Virtual Assistance
How to Build a Virtual Team So You Can Rest Easy
In the course of my business day, I often talk with professionals who express their distress with our current (dare we say it) economic recession. It is common for me to hear that the 60, 70 even 80 hour workweek has become the new normal. It takes that much to keep up and create more. But, often what really happens is that the person works hard but accomplishes little due to mistakes and missed opportunity. It doesn’t take a lot to understand that when you are overwhelmed with responsibilities the best thing to do is get help. Building a virtual team could be the most effective approach to lighten the workload without sacrificing excellence.
Good idea, Lori, they all say, but are you crazy! I cannot afford to hire someone. Now I feel that tossing this idea aside without giving it due diligence is more limiting and hurtful to business growth than it seems. On the surface, the idea of not adding expense seems frugal and reasonable. But is doing it all yourself, even the parts you are not good at, really the answer?
Melanie Benson Strick, a leader in helping people understand how to build effective virtual teams, tells the following story about a client of hers:
“… Alexandria Brown shares how scary it was to hire her first assistant, Liz Murphy. But somewhere deep inside, Ali new that the ONLY way to achieve her bigger dream was to surround herself with people who could help her. When she hired Liz, in her mind she knew all she had to do was take on one extra client to cover her monthly bill. Within a short period of time, Ali had doubled her return on investment and she’s never looked back. (I believe she has over 10 contractors on her team now!)”
Ok, I hear you asking, well, how do you do this? It’s very simple. Let’s say you are a social media consultant giving advice to companies and speaking. (You know I love social media) In addition, a new consulting contract is worth at least $900/month to you. Here’s what the thought process would look like:
- Your client equals $900/month
- Your virtual assistant specializing in marketing and using social media tools equals $900/month for 25 hours
- 25 hours of your higher value time is freed up
- With those 25 hours, how much new business could you have time to go after? How much time would you now have to create the vision that will power your next big move?
- With one client you break even
- With two clients and beyond you get a 100% return on the investment you make to hire appropriate help
The most important thing to know before you start is what you will do with your time. Will you use this time to generate new business by having coffee with prospects or attending networking events while your assistant develops the database containing that vital information you collect? Maybe your next presentation to Mr. Big Fish potential client requires a better, flashier PowerPoint presentation. You could spend a great deal of time creating that PowerPoint document yourself (remember you are a media consultant not a PowerPoint expert). So how does this sound: have your assistant do it! So, if money is an issue now, then you need to focus on business building activities with your extra time.
If you already have a team and you want to determine if you should grow it, the question becomes what will my return on investment be? Will my new team member be directly developing new business, creating new revenue generating opportunities (marketing), or handling the day-to-day operations? Figure out what it will take to make sense to your bottom line.
My guess is…the cost of doing it yourself is much greater than the cost to outsource and delegate.
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