Most startup founders and CEOs start out without an assistant. If money’s tight, why hire someone to do what you can already do yourself right? It’s a great point. But what happens when you’re further down the rabbit hole and you’re still doing those admin tasks? There’s a ton of value in admin done right, but wasted value in a CEO or COO doing it. Here, we look at three compelling cases for making your next hire a virtual assistant.
1. You’ll get to prioritise performance
Just because you can do your own admin, doesn’t necessarily mean you should. If your ability to make money was based solely on how much you could make in an hour, would you make more doing admin or doing something else? A Founder or CEO’s most valuable asset is their time and if it’s being used badly, you’re losing leverage. Just because you’ve always done the booking of train tickets and organisation of HR, doesn’t mean you should. Pay to prioritise performance. If that means hiring a virtual PA who can take over an hour or two of admin per day, then that’s an investment you’ll get back in your own time.
Take Neil Patel as an example. Neil is arguably the most successful content writer of all time. When someone on Quora asked how he manages to get such a volume of good content out, do you know what he said?
“I’ve found that it’s quicker to write a post in Google docs or Microsoft Word and have someone else correct it, post it to WordPress, and even add pictures.
Your time is valuable. You should stick with creating content in the most streamlined process. I used to post to WordPress and add pictures to each of my posts myself, but that process would take me twenty to thirty minutes. By hiring someone, you’ll save time.”
In other words, he pays someone else to do the admin so he can prioritise the bit he’s best at: writing the content.
2. You’ll get a professional
When you think of having a virtual assistant who do you picture? Someone young? An “offshore” employee working on a different timezone? Let us give you an idea of the type of virtual assistants we have (and use) at ibLE.
Most are between the ages of 30 and 50, often female, with a family. Their background will be working as a PA in the city, supporting entrepreneurs and UHNWI at some of the world’s leading companies. They would have earned around £60K in the city. You know what this really means? That they’re incredibly qualified to do your admin and take specific tasks off of your hands. Coming from challenging environments, where they were at the top of their game, means you aren’t getting someone young, junior or inexperienced. And that’s what makes all of the difference.
When you have someone professional managing your day-to-day activities, you can go and explore your limits, safe in the knowledge that everything else is under control.
Your virtual assistant doesn’t have to be capped by current norms. They’re a professional and often an expert in their field, just like you.
3. You’ll avoid burning out
Career burnout is commonplace in startups. It looks like this: you begin to find distaste in your everyday work. You get frustrated over the smallest fissures. You can even experience physical manifestations like an inability to eat or sleep.
It may be a common phenomenon but it doesn’t have to be. How can you avoid burnout? By delegating. Which starts with your virtual assistant.
No time for a holiday? Delegate the tasks that are keeping you busy.
Aaron Levie, Co Founder and CEO of Box, sums this up nicely:
“I am constantly tracking the things I’m doing that I don’t think I am good at. I try to delegate those things as frequently as possible, and get better people to solve those problems.”
Other Founders says it’s about getting out of the bubble in order to see the bigger picture. The more support you have in your company, the more you can get out of it.
If you aren’t sure what tasks a virtual assistant could take on, here are a few to get you started:
- Presentation creation
- Proofreading
- Form-filling
- Research
- Social media marketing
- Call fielding
- Interviews
….the list goes on!
The other great thing about a virtual assistant is that they aren’t limited by traditional “office” hours. If you need support across the weekend, they can help. If you need something late or early, often they set their own hours and can be there to support you around their other commitments.
When it comes to taking a weight off of your shoulders and avoiding burnout, a virtual assistant is the fastest way there.
Ready to try a virtual PA for your business? Get started here.
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