Professionals & small businesses
Any self-employed professional, freelancer and small business owner will understand how quickly their business and workload can change and grow. Managing this change or growth can be difficult, particularly when there is only you in your business.
We speak with a lot of people who have been caught off guard by their own business growth and who are struggling to keep up with their own success. A nice problem to have, you might say, but from personal experience we know that this success also brings its own challenges. Symptoms include:
- Feeling out of control and not knowing what to do first;
- Not being able to switch off, missing out on family time and out-of-work activities;
- Knowing opportunities are presenting themselves, but feeling unable to devote the time needed to capitalise on them.
The sooner we realise we can’t do everything ourselves, the better!
Enter the Virtual Assistant!
Whether you are an entrepreneur, a small business beginning to take on staff, or a consultancy that operates virtually, a Virtual Assistant or Virtual PA can act as the glue holding everything together, taking care of day to day admin tasks so that you don’t have to. Delegating these tasks to an experienced professional allows you to spend more time on the work that only you can do – working ‘on’ your business rather than ‘in’ it. For more about Virtual Assistants, read our blog on ‘What is a VA’.
Depending on the type of business, tasks that can be delegated include (but are not limited to):
- Setting up and managing back office processes and systems
- Handling customer enquiries
- Managing Inboxes
- Diary management
- Arranging meetings
- Booking travel and accommodation
- Minuting meetings/clerking committees
- Writing blogs
- Audio transcription
- Research
- Social media management
- Website updating
Accessing remote business support makes sense for many small businesses, when either they don’t want or need to take on employees, or they don’t have the premises to provide office facilities. Modern technology makes it possible to work completely virtually, in fact we work with many clients who we have never met in person. We use Skype, Zoom, telephone, e-mail, online sharing platforms such as Trello and Microsoft To Do and even good old dictation, to make the working relationship a great success.
Flexibility rather than commitment
Work can be outsourced to a Virtual Assistant on an ‘as and when’ flexible basis, without adding to the firm’s long-term salary commitment. You pay for the admin help you need, when you need it, and nothing more.
To discuss how we can bring stability to your growing business and allow you the time you need to drive it forward, please contact us for a no-obligation chat on 07970 955535 or e-mail us at jen@businessowl.co.uk.
Our Blog has some useful articles relating to working with a Virtual Assistant:
