In the early days of the coaching industry, coaches used to handle everything in their business themselves, from admin to marketing to developing clunky templated websites. It was the “penny wise – pound foolish” mindset of practitioners who hadn’t yet taken themselves seriously as business owners. In the long run, this approach stunted the growth of the coaching industry and coaches alike.
Now, many coaches work smarter. They build their business with the expert support of mentors, web designers and virtual assistants from the get-go. The result: coaches who invest in their business make more money faster. With their learning curves shortened and time well-leveraged, they stay off the money for time treadmill and enjoy themselves more.
Virtual Assistants can help you leverage your time — your most precious resource — and create new products and programs. A good VA is a skilled administrator who helps you manage the details of your business through the Internet and by phone, so you can spend more time serving your clients.
How do you know if it’s time to hire a Virtual Assistant?
A good barometer is — if you’re spending time learning technical skills for tasks that will never be how you earn income, then it’s time to outsource those tasks. Things like creating a website or blogsite, scheduling appointments, bookkeeping, record keeping, are best left to those who do those things to earn their living.
Focus on Your Core Competencies
If you’re reasoning that it’s better to do everything yourself until you are making the income you want, do the math. You pay someone who is more skilled at these tasks $25-65/ hour, while you dedicate that saved time to making $150+/hour doing what you really want to do — coaching.
It’s good business to focus on your core competencies, learn the skills that will make you more masterful, and delegate the rest. And when you invest in your business success, what you’re saying to yourself is: “I believe I succeed by doing what I do best.” Isn’t that more empowering than holding the line for frugality because you’re afraid you won’t earn enough? Get support AND take the high payoff actions that you know will enable you to pay for it.
Before you hire a VA, determine what you want them to do for you. Keep track of how you spend your time for a few weeks, noting each task specifically in categories like these:
- bookkeeping, invoicing, billing, record-keeping
- client service, scheduling and handling routine email
- web development, maintenance and SEO
- shopping cart and affiliate details
- proofing and editing written materials
- desktop publishing and production management
- managing ezine, blog, autoresponders and article directories
- setting up and maintaining online social networks
- coordinating events and researching opportunities
- handling travel arrangements, calendar and the like
You’ll easily see your best opportunities for outsourcing right now. It makes sense to start by delegating the tasks that are the most time consuming and crucial for your success, but for which you have the least competence and patience. Later, you’ll become more ruthless in delegating even the tasks that you can do well, but that would still be best left to the experts.
In another post I’ll share how to choose the right VA for you.
Building a team adds a layer of expense to your business. It is important to plan for this, and make sure you are getting a positive return on your investment. But no other step will be more powerful in freeing you to create the business you envision.
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