Your PA and More

To be honest, it’s much like the considerations needed when finding the right staff member for your business – it can be hit or miss but you follow certain steps to make it as ‘right’ as possible from the start.

You need to consider

• What you can and can’t afford. 
• Remember , your virtual PA is tax deductable
• What sort of personality type COMPLIMENTS your own work style? So not just people you like but people who will fill the gaps for you in your business
• What style of communication works best for both parties ? – make sure it’s compatible
• What sort of experience does the PA have in the areas you need?
• How much time can you allocate to orientation on your business and your goals?
• Whether you have policies and procedures, or if you need them created
• What goals the PA has and whether they are compatible with yours
• How flexible the PA is, or not (some PAs need to provide very strict services with set times and conditions – make sure you are clear on if this is the case)
• Whether you want to work on a retainer, a package or hourly arrangement (and what the PA offers)
• How all this compares to having an actual staff member on or off site.

After selecting a PA you would like to try out, its recommended that you both take up a trial period so you can reassess the arrangement after a month or two. This is to ensure that the personality types and work styles are compatible, the hours or project’s scope is on track and meeting the expectations of both parties. 

Deciding the tasks to outsource

It’s a good idea to start noting down all of the tasks you do in your business. All of them. You can either brainstorm or you can make notes as you work across an average week or two.

Mark down how much time you’ve spent on each. It’s also worth considering how much each activity COSTS you when you do it.

Some may EARN money and others might energise and inspire you. Make a note of those tasks which are draining and uninspiring. Which of these tasks can be done off-site?

Those activities which drain you and don’t bring in money are costing you.

Example: If you bill out your time at $300/hour and then spend 2 hours doing work you could outsource, you have lost $600.

If you pay your VA $75/hour and they do the job for you, it has cost you $150 but saved you $450 as well. And chances are they can do admin tasks more quickly than you anyway so are likely to finish in under 2 hours.  

These are the tasks you should be considering outsourcing to a Virtual PA. Or if you decide you’d rather hire someone, these tasks can form part of the new job description, so time is not wasted.

Ensuring that you are both on the ‘same page’ will help avoid any assumptions or ‘black spots’ in your understanding of the job at hand. For example, it is very easy to assume that because the PA is excellent at e-newsletter development that they could just dive in and start creating newsletters for you. Yes, of course they could – but they won’t have the ‘big picture’ of your business in mind. They won't be able to represent you accurately and identify best opportunities, such as content for your ideal client, if your haven’t shared that with them. So ask things like: 

• How they came to be running their business
• What their main driver is for running their business
• What their past experience is, if they have worked with your industry previously
• What their main or preferred product/ service is
• Who is their ideal client
• When they are usually happy to be reached
• What you can expect in regards to delivery, quality, response time, budget
• What experience they have in using different software or system