How to identify what a VA can do for you

When talking to people about outsourcing the biggest concern in the beginning is ‘how will I fill up a VA’s time’.

When you go through this exercise you’ll understand there’s a massive opportunity to outsource and grow your business.

Transcript:

Hello and Welcome, David Judge here and in this short video I’m going to answer one of the most common questions I get asked around outsourcing:

How do I know what tasks I can outsource that another person (like a Virtual assistant) to do for me.

Now this is a really interesting question and in just over 4 years of outsourcing i’ve employed over 300 people with over 68,000 hours of experience and I’ve worked out a simple formula on what tasks I can delegate to a VA.

My oDesk Outsourcing Historical Snapshot

The 4 Step Formula to Outsourcing

Before I answer this, I want you to think about how long 68k hrs really is and that it would take 1 person almost 33 years to get the same level of experience I’ve managed to gather in a short time..

Lets get into that special formula

Ok, Step 1…

Take a piece of paper and create 3 columns. We do that by drawing 2 lines down the middle of the page, like so.

Step 2… At the top of those 3 columns I want to write the following 3 Titles

1st column

My Weekly tasks – This is where you write down what you do every single week. Really think hard about this and break down what you do every week. It could be making calls, support emails, social media, other marketing and general activities.

2nd column

How I get them done – There may be special software you use for different tasks, a process you follow, a phone to make calls, a computer (if you answer emails). List out exactly what you need and be as detailed as possible

Finally 3rd column – Hours each week – How many hours you think you spend on each one. If you’re not totally sure, just use a guestimate

You don’t have to share this with anyone so make sure you’re totally honest with yourself and really look at that list.

Draw a line at the bottom of your list.

Ok once you’ve done that, I want you to move onto step 3

Creating The Ultimate Picture Of Your Business

This is where I want you to list underneath your original list (where you’ve drawn that line) the things you should be doing in your business right now that would to take it to the next level.

This is like you imagining the ultimate picture of your business and reverse engineering the tasks you would complete to make that a reality.

This could be getting out to make more sales calls (face to face or over the phone), staying in more regular contact with customers, getting your data entry up-to-date.

Really go to town and write down as many tasks you can think of, along with what you think you’d need to complete the tasks and how many hours (as a guess) you think it would take to complete them.

Ok, last step. Go back through that list of tasks and look at the ones that take the most amount of time that you could get someone else to do.

Examples of Tasks you can Assign to a VA

So Many VA’s manage clients social media. The client understands how important Social media is for their business, but they generally don’t know the best way to set it up, where to get the best information, how to post, interact and they also understand Social Media can be a huge time suck!

We have several clients that have their VA’s sort their emails and appointments. If you’re like me you know how much time you can lose everyday going through emails, confirming appointments and prioritising tasks.

I even have clients that get their Virtual assistants connect to their computer, complete a whole lot research which they then mail merge and print out and then the client simply folds and posts the letters when they get back to the office.

This saves them hours every week on tasks and helps them to maintain their competitive advantage.

The Totals and How They Could Be Holding Back Your Business Growth

Ok, stick with me here, we’re on the home stretch…

Now you’ve circled those tasks you could get others to perform and now work out 3 totals.

1st Total is the number of hours you’ve circled. Add that up…

The 2nd total is the number of hours left… Add that up too

Then the 3rd total is to add the 1st and 2nd added together.

You should now have 3 sets of numbers.

A few questions…

The grand total… How long would you be prepared to work that many hours every week by yourself to achieve this result and… how would this impact your personal life?

Years ago in another business I worked 100+ hours every week for over 4 years and it nearly destroyed my life.

Also…

The tasks you circled…

If you were to employ someone to do these tasks would you have the time and can you afford to advertise, interview, train and employ someone locally to help you out?

If that’s yes, awesome, if not… Then those are the tasks you can outsource for a VA to perform.

Finally, the hours left for you to work. Are these hours going to give you the best return or should you re-review what you can outsource?

The main point is when you look at outsourcing the opportunities are endless but you do need to perform this exercise first to understand how they will fit in best and how you and your business will benefit the most.

In the next video…

Excellent, In the next video I’m going to discuss another question I get asked a lot…

What’s the best way for me to communicate and stay in touch with my VA

If you have a question you would like me to answer make sure you get in contact and I love to hear from you.

As always this is David Judge showing businesses how to get more done, keep your costs down and Enjoy your life