsource is to write a list of all the tasks you do in your business first. Go through that list and cross off what you absolutely love doing and would never consider outsourcing. Now go through the list and identify the items that:

• you really dislike doing but must be done whether you like it or not;
• you are simply not good at;
• are easy to hand over to someone else; or
• are not in your zone of genius.

These are the things you could consider outsourcing. If you find there are still too many items on that list, go through it again and work out what takes you a lot of time to do and is crucial to your business that gets done consistently. Start with these.

Finding someone who can complete these tasks well can help you move your business forward and give you time to focus on what you are truly good at; COACHING!

Have you documented your processes?

In business, it is essential to document all your processes. In corporate organisations, these documents are called Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs. They are simply a document that outlines what you do and how you do it. Think of it as a handbook on how you run your business.

Your document doesn’t have to be anything flash, with exciting graphics. It just needs to have instructions for each task you undertake. You could choose to document what you do in step-by-step written instructions or a video for each one. It’s your handbook, so it’s up to you!

While this isn’t crucial, it does help when taking on someone to help in your business. It makes it easy to train a VA and then be an ongoing guide that they can reference. If you don’t have your processes documented, you could also work with a VA to help you do this.

Do you have your branding documented?

If you are looking for help in creating documents or graphics that your audience will see, you must have your branding documented. Think social media, website, landing pages, email marketing. All these things should reflect you and your business. And your audience will know they are from you! Ensuring that you have your preferred fonts, colours and logo documented will ensure that all materials will be consistent.

You can take it one step further and include your preferred styles and messaging. If you’ve got slightly different styles and messaging for the various programs you run, you might consider putting this into the document.

Are you willing?

Being ready to hire a VA is all well and good, but are you willing to have someone else working with you in your business? You may already have coaches or trainers working for you, however having someone working behind the scenes, helping you manage your business, is a little different. So, ask yourself:

Are you willing to let go of control and put trust in a VA?

Trusting someone else with your business admin, sales, marketing, etc., can be a significant barrier for some coaches. It can be daunting to let go of control of aspects of your business management when it has just been you doing it all for so long.

Are you willing to have someone completing tasks for you? Can you trust another person to help you move your business forward? If not, then you need to reassess whether you really want to outsource and grow your business.

A VA might not do things exactly as you do. Can you allow them to do the task in the best way (for them) as long as you receive what you want as the end result?

The control you give up will entirely depend on the task to be completed and the experience of the VA you are hiring. You need to hire a VA that you feel has the skills and expertise you require.

How much work are you willing to commit to giving a VA?

How much are you willing to commit to giving to a VA with so many tasks that you could outsource? You don’t want to be in a situation where you commit to more work than what you have to give them. It’s far better to underestimate the work than overcommit and end up spending time looking for things for them to do.

A way you could look at it is: how much time do you want to put back into your day or week? Are there tasks on your list that take you this long? What could you do with this time? The answers to these questions might form part of your decision about the amount of work you are willing to commit to a VA.

Are you willing to be available for a VA?

Hiring a VA isn’t something you can set and forget. Excellent communication is vital between you and a VA. They are part of your team, just as a coach would be. Are you willing to be available to answer questions and provide what the VA needs to help you? You wouldn’t expect a coach to program for and train your clients without all the information they need (client injuries, medical history, etc.). You can’t expect a VA to complete tasks if you haven’t provided all the information or ample time to get it done. If they’ve asked questions or requested further information, your delayed response (or lack of response) will slow down the task completion.

Are you able?

Once you’ve determined that you are ready and willing to hire a VA, you need to make sure that you are able to. Many businesses spend the time researching and hiring a VA, only to realise that they are not in a position to onboard, train, and keep them on. Take the time to check in with yourself on the following factors:

Are you able to allocate time to onboard and train a VA?

Hiring, onboarding, and training a VA will take your time upfront. You have to be able to allocate time in your schedule to ensure that you onboard and train a VA properly. It is far better to spend an hour on training than waste two or three hours fixing errors that could have been avoided. Also, taking the time to validate their work in the beginning will give you peace of mind that they understand your standards and expectations.

Are you financially able to outsource?

There is absolutely no point in looking to outsource to a VA if you cannot afford to do so. There is nothing more frustrating (for you and the VA) to complete the onboarding and training, only to get through a week or two and realise that you just don’t have the cash flow to keep them on. Review your budget to ensure you can allocate the funds to pay them over the short- and long term. If the budget checks out, weigh up whether you are willing to spend your money on a VA. You can consider the cost as buying time to create more revenue for your business. Liken it to how you pay money for software to streamline your processes and buy back time in programming.