Do You Need a Virtual Assistant or Better Systems?
So, you’re thinking of contracting with a virtual assistant.
But is that what you need?
Obviously, we’re very pro contracting with virtual assistants here. It’s how we’ve been making our living for many years! But those years have also shown us that an overwhelmed business owner contracting with a virtual assistant isn’t always the magic cure they hope it will be.
In fact, if you’re really burned out, working with a VA will not be a good solution to it. Why? A virtual assistant is a business that needs to learn how to work in alignment with your business, and that doesn’t happen automatically! It takes intention and effort from both businesses to get to the point where your VA knows your business so well it feels like they’re anticipating your needs.
(Notice we said it feels like they’re anticipating your needs btw. Remember no matter how awesome your VA is, they still can’t actually anticipate a need you haven’t communicated.)
First: let’s get clear on what a virtual assistant is.
A Virtual Assistant is a business owner. While not all businesses are set up the same way, the appeal of a VA is that you hire them to perform the specific tasks you have laid out, and they get paid for those and nothing else. You don’t have to pay overhead costs, benefits, health insurance, sick days, or any other costs that come with having an employee. That can mean big savings for you (even if the hourly rate you find seems like it won’t). However, it does mean that your VA is a business that works with you, not an employee that works for you. They set their rates, and their workday may look different from yours, so you may want to ask how they work when you contact them.
Working with a virtual assistant can provide support essential to small or solo business owners, but it can be front-loaded; you’re going to be communicating with them a lot more in the beginning as they acclimate to your business goals, systems, processes and project expectations. Just as we note in our preparation guide, while eventually your VA will probably be able to churn out projects faster than you could, you should budget the same amount of time it takes you to complete projects for the first month they're working with you. This will budget for training them and the slower pace at the beginning.
If that sounds like too much work at the moment, pump the brakes on your VA search. Bookmark any people you found for later–you may need additional support in the future, but there are other steps to take right now.
What can you do to organize your business and optimize your processes if you’re not ready for a virtual assistant?
Document your systems:
Some of the things we dread most about running our business are doing those small repetitive things that you have to do all the dang time or they start to pile up. These tasks aren’t always hard, but getting into the nitty-gritty of your business without systems can be a nightmare.
You probably already have systems in your business, even if they’re not intentional ones. A system is just a method of doing something in your business. You can think about the tools aspect later (Brittany Berger gets into the difference between tools and systems here). For now just think of things you do regularly for your business.
Take it one task at a time. If you find yourself in the middle of a task you do all the time and will need to replicate, open up a google doc and write down your process. Then you can follow along each time and know for sure that nothing is forgotten. Do the work once instead of doing it every single time! (There is apparently an ai tool that will do this for you. We’ve never used it–this is not an affiliate–so we can’t comment on its function, but if you’re curious about it, it’s called Scribe.)
Documenting your systems and workflows will also make it much, much easier to hand things off when you are ready to work with a VA! These documents can serve as instructions or tutorials for anyone new you bring onto your team.
Use automated scheduling
One way we free up time is to automate as much scheduling as we can. For our virtual assistant clients we help schedule all of their social media in advance, as well as other content like newsletters and blog posts.
For scheduling, our recommended tools have changed a bit! While in the past we highlighted Tailwind for Pinterest and SmarterQueue (paid) or Buffer (free) for everything else, our process now is to opt for in-app schedulers whenever possible. We’ve found–especially with Meta–that using third party apps can create unnecessary obstacles.
Use templates
Templates will make your content creation process a zinch. We have templates for every kind of graphic we make on the regular, for us and for our clients. You can create yours in Canva (or whatever system you like), and then all you have to do is pop in your new text + image (maybe alternate some colors if you’re feeling fancy) and you’re ready to roll! Canva has pre-created templates–just don’t waste too much time taking in all the design options. You’re trying to save yourself time remember?
Templates are also great for your email newsletters, emails, blog posts, and other recurring content. If you have frequent events, you can get a standard format for your flyers and advertising materials so that all you have to do is change the details of the event!
Add recurring tasks to your calendar
In this family, if it doesn’t get added to the to-do list, it doesn’t get done. Our biggest fear is that somehow our to-do list will get wiped out and then we will have to dig through years of Airtable notifications and emails to make sure we don’t forget any of our recurring tasks. It takes about two extra seconds for me to read an email, head over to my to-do list, and add it. If you do it enough, it will be a habit, and then nothing will be forgotten! We use TickTick for our individual + company to do lists.
Don’t reinvent the wheel
If you find yourself in a time + money crunch, don’t feel like you have to be on the cutting edge with your marketing, blogging, or social media efforts. Of course, you should be putting thought and care into these things, but you don’t have to be innovating all of the time. It’s perfectly fine to come up with a system and stick to it, especially if you have a lot on your plate. (Looking for help with this? We’ve got you covered!)
I’ve done all of that. Now I really, really need support from a VA.
Alright! Let’s make sure you’ve got everything you need to get this process going. Make sure you know:
What it is you need help with:
If you’re looking for someone to delegate to, you should have an idea of what you want them to manage for you. It doesn’t have to be super specific, and you don’t have to have it all figured out right away, but you should have a few concrete tasks that you can pass off to get the ball rolling.
If you're thinking, "I have no idea. I'm so overwhelmed I don't even know where to start!" slow down. You're not quite ready to get someone else in the game yet. Take a week and keep track of everything you do–literally write it down! At the end of the week look back at that list and highlight anything you could reasonably hand off to someone else. Then highlight the things you dread doing the most. This is your jumping off point for what tasks to prepare to hand off to a VA when you find one.
How much effort you’re willing to put into the relationship:
That mind-reading feeling you get from a VA comes from a long relationship of working together, when your VA has learned the goals of your business and how they can best support you–it doesn’t start out that way on day one. Everyone needs time to get acquainted with processes, personalities, goals, communication styles, expectations, etc. Are you willing to dedicate some time to helping them get to know you and your business as they begin to take tasks off of your plate? If you don’t have time to train them on things directly, do you have video tutorials they can reference?
How their business works
This one is going to vary from VA to VA, so it’s important that you ask all your questions when you get in contact with potential virtual assistants. Make sure you ask them how their business works. Things you may want to ask include:
What is your turnaround time?
What are your business hours?
How will I reach you?
How do I pay you?
How will we communicate?
What do you need to get started?
Obviously, this isn’t an exhaustive list, so feel free to add what is relevant for you. You’re the brains behind your business, so you know what you need best!
