The trending secret weapon for your business.
This is where I am going to give you inside knowledge about the trending secret weapon for your small business!
In this 6 part series we are going to cover:
- Who is a Virtual Assistant
- What does a Virtual Assistant Do
- Where does a Virtual Assistant Work
- When does a Virtual Assistant Work
- Why do you (small business owner) need a Virtual Assistant and best of all
- How to find a Virtual Assistant
- Who is a Virtual Assistant?
A Virtual Assistant is a real, live person who provides professional administrative, technical, or creative assistance to other businesses on the go, or from a home office. A Virtual Assistant can be a man or woman and do work for local or remote businesses.
My Name is Anne, I am a Virtual Assistant and owner of AmbitiousVA (aka Ambitious Virtual Assistance) I provide virtual business services to small & medium businesses owned and operated by Passionpreneurs (People who start businesses, based on passion) it’s my mission to help them succeed in modern marketing and systems & processes that streamline and encourage growth while accelerating sales!
It’s so nice to meet you and I’m so glad you are here! My goal is to make sure you as a small business owner are informed and educated on this trending secret weapon for your business!
Have you worked with a Virtual Assistant before? Share your experience.
To learn more about me you can go here
- What does a Virtual Assistant do?
Thanks for sticking around for What does a Virtual Assistant do?
A Virtual Assistant provides a specific skill set of services to other businesses. These services are based on an expert skill level to help small business owners reduce burnout and overwhelm while reducing employee expenses and accelerating growth!
A Virtual Assistant can help small, medium or large enterprises in areas where they find shortcomings or owners don’t have enough time to manage themselves or tasks they find tedious.
Virtual Assistants have been around since about 2006 in the online world and are becoming a growing trend for small brick and mortar businesses in their communities. Many Virtual Assistants are business owners themselves and understand the many functions and responsibilities that come from running a business. A lot of Virtual Assistants not only provide support and professional services to Brick and Mortar Product based businesses but other industries such as Ecommerce, Bloggers, Photographers, Coaches, Real Estate, Insurance and many others.
A Virtual Assistant is seen as professional services for another business and can have many benefits come tax time. I’m not a CPA, but I highly recommend you run it by one to determine the maximum benefits you can have as a business owner.
You can read the AmbitiousVA Company Profile by clicking here.
- Where does a Virtual Assistant work?
Many Virtual Assistants work from a home office. However, some of them have the capacity to work while they travel, from a kitchen table, or even a coworking place.
This provides ultimate flexibility. Virtual Assistants are not employees, and are not required to work in an office setting of a client (another business) and are to be considered a business partner.
This works in your favor as a small business owner because a Virtual Assistant is responsible for their own insurance, employee expenses, tools, equipment and travel expenses.
Unless directly related to a specific service which they would discuss in detail and outline in their contract. This greatly reduces employee costs and increases the value of their services. This however, does not mean they are on-call or available to only your business, we will discuss that in the 4th part of this series coming next.
- When does a Virtual Assistant work?
So, by now you probably want to know when do they work? Realistically, it is all about their own availability and schedule. A Virtual Assistant should always lay out their normal business hours, communication preferences and times. These are usually to make sure you are on the same page with your new VA!
This includes time zones, project deadlines discussed during the discovery and onboarding call or reiterated in a Welcome Packet after a signed contract.
Always discuss major deadlines and work scope. Some Virtual Assistants may be completely booked up with clients until a specific date. It is not uncommon for a Virtual Assistant who specializes in certain areas to prebook clients 3 to 6 months in advance.
The main thing to remember is to communicate your workload requirements. As a small business owner, you may not realize that during a discovery call a good virtual assistant will ask you approximately how much time you are spending on specific tasks.
So, if you aren’t tracking your time spent on your social media, or bookkeeping or inbox management now would be a good time to start. Especially if you are considering outsourcing those tasks to a Virtual Assistant. I bet you are wondering now just exactly why would you need a Virtual Assistant?
- Why do you need a Virtual Assistant?
We are entering the home stretch! The biggest question asked, is
“Why do I need a Virtual Assistant?”
You are probably thinking:
“I’m an entrepreneur, I can do everything!”
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I’m here to tell you that’s exactly why you need one. You shouldn’t be doing everything for your small business. There comes a time that after you’ve set it up for success you should be running it like a CEO. Managing it, coming up with new ideas for growth and reaping the benefits.
In case you missed it, last month I published the
5 Key Warning Signs it’s time to Outsource for your small business.
If you have the time, I highly recommend you read it and take the Business Owner Assessment.
A lot of Virtual Assistants are very passionate in helping others from behind the scenes and they want your business to succeed just as much as you do!
Logically, you need a virtual assistant because of these reasons:
- You will save time & money
- You will feel more freedom from mundane business tasks
- You will have a secret weapon to accelerate your business growth
I can only assume you are now asking how do I find one? I’m glad you asked, that’s next!
- How do you Find a Virtual Assistant?
We made it! Give yourself a reward! This is the final piece you have been waiting for! Let’s recap real quickly, we’ve talked about:
- Who a Virtual Assistant is (Me!)
- What a Virtual Assistant does (promotes growth and time freedom!)
- Where a Virtual Assistant works (remote office setting)
- When a Virtual Assistant works (based on availability and project scope)
- Why you need a Virtual Assistant (CEO’s shouldn’t do everything!!)
Now, we are going to cover the How you find a quality Virtual Assistant. This can specifically apply to local brick & mortar businesses too!
Why you ask? Well because you may not even know where to start. Sure, a quick google search might work, but let me tell you that is a rabbit hole as a small business owner you do not want to go down. You may even need a Virtual Assistant to research finding a quality Virtual Assistant for you.
There are three simple words.
Word Of Mouth.
I know. Sounds too easy and simple right? It is.
Ask your other fellow business owners, go to networking events and open a discussion! More than likely they will recommend someone they know or have worked with in the past. Even if the Virtual Assistant they know doesn’t specialize in what you need they can recommend another Virtual Assistant. If there is something we can do well as entrepreneurs, its network and connect!
If you are feeling randy, you can schedule a discovery call with me, I’d be glad to talk out your questions or concerns and point you in the right direction. As a business owner, though there are 3 main things you should really know for yourself and your business before you start looking.
- What areas are your business pain points. (what brings you the least amount of joy running your business?)
- What is your budget for working with a Virtual Assistant? (show me the money! Seriously this should not be an awkward discussion)
- What are your expectations of a Virtual Assistant? (we’ve all got them, it’s okay!)
That’s it you’ve made it through everything you need to know about a Virtual Assistant. Now go find that secret weapon!
Take the Small Business Owner Self Assessment and see if you are ready to Outsource to a Virtual Assistant!
Don’t forget: I’ll be doing a Live Video Series on Facebook during the month of September, where you will be able to join, contribute and ask questions!
Make sure you go over to my AmbitiousVA facebook page like it and follow it for the LIVE Series and watch all 6 parts to get your free download.
I’ll even include a LIVE LINK TO MY BONUS DOWNLOAD:
The Ultimate Virtual Assistant Glossary.
A convenient guide to VA Lingo for Small Business Owners
IT WILL:
- Give you confidence when scheduling your first discovery call
- Give you common virtual assistant terms and definitions
- You will go into the discovery call prepared and informed
Quick reminder: AmbitiousVA rebranded to Anne Leah & Co., to serve a bigger purpose.
For all the links and resources Click Here.
