Working with a VA can take the pressure off you and alleviate the stress associated with being a business owner. Here are five ways that a VA can help you avoid the path to burnout…
Obviously when you delegate tasks to a VA you free up time in your business. But it can go further than that. With a VA in charge of your diary your time will be optimised so you can make the most of your working day. VAs can also implement processes, streamlining what you are already doing to make you even more efficient. It all helps you to achieve a better work-life balance, ensuring you have time to take a break and destress when you need to.
Adaptability
Businesses are dynamic entities, with their needs changing over time. A VA, as a fellow small business owner, understands this and can adapt to changing demands in workload and in the type of work required. Knowing you have a flexible and adaptable source of support and don't have to manage it all yourself is invaluable when you're trying to reduce your stress levels.
Expertise
Picture the scenario: you're presenting to a client in a few days' time. You know you have to create a snazzy PowerPoint presentation to wow them. The only problem is you don't use PowerPoint that often - it takes ages to remember how to do enough to get one slide you're happy with, let alone a whole presentation. You can feel the stress levels rising, see your evenings disappearing and sleepless nights ahead as you work into the small hours trying to produce something that is at least the right side of mediocre.
And then you remember that you have a VA. You brain dump your content into an email, press send, heave a sigh of relief and put the kettle on while you wait for the perfect presentation to arrive back in your inbox.
Whether it's PowerPoint, Excel, pdfs, social media scheduling or any other unfamiliar system or software, having someone on hand who's an expert means you don't have to be. Less to learn = less stress = happier business owner.
Problem-solving support
VAs live to problem-solve. It comes naturally to us and we love it. We are always looking for ways to make things more efficient, iron out snags in processes and do away with minor issues before they become big problems.
A proactive VA will identify potential issues in your systems and processes and take steps to resolve them before they escalate. The source of potential stress is eliminated before it even gets close to becoming an issue.
Decision-making support
Asking a VA to do a research task can hugely alleviate the stress associated with decision-making. Instead of having to sift through mountains of data on your own, you'll be looking at the best options only as your VA will already have filtered the information, discarded anything irrelevant and presented a succinct summary to help you make your decision more quickly. Having the support there also means you can use your VA as a sounding board to try out different ideas or solutions to knotty questions. Just knowing you have someone you can talk to helps to avoid potential overwhelm and saves time - a stress-relieving double-whammy.
Having a VA on your team can mean so much more than just getting the admin done. A VA is a source of real support and expertise, who can adapt to the needs of your business and advise you when you need it. If you're feeling the overwhelm and want to fall in love with your business again get in touch for a no-obligation chat.
Helen Leach VA Services specialises in helping small business owners implement and streamline processes and reduce the admin burden. We take on the day-to-day admin enabling you to focus on your business and serve your clients. Get in touch to find out how to take your business from chaos to calm.