Administration is not a dirty word!
September 1, 2010 How to Work Better, Virtual Assistant Info No CommentsEvery business has it – the ever time consuming and usually repetitive administration tasks that eat into the valued time you could be using to create income. Did you know that most small businesses fail because they are unable to manage the work arising from rapid growth?
There was a time that there seemed no way of avoiding this. Many small businesses, especially in the ‘start up’ phase can’t afford a full time personal assistant. However, as the business grows, the mountains of paperwork also grow and most business owners soon feel the frustration of having to work in their business, rather than on it. For continued advancement, business owners need harness this growth and not feel overwhelmed by it. With the introduction of technology, along came the idea and flexibility of the Virtual Assistant which allows business owners to take full advantage of administration support, only if and when they need it.
At first, it is probably not obvious just how much a virtual assistant can change your business life. Run your eyes over this list and have a think about how many of these questions you answer yes to.
• Are you throwing all your invoices and receipts in a folder to put into an excel spreadsheet later – when you have time?
• Are your contacts’ business card sitting in a pile on your desk ready for your database you plan to create?
• Have you been meaning to get to that letter you would like to send out to local businesses?
• Have you got plans to run a seminar but just don’t know where to begin? And then there are invites, venue bookings, name badges etc.
These are just a few examples of the work I have been doing recently with my clients, all small business owners like yourself. Make a list of all of the tasks that are robbing your time. Which of these tasks, if you had support, would you be happy to hand over? Your VA can even assist with these tasks as a once off, or can take over these tasks on an on-going basis.
It might be at only certain times of the year that you feel under pressure. Maybe a few hours a week would give you that window of opportunity to work on growing your business. Remember, a VA is totally flexible and not a permanent employee. He/she only charges for the time they take to complete a task and for bigger jobs or on-going work, are able to provide an upfront project cost.
About the author:
Tina Litte is the owner of My Virtual Assistant, an Australian based virtual assistance business providing secretarial and administrative support for small to medium business owners. To find out more about My Virtual Assistant please visit www.myvirtualassistant.com.au


