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How to Employ a Virtual Assistant: The Entrepreneur's Guide for outsourcing

Apr 21, 2022

A virtual assistant is among the basic and important decisions you can make as an business owner. If you're not capable of finding someone on your staff who you can confide specific tasks and tasks to, you'll consume your precious time and energy in activities that do not aid in the growth of your business.

Solopreneur vs Entrepreneur

The main difference in the "solopreneur" (someone with the title of being the sole proprietor of their business) and an entrepreneur or business owner is that they work as a team. A business owner can't be able to complete everything all by himself. They create systems and employ people to do tasks for them. This is a necessary step to making a company that will continue to grow, even when it's not in operation.

A team member on your team could be essential in making the shift from a solopreneur into the business owner, or, as Michael E. Gerber, author of the top-selling business guide "The E-Myth says, you can go from working at your business , to being able in your business. The addition of other members to your team will free up your time so you can be able to concentrate on tasks that will can have the greatest impact on your business and income.

In this article, I'll walk you through the steps that goes into hiring a virtual Assistant and share some specific tips and tools to aid you in managing virtual employees efficiently.

You can jump into:

When you've hired one of your Virtual Assistant, you can take the same steps to determine additional tasks to delegate, create new positions for your business and recruit more staff members until you occupy only one position in your business and that's Chief Executive Officer.

For now it's time to get your first Virtual Assistant.

Benefits of employing virtual workers

If you have just one virtual assistant, or an entire team of virtual workers, outsourcing remote workers is a significant aspect of productivity as well as on the development of your company.

Here are some of the greatest advantages of having a Virtual Assistant:

 It doesn't need a physical office

Based on where the area you live in, the cost of renting an office space can be costly. The use of a virtual assistant will allow the building of your staff while keeping costs low. Apart from several software applications for working with your virtual staff members, the most significant cost of employing virtual workers is what you pay for their time.

 Virtual Assistants cost nothing

Virtual Assistants are cost-effective alternatives to hiring regular employees. Virtual Assistants work as freelance contractors . The location they live in will determine the amount they earn could be significantly lower than what an individual employee from your area will cost you. The cost of a Virtual Assistant in the Philippines as an example usually is less than half of what the equivalent Virtual Assistant within North America costs for the identical tasks and responsibilities.

It's not restricted by the expertise of your local area (hire only the top of the top)

There are many entrepreneurs who do not have access to an local talent group of skilled candidates to fill the specific job. Virtual assistants are able to be hired anywhere around the globe if they have an internet connection. Being able to employ someone locally increases your number of potential candidates significantly.

ConvertKit Remote Team

Delegation helps prevent burnout

Being able to delegate certain duties and tasks to different individuals can be an important step towards preventing exhaustion. There are, unfortunately, lots of business owners who think they need to do everything themselves, and that's precisely what they are doing. It leads to lengthy working hours, lack of energy, feeling overwhelmed and being less able to devote time to different aspects of their lives including exercise, hobbies as well as family.

Be sure to spend more time in the areas of your force

There is no way to become an expert in everything. There is no need attempt to be. Whatever process or task you require to manage your company (including ones that you do not like or aren't comfortable working on! ), there are other specialists who can handle those aspects and are happy with this process. The hiring of people to help you delegate tasks frees you up to do things that you enjoy and that you're adept in.

The focus is on high-value earnings-generating activities

In the end, when you employ Virtual Assistants and you are capable of freeing up your time to concentrate on tasks that have a positive impact on your company over tasks that you assigned to the Virtual Assistant. That is, you can make time on the tasks that will have an immediate impact on revenue.

"Your most precious source of human resources (not only a business proprietor) is your TIME. The more you don't commit more, the more you will be focused. If you're focussed, the better influence you'll have in your life. As a result, everyone must at a minimum employ a virtual assistant."
Matthew Turner

Types of Virtual Assistants

One of the primary issues you'll have to have to consider as you consider hiring the services of a virtual Assistant is what services can they do for you?

The solution is pretty much all of it.

Insofar as they possess sufficient knowledge, training and experience as well as the proper tools, a Virtual Assistant can technically do anything which doesn't need their presence in person that is, when you consider it, could be quite a bit.

There various types of Virtual Assistants. It's vital to determine which Virtual Assistant will best suit the tasks you plan outsourcing.

The General Virtual Assistant

The most popular form that Virtual Assistant is known as a General Virtual Assistant (aka a General VA). A General VA is a person who is able to handle the daily tasks and processes essential for running your business, but not necessarily focussed on increasing it.

The duties you'd assign an General VA usually involve mechanical and repetitive for example, controlling the schedule of your emails or travel, scheduling your appointments, research studies in data entry as well as scheduling your postings on social media sites, and so on.

The Virtual Assistant Specialized

Specialized Virtual Assistant is one who has special skills and abilities, as well as being specifically focused on managing a certain method for your business. These are generally more expensive in comparison to General VAs since they have specific skills and will need only minimal education from the client.

tasks like such as customer service, bookkeeping video editing, and managing projects, for instance, are better suited for a Specialized VA.

HTML1 Outsourced tasks vs. the results

When you hire the help of a General VA, it is important to try to delegate certain processes and duties in order to give them training on the best way to complete those jobs and efficiently.

If you have a specialized VA it is recommended to outsource certain outcomes. The specialist VA is more experienced that you (that's why you should employ them!) for the jobs and procedures which are a component of their role. Since you're counting on their experience and skills in the specific jobs and procedures, you should inform the employees what be expected to do it and not how you'll accomplish it.

The increase in Twitter followers of 10 % every month, for example, is an instance of this. Importing blog content using Google Drive to WordPress, for instance is a crucial project to complete. What's the main difference?

What is the best way to become the Chief Executive Officer of your own company

If you didn't immediately hire your team right away after you started your business it's likely that you're assuming various tasks. Also, you're doing a variety of jobs as a result of which your time is spread across many different duties and tasks.

To become the chief executive of your company and spend your time exclusively performing the tasks that the CEO must devote their time on You must give specific tasks and duties to employees.

The secret is in simple math.

If you're looking to earn over 100k in annual revenues It's not possible to accomplish this by completing projects that pay twenty dollars an hour. If you can work more than 5,000 hours during 12 months (unlikely) it's an issue with math that's not an ideal fit. You should make sure you are focusing your efforts on things that pay the highest amount of money per hour.

One reason the business owners hesitate to hire help is that they consider hiring staff as a burden and not as an investment. If you've thought this when hiring someone, the following practice should benefit you.

Determine your desired hourly Rate

The Target Hourly Rate (THR) is the rate for your time as the CEO of your business, must be appraised in order to reach your goals to earn a profit.

For determining your desired hourly rate, take your monthly (or annual) earnings goal and then divide it by the total number of hours you'll work during that time.

Example: $250,000 (annual income target) multiplied by (2,000) (# of work hours) equals $125/hour.

"Personally I made the decision to hire ahead of when I believed I was ready to hire an assistant, and encourage others to follow suit. A lot of people wait until they have a set amount of revenue or are in operation for during a specific date. There is not a "magic" moment when hires assistance, apart from: If it allows you to focus on what you do best and you don't need to take on debt to pay for it while the savings in time allows you to concentrate on things that will generate income. It's the right time."
Trivinia Barber

Every task you complete in your company has an estimated dollar amount

It is your role as an entrepreneur to determine the activities that will most benefit your business and to devote the bulk of your time focusing on those activities. Any activities that aren't aligned with your business goals or compatible with your goals Hourly Rate must be assigned to a different person.

If you're having trouble achieving your financial goals, I'm certain that the cause is you're not spending enough time on activities that will be worth the time and effort.

tasks of low and high value jobs

Low-value tasks can be essential for running your company, but they do not directly impact the growth of your revenue. The most common examples of low-value work comprise bookkeeping, customer support, graphic design, editing of project management and more.

The most valuable tasks involve tasks which directly boost revenue. The most valuable tasks include leading generation and marketing as well as selling, and launching new products or services and making strategic partnerships .

One of the most efficient ways to boost your earnings for a business owner is to delegate low-value tasks to people and schedule your time with as many high-value tasks as you are able to. Utilize the money produced by your work of high value to cover the cost of outsourcing tasks that are of lower value.

What is the ideal process or tasks to delegate

Each company is a vast checklist of procedures and activities used in the running of that business. For you to decide on what tasks to outsource and which ones should you continue to perform, begin by categorizing the work and the processes.

HTML1Every process and task that you carry out within your company is part of 1 of 4 categories:

1. Things you must do High-value jobs you love that you're skilled in.

2. The tasks you should never perform: tasks with low value that do not make the most use of your time regardless of whether or not you're adept at them , or you like doing them. (These are the toughest task to delegate tasks to someone else!)

3. Tasks that you don't would like to complete: jobs you're not fond of or think somebody else could do.

4. It is impossible to finish tasks that require expertise and knowledge to finish.

If you haven't done so then download our Outsourcing Worksheet. The table we included helps you document your procedures and tasks within your organization.

"The things you don't like or aren't able to do should be the first on your task list to be delegated. The most difficult tasks to delegate with are those you could do and be even like doing However, in reality, you should not be performing them."
Nick Loper

How do you hire a Virtual Assistant

The hiring of virtual staff for specific jobs on your team is not the same as hiring specific project employees.

If you contract freelancers for a certain project, that project will have an initial start date, as well as a date for completion. Since most freelancers work with several clients, you'll not necessarily be their primary client.

If you choose to hire virtual assistants, you are hiring an additional team participant. While the work you delegate to them could change over time, they'll be at a specific position within the team. This doesn't mean they won't find a freelance website like Fiverr or Upwork. There are a lot of virtual assistants looking for jobs at these sites, and they're able to fit your needs.

The steps to hiring a virtual assistants

 The first step is to record your requirements for outsourcing

Start by making a list of each task or tasks you're planning to delegate to your Virtual Assistant. If these are things you've already performed by yourself, write training documents (aka standard Operating Procedures) to perform these duties. If you're interested in learning how to write effective Standard Operating Procedures, go through this tutorial.

If you're hiring the services of a specialist Virtual Assistant, document the goals you want the virtual assistant to accomplish, not specific tasks or steps.

 Second step: Make an outline of the job

Once you've compiled the list of tasks to delegate, it's time to create a job description to define the role that will take care of those duties.

Tasks that require specialization shouldn't be included in the requirements of the job for General Virtual Assistant. Each task you give an Assistant General should be completed at a similar degree of proficiency and at a rate per hour.

The description of the job must contain:

  • The background information of your firm (your business, what products or services you're selling and who you're selling to or who your customers are)
  • Experience, education level or skills needed
  • List of responsibilities and duties
  • The list includes any applications such as tools, software, or tools that they'll be making use of

Here's an example of a highly created Virtual Assistant job description that was adapted to Shopify's guidelines to hire a virtual assistant:

3. Post a job ad on the internet

Once you have the description of your job in place The next step you need to do is post it online and start accepting applications. It is possible to post the job description on Craigslist (post within the country or the city you wish to hire in). Another alternative is using Virtual Assistant, a Virtual Assistant hiring service or directory.

They are also directories that are well-known and websites you could make use of to locate Virtual Assistants:

"It's crucial to develop a thorough job descriptions to ensure expectations are fulfilled by both parties. It is my practice to seek out those that I've had the pleasure of meeting for suggestions. Virtual assistants should be able to give references as well as examples of the work they perform. Contacting them via phone is very helpful for getting acquainted with them as well as their character to find out if it's a great match."
Sue Canfield

HTML1 step 4: Read the application and plan interviews

Examine the application that comes through and schedule interviews with the top 5-10 applicants. It is recommended to conduct video interviews with your top candidates. An interview via video is the same as interviewing people in person. It's possible to determine pretty quickly if you like people and are able to easily communicate with them via the phone via video. If someone doesn't want to have a video chat with you, it's not true and you shouldn't employ them.

When you are interviewing every candidate, don't only question the candidates about their past experience and skills. Find out about their objectives, their hobbies, how they work, and how they like to be treated. It is also possible to ask your candidate to take an online test of personality. This can help you better understand their strengths, value in terms of their weaknesses and strengths, and also the way they operate.

"We have a specific series of questions to assess what kind of person would be treated by another human being. There are "automatic disqualifiers" which remove people of our program immediately according to the questions they've said. This prevents us from talking to someone who does not adhere to our values, not letting us get pretentious about their credentials. It has prevented us from many bad hires and makes the screening process much more quickly."
Trivinia Barber

Phase 5: Offer your top candidates the opportunity to sit for a test

Prior to making a decision to hire an individual candidate, assign the top three candidates an assignment to complete as a test. Choose a particular job which is component of their daily duties, but you should also see how they do at the task. Asking your candidates to complete an actual task can aid in determining which is the best person is.

6th step: Offer the top candidate a test time

Choose the best person to fill the role to start on an initial trial (30 30 - or 60-days for instance). The trial gives the Virtual Assistant additional incentive to do the best job possible for you with the knowledge that they could eventually be an integral part of your team. Make sure they sign an official Service Agreement to avoid any problems later on.

How to manage your Virtual Assistant

The hiring process for an assistant virtual is only the beginning. Once you've added someone to your team, a part of your job as leader is to maintain a positive professional and mutually beneficial relationship with your employees.

Evaluate performance

In the first place the primary thing to do is evaluate the results you've obtained with the assistance of the Virtual Assistant based on their efficacy. For this, make sure to have clearly defined expectations, and/or key performance indicators (KPIs) set up. If your employees are meeting the goals, are you really concerned about the number of coffee breaks they take throughout the day?

Don't micromanage

If you've got specific goals for the Virtual Assistant and evaluate them in terms of the extent to which they fulfill those expectations, there should be no need to micromanage them. Yes, there are programs that let you "spy" the Virtual Assistant's computer screen and track how long they work. They're not necessary when you're confident and have specific expectations of your virtual Assistant. If you aren't happy with the way you're treated with respect to how you conduct your Virtual Assistant, you're probably doing something wrong.

Schedule check-ins

Utilize a communication software such as Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams and Slack for quick checks-ins by using your Virtual Assistant. This could happen between starting and closing of the end of your day's work. It could also be every two days or every week. It's up to you to decide what works best for the two of you. Take this opportunity to make sure everyone understands what they're working on, and that nothing or anybody (including your own) interferes with them finishing their tasks throughout the day.

 Requires weekly report

Every week, you should have your Virtual Assistant send you a report of their work this week. You can provide them with examples of how to provide you with their reports. Below are some questions we suggest asking the Virtual Assistant to answer in the weekly report and also any other particular KPIs or other metrics they're responsible for tracking.

  • Which projects or assignments did the team finish?
  • How much time that they devoted to each task or project?
  • What do they continue to continue to
  • Have they encountered any problems or issues?
  • Do they have suggestions, comments or ideas that you can use?
  • Do they require any additional training?

Establish the system for feedback

Set up a system for you and your virtual assistant (and anyone else you work with) of open and trust dialogue. Inspire them to discuss thoughts, discuss ideas and offer regular feedback. By doing this, you will become a better manager and leader. This will create friendships that are mutually beneficial with those in your team. We're hugely supportive of Kim Scott's work Radical Candor as basis for providing and receiving feedback to get started.

The best ways to outsource and manage virtual employees

Although the idea of hiring an employee who you aren't likely to have a conversation with could seem odd however, with the appropriate devices, you'll be able to build an enjoyable and productive interactions with virtual employees.

The main categories of tools which are essential for successful collaboration with virtual assistants and remote team members are communication projects, project management, file sharing, and security (password security). I've listed some of the top tools we use within each category below.

If you're looking to learn about other tools and programs to run your business, then go through our article on the .

 Communication Tools

Tools for managing projects:

File Sharing & Security

Engage a Virtual Assistant help you focus on what matters most

If you're exhausted and overwhelmed with building your company Don't fret. There's no one else like you. Many entrepreneurs are working for all day long because they don't know how to make the most of their time, or how to delegate tasks to others effectively. They are suffering from what our co-worker Chris Ducker, best-selling author of Virtual Freedom is calling "Superhero syndrome".

Many entrepreneurs believe they're able to handle everything their own way, and since they believe this is precisely what they do. While they aren't as efficient however, they are efficient what they do with their way of working with the possibility of becoming exhausted.

Being an entrepreneur doesn't just include making your own work. Self-employment and freelance work serve. Entrepreneurs develop systems and employs staff to run their businesses for them.

A Virtual Assistant likely won't be the only person that you will add to your team when you expand your business but they ought to be among the first. The use of a virtual assistant is a way help you focus on tasks that will have greater impact on your personal life as well as your business.

"One of the things that we can do to avoid exhaustion is to become more effective delegaters. It's initially difficult giving up, but trust me folks, once you're able to let go of the wheel, you'll want to hire the full-time driver sooner or later!"
Chris Ducker

     The blog was first published in May of 2018. The blog's content was revised in April 2022.

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