Fears

There is a lot of hype about getting help in your business as it is not possible to grow a successful business whilst doing it all on your own. But do you fear that:

• You will lose control
• Someone will see your efforts and laugh
• Someone will spoil your “baby”
• They will not be able to do it as well as you, or as quickly?

Positives

Understandably so, but let us look at the positives:

• You can get more customers
• You can raise your profile
• You can do what you want for your business
• You can earn more money

Do not be mistaken I am not talking about handing over your business to others; I am talking about growing your business by using experts. These experts will be known to you, vetted by you, instructed by you and working for you. They will make your business seem bigger and enable you to grow it. All this without the negatives of having employees. As we know employees have baggage, take some getting rid of and can cause more headaches for you and your business. Would you prefer this?

So what can you outsource?

The natural choice is your accounting function; but I have heard some people say “never”, that it is the one function they need control of but think about the time you take logging invoices out, invoices in, cash out, cash in? Would it not be great to be able to just click a button and see how much you have earned that week/month?

What about technical issues; someone with special skills? It may be additional to your skills so you can take on more work or different areas in your industry so you can earn more money. There are also those individuals who specialise in all the areas of marketing? Social Media, Print, Design – essential areas of any business and some of which we do not hesitate about getting help for; ie website and business cards.

Getting a Virtual PA to help with your administration, ie office support, can only add value to your business. Not everyone is happy with doing paperwork, producing documents or keeping records but it is an essential element of every business. If you ever want to sell your business as a going concern you will need processes and maybe an Operational Manual in place so someone else can take it over and run the business as you do – but it is a skill to set this all in place to help your business to run effectively and to make money.

The answer therefore is you can outsource anything and everything to support your business and the ultimate is that all is outsourced and you sit on the beach earning money. Appealing?

So how not to lose control

As the founder and creator of your business; the decisions are yours. Taking advice from the experts is recommended – does not mean you have to do what they say.

Communication is essential when outsourcing (or even employing). The fear of failure should make you strive to ensure your goals and mission are known by others; so they too can work towards them and support you to achieve them quicker and better than you ever dreamed for your business. Working with others enables you to realise those ambitions and using their skills and their knowledge in the right direction can make it happen.

Documenting, getting clarification, reinforcing results to be obtained and methods to be used all aid that understanding of your “team” and give you confidence and control.

Try it, you may be surprised.

 

Employing staff is a whole new ball game with its own set of rules. Working with a VA is an option that a great many business people are turning to. Check out my book on How to Hire a Virtual Assistant. Available on Amazon by clicking here

Learn how you can work with Virtual Hand; how your business can grow and how you can communicate better with your audience.