Running your own business is a fantastic, empowering and freeing thing. It lets you follow your dreams and do exactly what you want to do, on your own terms. But it’s also a difficult road, peppered with challenges big and small, with issues and new problems to solve. And it can get lonely at times, dealing with it all on your own. Business owners wear so many different ‘hats’ to keep their business running that it’s a wonder their heads don’t explode! But you can always tell the successful ones, those who really understand how to effectively run a business as an entrepreneur and not drive yourself crazy. It’s simple – they’re the ones who ask for help. In the business world, a VA can provide that help and support you need to keep yourself sane, and successful too!
Free You Up From Repetitive Tasks
How much time do you think you spend doing mundane, repetitive tasks? Things like entering business cards into your CRM after a networking event, sending follow up emails after courses, or doing prospecting research? All of these things are important to the business and do need to be done, but are often a waste of your expertise. You could be using that time on something more creative and productive that could grow your business. But you can’t ignore them.
This is where VA’s really shine. Our expertise is admin – doing all of those niggly background things that keep the business wheels running while you get on with the bits you’re good at. A good VA can save you a huge amount of time on repetitive tasks, and the gift of time is the best thing you can give a business owner.
Rescue You From Your Email
Emails are something no business owner can escape. They come in day in day out, filling our inbox with messages all clamouring for our attention. And because any one of those emails could be really important, we have developed a compulsion to check them regularly. (Don’t be fooled – it really is a compulsion. Studies have shown that when we receive a notification, our brains release dopamine, the most addictive of the happy chemical, so we actually crave receiving that ping of an email). And now that we can carry out inbox in our pocket, it’s almost impossible not to be refreshing the emails to make sure you haven’t missed something. Not only is this a really unhealthy approach to technology, but it’s also very distracting and can ruin your productivity. Studies have shown that it takes an average of 64 seconds to recover your train of thought from an email, which means people who check their email every 5 minutes waste 5.8 hours a week just trying to figure out what they were doing moments before.
A VA can help you break the dopamine cycle and help you reclaim all of that lost time. We can take over the management of your email inbox for you, filtering out the junk, spam and marketing emails, providing you with a slimmed down version that you can view and respond to in your own time. This way you don’t get the constant interruptions, you don’t have to wade through the crap that ends up in your inbox, and you still don’t miss anything important. It’s a win-win!
Give You A Sounding Board
Entrepreneurship is a lonely place. We’ve touched on this a few times in the past, but it always bears repeating. If you work for yourself, it’s possible to go for a full working day without actually speaking to or seeing another human being. And as social creatures, that’s not good for us. It also means that we only have our own thoughts, which isn’t ideal when we want to talk something through or hash out a difficult problem.
But if you hire a VA you have a sounding board there whenever you need one. We understand just how isolating running a business can be, and we aim to help relieve that a little wherever we can. We’re always on the end of the phone to talk through any issues, and happy to meet for coffee to go through your tasks, help you organise your diary or plan for the future. A good VA is a sounding board for your business, helping break the loneliness and make better decisions because of it.
At Your Admin Hub, we provide outsourced, no-nonsense VA and admin support, freeing up your time to do more of what you love. We do all of the above and so much more, helping our clients keep their business running and their sanity in check. For more information, or to arrange your free cup of coffee with us, just get in touch today.