Starting a business can be both exciting and scary. It is often difficult to know where to start, how to get customers, or what you should do next. There’s so much to do that it can be difficult to stay on top of everything, and it’s easy to get stuck in the smaller, daily tasks of running a business. Unfortunately, when this happens, there is often no time to focus on your business growth, and your goals can start to feel out of reach.
This is where a virtual assistant can help. Outsourcing some of the day-to-day tasks that are distracting you from your business goals can free up your time and allow you to focus on what’s truly important for your business, ensuring that it has the best possible chance at success.
Let’s take a look at some of the main benefits to see how a virtual assistant can help a start-up business...
Day-To-Day Tasks or Specific Expertise
A virtual assistant (VA) can support a small business start-up in many ways, including:
• Competitor research
• Setting up a website and social media handles
• Creating a social media and marketing plan
• Posting on social media
• Preparing a press release or newsletter
• Setting up systems for client data or order processing
• Creating a lead magnet
• Organising inbox and setting up auto-responses
• Setting up a filing system for documents
• Uploading products to a website
Outsourcing will also allow you time to decide what people are responding well to within your industry or niche - then double down on that activity.
Additionally, if you’re launching a new business and find yourself needing some expertise in a particular area you’re not well-versed in or don’t have time to learn about, a VA can be a fantastic asset. You have access to skills and knowledge that would otherwise take months of research or learning on your part - which is invaluable when time is short! And -because you can hire a VA for 1 hour at a time, it’s much easier and more cost-effective to seek out their help as and when you need it.
Cost Savings
If you are just starting out in your business journey, spending money on a VA may seem like an unnecessary expense. However, outsourcing can actually help small businesses save money in the long run. When your time is freed up to focus on your business, it will result in faster business growth and higher profit margins.
Many important yet time-consuming business tasks can be outsourced effectively, often eliminating the need for a full-time team member. Outsourcing your social media management, for example, will mean someone else is posting on Facebook, Twitter and other channels while you are focusing on bringing in new customers. This type of outsourcing allows startups to stay active even when they don’t have the resources to dedicate a full-time social media manager. Similarly, outsourcing to a VA may also mean that you don’t need to hire an admin assistant, freeing up money for other things and reducing your business costs in the long term.
As your business grows, it’s important that employees are not distracted with tasks that can be done by a VA at a lower cost. Outsourcing can help to alleviate some of the pressure on your team, ensuring that they are focused on their strengths and working on high-value tasks.
The bottom line on costs is this: using a virtual assistant, especially in the early stages of your business can be an invaluable investment. Not only will it free up your time to focus on what’s important, but it can be much more cost-effective than hiring someone full-time.
Work / Life Balance
Hiring a VA doesn’t just improve productivity - it can also help you reduce your stress
levels.
How?
Working for yourself can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be tough to find the right work/life balance. When you’re starting a business, it’s often difficult to know when to stop working and start living - after all, your business is your life - but it is important that you don’t burn yourself out and that you still have time for yourself and your loved ones.
Working with a virtual assistant enables you to enjoy the best of both worlds by allowing you to work on your business when it works for you, without compromising your personal life. It’s all too easy to fall into a love/hate relationship with your new business and become resentful of the very thing that you have been working so hard to build when it starts to take over your life. A VA can help to prevent this by taking on some of the tasks that you don’t have time for or don’t enjoy so that you can focus on what you love. You can even give yourself a well-deserved break from the pressures of running a start-up when it’s needed. Of course, it can be especially helpful to have that kind of support if you’re trying to launch a business alongside a full-time job and struggling to juggle work and family commitments!
Conclusion
When starting a business, it’s essential to work smarter, not harder - outsourcing some of your tasks to a virtual assistant can help you do just that. Starting a business can be difficult, but with the help of a virtual assistant, it can be a much more manageable and achievable task.
If you are starting a business or have recently launched one and are looking for start-up support, why not get in touch to see how we can help you? We offer a range of services that can take the pressure off you and free up your time to focus on what’s important.
You can get in touch via email - sarah@admin-guru.co.uk