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I subscribe to Ali Brown‘s newsletter. And while sometimes she does come over a bit too LA for me, I do admire her style and drive.
Recently she published a piece about hiring an assistant which rang so many bells with me. One of the biggest ‘battles’ I have when winning over clients is the “Oh, if I have to teach you to do this, I might as well do it myself,” attitude.
Of course, DIY for a small, growing business is just nuts, but I do understand that many, many people don’t want the complications of working with an assistant, virtual or otherwise. Either because they think training us is just too time consuming, or because they feel as thought they can’t justify the outlay.
To both I say, ‘get over yourself.’ If you’re doing the fiddly, time consuming jobs, that don’t pay you a penny, who’s bringing home the bacon? And what are you forgetting to do? Attend a meeting or you child’s pageant? And what about that business of yours, the one you started and were so proud of? What’s happening to that if you’re not out there being the face and star of the show?
Here’s Ali’s blog post.
I often see my entrepreneur clients fall prey to a stubborn mindset: they strongly resist the idea of hiring help. Women entrepreneurs especially get stuck here.
But the truth is, trying to do it all yourself doesn’t make you a better business owner. In fact, it can hurt your business growth and throw your personal life off balance. An assistant can help you manage your business more efficiently, freeing you to focus on the big picture.
Here are FIVE tell-tale signs that you need to get help asap:
1. You forget to perform tasks, like updating your website or confirming appointments. Imagine how much better off your business would be if these routine tasks didn’t fall through the cracks. You’d stay above your competition, be recognized for your stellar customer service, and maintain a solid reputation in your industry. An assistant can easily be trained to help with online marketing and scheduling so that these business functions always happen when they should.
2. You waste time looking for lost documents or emails. Entrepreneurs’ inboxes are usually overflowing with correspondence with clients, industry newsfeed updates, e-zines, and more. If you find that you’re losing track of important items, like invoices and invitations, it’s time to have someone come in to help. An assistant can take these items off your plate, so you don’t miss payments or make costly administrative mistakes.
3. You don’t have time to see family or friends. When you find yourself missing out on brunches or birthday parties in favor of work, then it might be time to re-prioritize. Hiring an assistant, even one who works just a few hours a week, frees you up to focus on what matters, like spending time with loved ones and experiencing those once-in-a-lifetime moments first-hand.
4. Your billable rate is higher than an assistant. Let’s say that you bill client at $100/hour and your assistant bills you $20/hour. Rather than taking time away from your paying clients to send out invoices or book appointments, pay an assistant her $20/hour while you earn $100/hour from your clients. Even after you pay your assistant, you’ll still bring in $80/hour that you otherwise wouldn’t have time to earn.
5. You’ve been putting off tasks that you dislike. Most of us have tasks we dread doing. Some people hate filing other people can’t stand writing promotional copy. The great news is, there are people out there who actually LIKE doing what you despise, so why not bring them on to handle these tasks with passion and dedication? All it takes is a little legwork to find someone you trust to get the job done.
“Entrepreneur mentor Ali Brown teaches women around the world how to start and grow a profitable business that make a positive impact. Get her FREE CD “Top 10 Secrets for Entrepreneurial Women” at www.AliBrown.com
