Your VA should be a true partner within your business, and if you’re making the most of your VA contract, they should also be actively helping you to grow your business.

The chances are, whether you’re a sole trader, a start-up or an enterprise, you have an accountant.  It makes sense, right?  I certainly do – whilst I can do the bookkeeping side of things my Accountants have the financial expertise, they keep on top of my accounts, help with me with my financial planning and save me money in the long run.  The same is also true of my IT guy, Tristan Martin, who is on hand if ever I have an IT issue, or need help with setting up a new client to ensure we are working in an efficient and secure way – he literally saves me hours throughout the year.  And Ewa Shephard (one of my lovely team members) undertakes all my graphics for me.  She’s a creative, I’m not and so again it makes sense both professionally and financially for her to help with this in my business so I don’t take ages creating something that will never look as good as the work Ewa can do.

Quicker & Better

Most importantly, all these people I outsource to can do the job both quicker and better than I can.  And this then means I can concentrate on the bigger picture for my business, I have the head space to think strategically and not just react to the day to day running of my business.

And that’s the value of outsourcing – delegating tasks where you don’t add value.  If you’re not key to the output of that task, get rid of it.  Because your value is in where your talents and experience lie and if you want to grow your business you need to maximise the time you have available to put those talents to work.

Now some businesses are pretty good at this.  Once companies get to a certain size, they tend to either employ in-house or outsource many specialist roles such as HR or IT.  Again, that makes sense, although I’d urge you to free yourself from all these tasks early on in your business development.

Bogged down?

But how many business owners do you know (and be honest – are you one of them?!) who still find themselves bogged down with general admin? Diary management, bookkeeping, meeting minutes, proposal writing, general client liaison, travel arrangements, event planning… the list is endless.

Yet can you honestly say these tasks are making the best use of your time?

This is where outsourcing to experienced virtual assistants comes in.  After all, using a VA makes good business sense: VAs don’t need to be employed or located in-house – both of which are expensive ways of getting jobs done.

But VAs can do so much more than simply save you time.

Your VA should be a true partner within your business, and if you’re making the most of your VA contract, they should also be actively helping you to grow your business.

Here’s how VA services can enable business growth in a way you couldn’t achieve in house.

1. Time for strategic thinking

At a very basic level, you should be handing all your day to day tasks to your VA, making time for the tasks that only you, as business owner, can do.  With freedom from invoicing, payroll, diary management and all the other time consuming elements of running a company, you can make time to think strategically about your business, and you’ll have the mental capacity you need to review progress.  This is the foundation for growth.

2. Wider, more varied experience

A good VA will be working with multiple clients, and over their career will have amassed a far more varied experience of business management than the average employee or business owner.  This goldmine of expertise mustn’t be wasted so be sure to ask your VA for advice or inspiration on issues that arise in your company.  Hearing about what has worked – and failed – in other organisations can give you essential insight into finding the right solution for you.

3. A powerful strategic partner

To really maximise the value of your VA relationship, you must consider them a true partner in your business.  An experienced VA is more than transactional – working together can be transformative in terms of future growth.  Use your VA as a sounding board for advice and expertise.  It is eye opening to have someone challenge your decisions and a huge growth opportunity to have access to an objective advisor.

4. Genuine time off

Finally, nurturing your VA partnership and building trust is one of the only ways business owners will ever achieve genuine time off.  The mental load of running a business is immense, and knowing you can walk away for a holiday without having to watch your inbox or worry about things going wrong is a very powerful benefit indeed.  Rest and relaxation enables you to return to work refreshed and inspired to take the next step in business growth – knowing you have a reliable partner in your VA ready and waiting to support you.

The ideal model for scaling your business

The bottom line is, VAs are excellent value for money in terms of the impact they can deliver for your business.  A Virtual Assistant is the ideal model for scaling your business – providing the flexible extra support you need to expand, without the need to invest in more staff or bigger premises until growth is stable.

Clever businesses outsource to VAs as a secret weapon enabling them to cut costs, increase productivity, streamline processes and achieve greater efficiency.  All the building blocks for effective growth.  What’s stopping you?

If you’d like to know more about how a VA could support your business, why not book a free Exploration Call with me?