Business is booming and you’re in a love hate relationship with your company. You love that sales are on the rise, the word is spreading and the phones are ringing. But the other side of the coin is that you’re finding it harder and harder to keep up with it all. It’s ultimately a good problem to have but it’s still a problem nonetheless. How will you scale your business and keep up with the demand if you are too hesitant to hire help?
Your business is your baby. An entity you created from nothing but a great idea and the drive to get it done. But fast approaching is the day that you need more support. The biggest factor when it comes to hiring is trust.
Trust that the new person will do a good job. Trust that they won’t ruin your goodwill and run your reputation off track. You’re probably hiring them to do tasks that are client facing so you need someone that will care for your clients like you do. As a business owner you’ve spent time building your brand and gaining the trust of your clients, risking that can feel very overwhelming. The fact of the matter is that most people are not scamming and trying to destroy your company. Sure a few mistakes might happen here and there but it won’t be enough to ruin the legacy you’ve built. If a person has applied for the position, chances are they are wanting to do a good job and actually help! Having confidence in your ability to hire is going to be key here.
Trust that they will show up when you need them and be reliable. Commitment is hard to find. Two factors make this scary. Only hiring them part time and only offering one incentive- pay. Hiring someone to help part time can in some cases mean that they split their time between working on your tasks and helping out other businesses. This can seem like they won’t be committed to getting your do-to list done on time but that’s not always the case. Finding someone that is a multitasker and has proven to have good time management will be able to have multiple clients at once and get everything done on time. The other part of this is hiring a contractor that the only real thing tying them to you is pay. When a full time W2 employee leaves their job they are missing out on other benefits like health insurance, retirement plans and a slew of other incentives. But if you pay well and on time this doesn't have to be a factor.
When hiring a VA everything is done remotely including the initial phone call and interview. It’s hard to build trust after an interview alone and especially over zoom. With remote positions, it’s sometimes hard to get a good feel for a person. The best advice I can give is try to find someone that comes recommended or has good reviews. There is nothing more comforting than a proven track record. When they can show that they have successfully been there and done it you can take that proof over promise.
Overall, hiring a virtual assistant can seem scary but the scarier part is not being able to scale your business and suffering from burn out. One of the best approaches I can recommend is starting off slow. Delegating a few tasks to start and see how things go. I would also ask to have a recap after one month to evaluate the working relationship. This will give you an out if things aren’t working well and it puts a physical date on the calendar to give feedback and make adjustments before too much time has passed.
Hiring a virtual assistant can be life changing for your company. Don’t let these things stop you. You got this!
