Ideas For Outsourcing Your Daily Schedule Online

by | Apr 27, 2020 | admin advice, Business, Cost of work, General, Office, Virtual Assistance

There are more and more small business owners that are aware of the concept associated with outsourcing. However, they might think that it is only applicable for things such as article writing or maybe some website work. These people tend to feel that they simply must keep on top of a lot of their routine, everyday work. If they don’t, won’t they lose control of the company? It can be difficult to let go, but in reality, someone like your virtual assistant is ideally placed to help with so many different elements of your daily schedule. Now, when we are all facing hard times, when we are all 6th week into lockdown, we are forced to stop work or implement a new way of working this might come in handy and show you ideas of your Daily Schedule you could outsource online.

1. Calendar Management.

If you feel that you are running around from pillar to post, always seem to be late for appointments (conference calls) and can never seem to fit in time for meetings with important prospects, then you should outsource your calendar management to a VA. When you’re busy doing other things meetings can be scheduled and you can be given plenty of advanced notice so that you are in the right place at the right time without feeling flustered.

2. E-Mail Management.

Time management and efficiency experts tell us that one of the worst ways that we can waste our time is to constantly drop everything to deal with e-mails as and when they arrive. So many of these e-mails can be time-wasters. Other e-mails represent an attempt by the originator to control your time according to their schedule. By putting a virtual assistant at the gateway you know that you will only be prompted to deal with emergency situations and all other e-mail can be handled by the VA in the background.

3. Customer Support.

Now that you’ve got an increasing number of important clients “on the books” you will find that there will be an increasing number of customer service issues to deal with. This is something that you must prioritise as poor support in this area will quickly gain you a bad reputation, to say nothing of lost clients. A VA will ensure that everything is handled carefully, professionally and promptly, with your input only required in predetermined circumstances.

4. General Tasks.

As there are only so many hours in the day the small-business owner will invariably find that there will be many calls for their time that may not necessarily be related to business at all. For example, running errands, gift shopping, social event organisation. All of this can be handled by your VA.

5. Trip Planning.

I know it doesn’t seem to be relevant now, but I am sure it will be back soon. We all know how long it takes to try and plan a trip. Those airline travel consolidator sites may offer you many different choices but you’ve still got to try and sort out your hotel, car and do so within your budget. Before you know it you’ve spent hours trying to arrange just one trip. Outsource this to a virtual assistant. Once you have given them the appropriate parameters they’ll do the rest with maximum efficiency.

Treat your virtual assistant as an extension of yourself. There’s no need to feel as if you giving up control when you outsource all of those general administrative tasks that in truth are simply non-productive and holding you back from becoming successful.

In my previous articles, you can read about other outsourcing ideas like Admin tasks or Social media tasks. And soon I will cover more.

6 Reasons Why Implementing An Online Office Will Help Your Business – especially Now

by | Aug 19, 2019 | Business, Cost of work, Office, Virtual Assistance

Over recent years the many advances in technology have ensured that almost every aspect of running a business is now supported by an online system. Many of these online systems offer different versions that can be selected according to business needs and budget. These systems combine to create an online office and offer a powerful transformative effect for efficiently running business operations.

 

It’s likely that when you started your business you imagined yourself as the cool, calm, wonderful business owner, with everything organised and very little stress affecting you. You didn’t imagine that you’d be rushing around, stressed out and frustrated that you’re wasting time on seemingly unnecessary tasks. You have probably never considered your business being forced to shut down due to the situation like we all facing now.

When we are staying at home, have to work from home an Online systems, as well as hiring a brilliant VA could very much help you run a better business and restore your work / life balance, not to mention your original business vision and here’s 6 reasons why…

 

1 Increase Efficiency

If your systems aren’t working for you, it can feel like you’re working harder but not moving forward any faster. You end up with less earning time and less time to yourself to wind-down.

Streamlining your business to reduce inefficiencies and wasted time with readily available online systems means there’s no need to ‘reinvent the wheel’. A suitable process and system almost invariably already exists and can be integrated with your procedures to support your business, reduce your to-do list, increase efficiency and free up your time.

2 Free up Your Time

You want to be focussed on the income generating tasks and business strategy, not bogged down by the day-to-day management of your business tasks. You want to run your business, not have it run you!

With increased efficiency, your workload is reduced and a large amount of your time freed up. This allows you to better manage your time and focus on more important things, such as your clients and the wider business strategy, either that or some much needed time to switch off and de-stress.

When you add home-schooling that will be back after the mid-term your time will out of the sudden be even more precious.  

 

3 Improve Client Experience

Using online systems will help improve consistency in your business processes and allow you to focus on meeting your clients’ needs and expectations – so you can deliver a better experience overall, for instance through a service like Asana, which has been specifically designed to assist you with actively managing client experience via ticketed support.

 

4 Increase Your Profit

With a more efficient business, and the wasted time now freed up, you’re able to turn your attention to income generating tasks, your customers and business strategy and steadily increase your profits.

Always remember, an improved client experience also leads to more recommendations, increased sales and repeat business.

 

5 Build a Better Team

Using online systems you can outsource tasks to VAs more readily and are no longer limited geographically when it comes to finding the best resource for your business. You can take advantage of a global talent pool and collaborate online using communication and project management systems such as Skype, Asana and Active Collab.

 

6 Be Competitive

If your competitors are more efficient than you, there’s potential that you could lose business, for example they may be able to respond quicker to enquiries, or offer a better service to their clients. It’s important to continuously refine your systems in order to stay competitive.

 

So, now more than ever it is the right time to start to improve your business systems, engage the services of one or more VAs and get your office online today!

Top Benefits Of Working With An Administrative Virtual Assistant

by | Aug 7, 2019 | admin advice, Cost of work, General, Virtual Assistance

In the old days, when the business needed additional administration help, it meant hiring a new employee. After an application and interview process, the right person was signed on to the company payroll and got to work. In our days when almost every company is online in some way or other, administrative virtual assistants who work on a freelance basis creates the need for a new way of hiring while still completing all assignable tasks that keep the business running smoothly.

Of course, that companies still hire administration assistants as they used to and these people offer invaluable services, including email management, scheduling, workflow organisation and even customer care. However, after they complete all the tasks, they sit at their desks and keep drawing a paycheque. And it is where the difference is. The Virtual Admin Assistants charge you for the tasks they complete according to their client agreement, without any wasted expense or downtime.

Virtual Assistant Save You Time

The most obvious way a virtual assistant saves a company’s time is by handling specific tasks so the business owner or employees can set their focus in other directions. Many of the jobs dealt with by a freelance VA include things like organising, managing and answering email, addressing support requests, phone messages and the social media posts, maintaining a schedule or calendar programme so that you never miss an important meeting or deadline again. The entire company can run far more smoothly without unwanted interruptions.

Freelance Virtual Assistant Save You Money

When a business decides to hire a new employee, it creates not only a new paycheque to leave the company’s funds, but also other expenses associated with hiring. The business can face new tax situations, additional insurance or other benefits that will have to pay. New employees also (in most cases) require equipment such as a computer, mobile phone, possibly a landline and even a chair and desk for businesses that operate with a physical location.

When you decide to work with a VA, you will soon realise they operate from their own office or home, already have existing computer hardware and gadgets necessary for them to provide the services they offer. Since Freelance VA aren’t salaried or hourly employees, they are not generally bound by the legal guidelines associated with providing health care and other benefits or insurance either for that matter. There’s also no wasted expense associated with paying for slow periods or times when there’s not enough work to go around. Freelance agreements should spell out clearly what are the tasks you are being charged for.

Virtual Assistant Save You Headaches

Imagine a daily schedule on your mobile phone, an appointment calendar in the cloud, multiple email accounts demanding attention, social media overrun with questions, spam attacking from all sides, the phone ringing off the hook and at least five other tasks that have been forgotten or pushed aside in favour of simply maintaining a company’s forward flow. Running a business involves a lot more than having a vision for the future, setting goals and making profits. A professional virtual assistant can do more than save you time and money; they can also reduce stress and alleviate the uncomfortable feeling that the company is a house of cards.

The right virtual assistant removes the day-to-day struggles to keep organised and on top of everything. Some administrative VAs begin by setting up your calendar, scheduling, email and social media accounts for easier management. They then remove the challenge of giving enough attention to each aspect of these tasks to make the business run smoothly. When the company owner feels confident everything is flowing smoothly in the background, he or she can truly focus on business growth and future development.

So tell me, what is your business about and what type of help you need. I am sure I can help. I promise you will not be disappointed working with me.

Why Virtual Assistants Are The Right Kind Of People

by | May 14, 2018 | Business, Cost of work, Office, Virtual Assistance

Why Virtual Assistants Are The Right Kind Of People

In any business the cost of manpower is dominant. Did you know that it could represent as much as 80% in some cases? Business owners are often faced with a quandary. They know that taking on human resources is a considerable challenge and that there are many added costs, yet they understand that skilled labour is essential if they are to expand as they want. Quite simply, they cannot achieve what they need to achieve without the “right kind of people” helping them. (more…)

3 Things People Think About Virtual Assistants

by | Nov 6, 2017 | Business, Cost of work, General, Office, Virtual Assistance

3 Things People Think About Virtual Assistants

When I first started as a Virtual Assistant, I wasn’t aware that sometimes it might not be as easy to working for yourself and helping other people. It all seemed very bright and clear in my head. I got a vision that I will go and search for the client, win one and help him with his work. Simple as that! In the process of looking for a new client, having a consultation, winning the client and finally serving him I have noticed three somewhat common believes about Virtual Assistants I would like to share with you.      I know these beliefs are dictated by the lack of understanding and knowledge of what I do and the further we are in the process of cooperation all of them fade away. These, however, are my observations based on experience and a pleasure of dealing with different type of clients where each and everyone has their own specific needs, style of work and expectations. (more…)

When You Finally Realise That You Are Wasting Your Time, What Are You Going To Do?

by | Feb 18, 2017 | Business, Cost of work, Virtual Assistance

Virtual Assistant in EdinburghWhen you finally realise that you are wasting your time, what are you going to do?

We are seeing an explosive growth in the number of people who want to take their own future in their hands and set out on their own, to become an entrepreneur. Undoubtedly, this has been fueled in large part by the recent economic downturn and the huge number of layoffs in supposedly “cast-iron” industries. No longer could you rely on a job for life and the slow realisation that nobody’s job was secure anymore prompted many to sit up and take notice. (more…)