7 Signs You’re NOT Prepared for a Virtual Assistant
IN A HURRY? HERE’S THE BOTTOM LINE
Are you ready to expand your business team by hiring a virtual assistant, employee, or other team member? To ensure success, you must first identify whether you’re truly ready. Common barriers include financial inconsistencies, difficulty in prioritizing relationships, and an unclear business vision. By resolving these challenges and preparing strategically, you can set a foundation for effective teamwork and future business growth.
GOT A MINUTE? HERE ARE THE DETAILS TO CONSIDER
I’m guessing you clicked on this blog because you’re ready to take a big step in your organization: You’re considering a new hire. Congratulations! Hiring a virtual assistant, employee, or other team member for your business or nonprofit is very exciting.
I can say from personal experience that building a team transformed my ability to serve more clients and grow my business to multiple six figures. Adding capacity beyond yourself is a big step forward. It allows you to add skillsets, multiply your revenue, and help more people in your target audience.
But today’s blog is going to encourage you to pump the brakes… just for a moment. There might be some very valid reasons that you’re not quite ready to take this step.
Of course, there's a difference between actually being ready and feeling ready. I never felt ready! Many of my clients, when we start working with them, have said that this feels like a big step. You don't have to go from being a solopreneur or running a nonprofit nearly on your own to hiring a full-time assistant or employee. There are stages; you can start small and continue to build as time goes on.
Are you ready to find out if you’re ready for a VA? Here are seven signs that you might want to hold back.
Sign 1: Feast and Famine Cycle / Cash Flow Issues
Building a team can certainly help you overcome the “feast and famine cycle” in your business and achieve consistent, ongoing sales. Back when I was operating solo, I would grow my business to the point where I was maxed out on capacity — but then, the back end of my business was neglected, and I wasn’t doing sales or marketing. Then, once a project wrapped up, I had a gap in my income and had to scramble to fill that slot.
Sound familiar?
Before hiring someone, it’s important to pinpoint where you’re having cashflow issues, and take steps to fix those problems.
Here are a few examples:
There is an economic downturn in your industry, something outside of your control. Before hiring a team member, take time to diversify your income streams so you can continue to grow.
You take on projects that go on for several months, but you don’t receive payment until the end, which can cause a cashflow strain. Before bringing on an assistant, consider altering your contracts so that you receive partial (or full) payments upfront or throughout the project.
You can also think about how to repackage your services, alter your payment terms, or introduce retainer relationships. All of these structural changes can help solve your cash flow problems and take you out of the “feast or famine” cycle.
Sign 2: Inability to Prioritize the Relationship
You’re busy — I get it! That’s one reason you want to spread out the workload, right? But keep in mind that bringing on a team member is going to take some time. Thorough onboarding, timely communication, crosstraining, and regular check-in meetings need to be a priority if you’re going to have a successful working relationship with your new team member.
To solve this problem, commit to a standing check-in call or one-on-one meeting with your team member, before you even hire them. You also need to block off time every day — either at the start or end of the day — to respond to messages from your team. You need to commit this time in order to keep your work together moving forward. Yes, that means carving time out of your day, but remember that, ultimately, this team member will save you time.
If you’re not willing to invest time to connect on a regular basis, especially in the beginning, you are not setting yourself and your team up for success! So, protect that time because it’s an investment in your future.
Sign 3: Not Prepared to Shift Your Role
I know what you’re thinking: “I'm still the owner of my company; I'm not getting a new role. Nobody's promoting or demoting me — what are you talking about?”
Here’s what I mean: When you start building a team, the work that you are doing on a daily basis is going to change. Are you ready for that? Or are you holding onto tasks that have just become routine habits for you — such as bookkeeping, scheduling appointments, and preparing reports?
If you're not ready to let go of some of those things, it will be an uphill battle to build a team.
Many CEOs that I talk to are stuck in the mindset that they are the “magic” in their company, and clients/customers only want to work with them. I can tell you from experience that this just isn’t true! When I first had team members become forward-facing with my clients, I was afraid that the clients would be upset and only want to work with me. At the end of the day, however, they just wanted the work to get done.
So, ask yourself: What do you really want? If you offloaded some responsibilities, you’d be making space to do other things! Perhaps you want to write a book, launch a program, or start pursuing speaking engagements. But you need to be ready to loosen the reins a bit and embrace a new role within your company.
Sign 4: Not in Control Over Business or Life
I’ve met plenty of CEOs who are living in a constant state of chaos. When things get chaotic, and life feels out of balance, this can really have a negative impact on your work — much less the work you're trying to do with others!
This “chaos” can pop up in multiple ways:
External forces have an outsized impact on your day
You’re unable to set (and stick to) clear priorities
Self-sabotage, which can be conscious or unconscious
You are struggling with limiting beliefs
You can’t stick to clear boundaries between work and home life
If any of this rings a bell, it’s time to take a step back and work on these issues before you grow your team. Check out books, listen to podcasts, hire a coach, or pursue therapy. One of my favorite books to help is “The Let Them Theory” by Mel Robbins.
To find better control over your business and life, I also encourage you to define your intentions and then make sure your choices are aligned. You won’t be able to move forward with growing your business if you’re not able to get clarity around these other areas!
Sign 5: Fear of Trusting Others
Many leaders have legitimate concerns about growing a team because they’ve been burned before. This could be as simple as incompetence and as serious as theft. As a result, they are afraid to hire someone again because they feel like they just can’t trust anyone. This is more than just nervousness; this is a deep-seated fear or assumption that something is going to go wrong.
There are many unfortunate things that can happen, but if you have a deep fear of trusting others, you aren’t going to be able to grow a team effectively.
What can you do to overcome these fears?
Start with forgiveness. What happened in the past that is causing this distrust? What was on them, and what was on you? What are some of the guardrails you might need to set in place, moving forward, so that you can begin to build trust? It's easy to say, “That person made a mistake.” That might be true, but go deeper — it’s often a communication challenge or a process-related issue.
Next, avoid bringing the energy of “guilty until proven innocent” into your working relationships. I can tell you from experience that a team member can definitely feel that negative energy when they start working with someone who doesn’t trust them.
Then, take your next hiring relationship slowly. Hire them to do just a couple of tasks, and once you see that they’ve delivered effectively, and you feel like you can trust them, you can continue taking steps forward. Clear that energy, reset expectations and boundaries, and trust that you’re hiring the right service provider this time around.
Sign 6: Unclear Business Goals or Vision
You know this is an issue when you feel like you’re wandering through the wilderness. One day, you’re focused on one big idea, and the next day, you’ve abandoned it for something completely different.
I’ve worked with many clients who have tons of grand ideas about what they want to do: Write a book, increase revenue, get into speaking, etc. But before you can bring on a team to support you, it's vital to define what you want to accomplish, within a specific timeframe.
Here’s what you need to do: Focus on one main goal for the next six months. That doesn’t mean it’s the only thing you can accomplish, but make it your top priority. Communicate clearly with your team about where you’re going. If you're a multi-passionate entrepreneur, bring on a team member to focus on ONE goal, and give clear direction, instead of throwing a million things at them at once.
Sign 7: Significant Information is Not Accessible
You’re not ready to bring on a team member if the resources they need cannot be easily handed over. This can look like having paper calendars, handwritten files, everything stored in your head, or all your files saved on a local hard drive.
A virtual assistant or digital organizer can help transition this information to a more accessible form, but it’s a stepping stone. Getting all the information shareable will require effort before you can fully leverage a team’s support.
But the good news is that you can still hire someone; they will just start out by helping you get organized. It may involve scanning files to organize them electronically or converting paper calendars into digital ones. Even if that doesn’t happen overnight, it’s entirely feasible and manageable.
Are You Ready for a Virtual Assistant?
After reading this blog, you might have realized that you’re not entirely ready to work with a team member. And that’s perfectly OK! This blog also showed you the solutions and stepping stones that will prepare you for successful collaboration in the future.
It’s about healing what’s needed, clarifying your objectives, organizing your resources, and setting up yourself and your future team for success. When you do feel ready, feel free to schedule a complimentary consultation!