There comes a time when a business owner, especially one working for themselves and by themselves, will need some administrative and/or marketing support.

I’ve spoken to people who have stressed about the expense and have hired someone on a full time basis because they didn’t feel that they had any options. I’ve also spoken to others that perserve with doing it all themselves because they are not ready to hire someone on a full time basis, and would feel the stress of the expense too much.

The next thought is often, hiring someone on a part-time basis but there are still a number of costs to consider such as space, desk, computer, insurances etc.

From my experience, most business owners (particularly in Hong Kong and Singapore) don’t know about the option of hiring a virtual assistant who can work on a part time basis, and who can be flexible with their working hours.

We work with a number of coaches and management consultants, and to give you an idea about what it would cost them to NOT hire a virtual assistant, I’ve put together the table below:

Before we list what you should consider when hiring someone on a part-time basis (whether an employee or a virtual assistant), let’s look at the costs of NOT hiring someone.

[table id=1 /]

The table above demonstrates what it is costing an Executive Coach to do 10 hours of work that they could delegate, versus a Client Manager at Bauhinia Solutions.

With the time you save, you can spend those hours actually working with clients (earning additional money), meeting prospective clients, marketing your business or spending more quality time with your family and friends. Besides the time, you are also saving your business 16,500 HKD (or 14,192 CYN or 2,847 SGD or 4,104 USD per month).

So, when do you hire a Virtual Assistant?

• if you’re forgetting to do specific work because you’re too busy trying to deliver your work
• if you’re working weekends and late into the evenings to ‘catch up’ on paperwork
• if you’re double booking yourself because you’re not managing your diary effectively
• if you’re declining paid work opportunities because you need time to complete your back-office work
• if you’re procrastinating on tasks because you’re not good at them, or don’t like doing them
• if you’re taking a long time doing specific tasks because they don’t light you up, or you’re trying to learn how to do them
• if you’re doing a lot of tasks manually, especially when it’s the same tasks each month and you feel that they could be automated
• if you’re not getting your invoices out on time, or your invoices are not getting paid and you’re not sending reminders
• if you’re collecting your petty cash receipts and bills in a shoebox, drawer on your desk, a mug, or any other container
• if you’re putting off projects because you don’t have the space in your day to get them started

Besides, the cost, not hiring the support you need, can be holding you back from earning more income, growing your business, and creating the lifestyle you’d like to lead.

If you’re overwhelmed, struggling to get things done, or recognise you need some assistance, organise a call with me to discuss your business support needs.