The primary reason that business owners and entrepreneurs hire a virtual assistant (VA) is because they don’t have enough time to do everything themselves. Fortunately they realize that delegating responsibilities gives them the leverage they need to work on their business instead of in it, thus allowing them to grow their business.
However, it doesn’t work out great every time. For as many as there are awesome success stories, we also encounter many virtual assistant partnerships that do not work out. One of the most dominant reasons is, ironically, also time. When you do not invest time to hire, onboard, train and manage your virtual assistant, then you will not experience the full benefits of having a VA on your team.
So you’re probably wondering, why hire a VA if it takes all of that time anyway? Isn’t it counter-productive?
The simple answer is no, it isn’t.
You need to invest the time early in the partnership in order to lay the foundation for greater returns in the future.
It begins when you are in the process of hiring your virtual assistant. You need to find exactly the right person to fulfill the role that you need filled. You need to take however much time it needs to find a VA who will match your needs and your business culture. You don’t want to hire someone on a whim, only to lose them a few months down the line because they simply didn’t work out.
Training
This is extremely crucial in the process. Taking the time to properly train your virtual assistant may take-up a lot of your time but it will be totally worth it.
Look at it this way. Choose with one task that you need to do daily, but know that you can delegate to someone else. Record the time it takes you every day, after say, 2 weeks, add that up.
If you instead, invested that time in training your virtual assistant, after a few weeks or even maybe just a few days that is something you get to take off your plate completely! If during this training period, you are able to document the procedures and create a process around it, you are also making it easier for your business in the future with new hires. You will get a return on your time investment that will be extremely valuable to your business set-up.
It’s just like any other hire, whether in-house or otherwise. You need to invest time, especially in the beginning of your work relationship in order to build a solid foundation for your virtual assistant.
Building Relationships
This will not take a whole lot of time, but make sure you build a good relationship with your Virtual Assistant. Investing in them means getting to know them at a personal level as well. You don’t have to be best friends, but developing a good relationship will foster loyalty and accountability and will ultimately be good for all parties involved.
Fortunately, you don’t have to do this alone. Scale Virtually can help you from hiring, to process development, onboarding and training. You will also get continual support from our team.
Schedule your free consultation call.