Running a small business requires a lot from you. It’s not just a case of rocking up, doing the bits that you love, and then going home again. It’s all-consuming and your focus is often pulled in a million different directions. Admin, credit control, data, marketing – it all needs doing. But at what expense? When you’re working solo or with a small team, tasks like these can become a bit of a barrier to all the good stuff. Growing your business, innovating new ideas, personal satisfaction and growth – it can all take a backseat to the daily grind of keeping your business up and running.
Investing in a Virtual Assistant, however, can give you the opportunity to really focus on the parts of your business that matter to you the most. Here’s how…
How a Virtual Assistant Can Help You Focus on What Matters
Time Savings
The time-cost of routine tasks is immense. Tasks like bookkeeping, credit control, marketing and inbox management may be necessary, but they’re also repetitive and notorious time eaters! An hour catching up on admin here, a few minutes posting on your small business social media channels there. It all adds up, and before you know it, you’re out of time to discuss that idea you’ve had, or work on that project you’ve been meaning to get to. Business development, client relationships, and long-term planning can suffer, stunting progress, stifling creativity and generally sucking the fun out of small business ownership.
Virtual Assistants are skilled in managing operational tasks so that you can gain some of your time back. Their intensive training and experience mean they’re able to carry out these tasks quickly and efficiently, put processes in place to streamline operations and keep things running smoothly behind the scenes, leaving you to focus on what matters.
Focus on Strengths and Passions
Why did you start your small business? Everyone is different, but we’re guessing it wasn’t because you just love replying to emails or can’t get enough of sending out invoices. It’s far more likely to be because it was something you’re passionate about. A journey you wanted to go on, an idea you needed to bring to life, a mission you wanted to accomplish. Small businesses are born out of passion, but that passion can sometimes take a backseat to the day-to-day requirements of running a successful small business.
As Virtual Assistants, this is something plenty of our clients have struggled with. Their passions and strengths are put aside in favour of keeping up with credit control or content creation or admin, because it has to be done. But this can cause you to fall out of love with your business, to lose sight of why you started out in the first place and put a dampener on your motivation for pushing forward. The purpose of a Virtual Assistant is to give you back the opportunity to focus on your strengths and passions. By taking on operational tasks like credit control, admin or content creation, they free up your time and your brain space. You can channel your efforts and energy into the parts of your business that matter the most – the parts you’re truly passionate about – aiding business development in the process.
Improving Efficiency and Productivity
Your small business is at its best when your processes are streamlined and efficient, and your days are set up to be as productive as possible. But, as you’ll know, that’s not always achievable when you’ve got a million and one tasks on your to-do list and your focus is being pulled in every direction imaginable. Things get pushed to the bottom of the pile, they get missed, plans have to change, and before you know it, things are looking a bit messy and you’re constantly playing catch up. The support of a Virtual Assistant is designed to ensure this isn’t the case.
Virtual Assistants can step in to streamline your processes, pick up tasks you don’t have time for, and ensure everything is running as smoothly as possible behind the scenes. When things are running like clockwork, it once again frees up your time and mental space to focus on the things that matter most to you. Whether it’s working on a new product or service, nurturing customer relationships, researching for a new project, you’re now free to put your efforts into taking your business to the next level, rather than scrambling to keep it afloat.
Supporting Growth and Scalability
Growing your small business is always the goal, but without the right support, it can feel impossible. How will you manage increased volume of tasks when you’re already juggling multiple aspects of your business? When does it become too much? These are questions plenty of our clients have battled with – that daunting feeling of wanting to do more but not quite knowing how to handle it. So many small business owners have been there! Which is why Virtual Assistants have developed strategies to allow you to achieve that growth without the added stress.
By investing in the support of a Virtual Assistant, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to delegate key functions that would otherwise require a large chunk of your time and effort. Instead, you can channel those hours and your energy into your growth strategies. You’ll be able to scale without the pressure of tipping your workload into the unmanageable zone, and you’ll have an expert on your side who can help you navigate this next stage of your business journey.
Virtual Assistant Support with The Edwards Company
For small businesses, investing in a Virtual Assistant is a strategic move that saves time, allows you to channel your strengths and passions back into your business, improve efficiency and productivity overall, and enable you to grow your business when you feel ready.
Here at The Edwards Company, we provide support with a range of tasks including credit control, content creation and administration. Our services are designed to support you, allowing you to really focus on what matters – nurturing your business to new heights. For more information how we can support your small business, please do not hesitate to get in touch!