There may come a time in your freelancing career when you wake up one morning, check your overflowing inbox, and think, “Oh gosh, I really need some help!”
This is usually good news. It means there’s probably a lot going on in your business and it’s time to level up. The downside is you’re probably feeling pretty overwhelmed.
This is just one of the signs that it may be time to hire a virtual assistant, and it’s the number one reason I knew I needed to hire help. However, you don’t need to be knee deep in the overwhelm of success in order to feel like you need to hire a virtual assistant. The reality is there are multiple instances in which you may need some help.
You’re wasting your time on things that don’t make money.
One surefire sign that it’s time to hire a virtual assistant is when you notice you’re spending a lot of time on tasks that don’t necessarily make any money. For example, you’re spending a lot of time in your inbox responding to emails, you’re trying your hand at scheduling clients, writing your own invoices, messing around on social media and tinkering with your website. In fact, you’re spending more time on these small tasks than actually prospecting clients or working on projects.
I’m being frank here when I say I’ve called out many coaching clients for doing just this. Instead of hiring out the things that don’t make them money, and then spending their newfound time finding ways to bring in more revenue, they insist on doing it all themselves. The problem is you end up wasting a lot of your own time – time you could be dedicating to revenue generating activities. The end result is you’re actually leaving money on the table.
It may take a little convincing on my part to explain this to them, but once they start crunching the numbers and realizing how much money they’re losing by not hiring a virtual assistant, the decision becomes a no-brainer.
You’re wasting your time on tasks you hate doing.
I love numbers, but I hate writing my own invoices. I don’t even like logging into my accounting software because I’d rather spend time writing or creating a new offering. When I noticed that I was spending a lot of time on this one task I really couldn’t stand, I realized it was time for me to hire a virtual assistant so at the very least they could handle invoicing for me.
Take a look at your business and take inventory of what you’re spending your time on. How many of those tasks can you personally live without doing yourself? I bet there are quite a few. If you see yourself spending a lot of time on these particular tasks, it may be time to start looking for a virtual assistant.
You don’t want to be tied to your business 24/7.
If you’re at a stage in your business where you feel like you’re working 24/7 it may be time to hire a virtual assistant. In the beginning of this post I mentioned how I knew I needed to hire a virtual assistant when I began to feel overwhelmed. Part of the overwhelm was because I literally felt like I couldn’t take any time off for myself.
While I love what I do for a living, we could all use a break. In fact, taking breaks is essential when you’re creative for a living. In order for me to take those breaks, I needed to start layering in support in the form of a virtual assistant.
Have you hired a virtual assistant? When did you realize you needed one? Share in the comments below and let us know!
