Everything you need to know about hiring a Virtual Assistant
Have you been feeling overwhelmed in your business and you are ready to hire some help, but you have no idea where to start?
There are many ways you can go about hiring help for your business. As a virtual assistant, I have mapped out the steps that I think are most helpful to effectively hiring a VA!
Hiring a virtual assistant can be a game-changer for your business when you find the right person. When you have someone supporting the tasks in the backend of your business, it allows you to focus on the work in your business that really leads to growth and profit. However, choosing the right virtual assistant for your business needs can be an overwhelming task. It can be hard to know where to look, what to look for, and how to go about hiring someone.
My goal as a virtual assistant is to make it as easy as possible for my clients to hire help. I don’t want to be another task on their to-do list to manage when the whole point of hiring help is to take things off the to-do list. My hope as you read about how to prepare to hire a virtual assistant is that you go from feeling overwhelmed and lost to empowered and ready! There’s just a few things I recommend you do to make the process easy and worthwhile!
I’ve created a downloadable guide that is jampacked with all the tips and tools you need to feel prepared to hire a virtual assistant. If you are new to the journey of hiring team members, you will definitely want to download the guide!
Continue reading this blog for a summary of the steps in the free guide!
1 | Define your business goals
It's important to start by taking time to define your business goals to help you decide what tasks you need help with. Reflection is an opportunity to get focused and figure out what really matters to you.
You know that you want to hire help, but why? What freedom would it give you? If just a few tasks were removed from your day-to-day to do list, what could you do instead?
Maybe it means you have time to go to the gym after you drop your kiddos off at school? Or maybe it allows you to support 3 more clients? Maybe you've been wanting to write a book or create an online course and you could start adding that to your weekly schedule and slowly chip away at it?
Getting connected to your why is going to help you understand what kind of help you need to search for.
2 | Identify your business needs
Next, you will want to take time to identify which tasks make the most sense to delegate. It is helpful to take time and evaluate which tasks are consuming your creative energy so you can pinpoint what you might be ready to delegate to someone else. Take some time to make a list of the tasks you know are taking more of your time than you’d like. It makes most sense to think of tasks that you are doing daily to ensure you are making the most of the help.
Here are a few ideas of tasks a virtual assistant could do for you:
Responding to customer emails
Managing your calendar
Responding to inquiries
Sending proposals
Organizing your inbox
Onboarding/offboarding clients
Scheduling social media content
Formatting blogs
Pinterest management
Formatting and sending newsletters to your email list
and so much more!
There really is SO many tasks virtual assistants can do for you and your business. There are also many virtual assistants who specialize in specific specialty tasks if you are looking for more specialized support.
3 | Create SOPs for all tasks
For a smooth experience hiring a virtual assistant (VA), taking some time to get organized beforehand is worthwhile.
A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) serves as a comprehensive document that outlines the step-by-step process for completing a task, ensuring that anyone can follow it successfully.
A quick and easy way to create an SOP is by screen recording yourself while verbally explaining the task the next time you complete it yourself. It’s a great way to show someone how to complete your tasks the exact way you like them done. When you have an SOP library for all your tasks, it keeps things organized so a VA can refer to the SOPs anytime they need to.
4 | Determine your budget
Paying someone for assistance in your business may initially seem daunting if you're used to handling everything yourself. To evaluate the value of delegating, assess how much time you spend on non-revenue generating tasks each week. By outsourcing routine administrative duties, you can free up valuable time to focus on income-boosting projects such as acquiring new clients, developing digital products, or creating an online course. Viewing hiring a virtual assistant as an investment for growth rather than an expense can shift your perspective.
To establish a realistic budget, begin by assessing the number of hours or the price range that fits comfortably within your means. Then, backtrack to pinpoint the particular tasks you can assign to a virtual assistant. It's perfectly fine to start with a small workload and communicate to your VA that you may wish to expand their services as your working relationship strengthens over time.
5 | Research your options
There are SO many virtual assistants in today’s market. It’s understandable if it feels overwhelming to try to find the right VA for your specific needs.
Here are a few methods to find a virtual assistant and the experiences they offer:
Instagram (using the search feature or connecting with your friends to find a referral)
Facebook groups for entrepreneurs or virtual assistants
Virtual assistant agencies
6 | Set up discovery calls and prepare
Once you have a list of a few potential VAs, take some time to look at their websites, social medias, and find any testimonials. You can compare their prices and services to try to determine what might be the best fit for your needs.
Next, make a list of questions you want to ask on the call to to get to know the VAs and determine if their work style aligns with yours.
Most VAs that have their own business like to set up discovery calls. The call is a time to get to know each other and see if your working styles would be a good match. They will also be able to get to know you and can let you know if they think they are a good fit for what you need.
7 | Choose your VA!
At this point you should be ready to make your choice! Hopefully one of the potential VAs felt like a good fit and you are excited about working with them.
It's important to make sure you're fully prepared before hiring help. With this step-by-step guide to hiring a virtual assistant, you can get organized and ready to hire the right person for the job. Don't hesitate to download the guide now for free and start your journey to a more productive and successful business!
I’m always here to help you along your journey! Best of luck on your journey toward growth and success!