Many of us work for ourselves, growing our own businesses. Whether that’s as a start-up, or as a contractor, it is a fact that often such people find themselves in a situation where work takes over.
So, if you get busy, whether that’s because of a seasonal spike in demand, or because you are working as hard as you can to get your new business venture off the ground, home life can inevitably suffer. Family events come second to the necessary work you need to complete by tight deadlines. Or, when those important events come up, you are simply too tired to enjoy them as you should.
What’s the solution? After all, you are working hard so that, eventually, you and your family will enjoy the benefit. But is all that short term pain worth the long term gain?
One answer to ensure you retain a better work-life balance, is to employ a virtual assistant. It’s a completely different approach, and a different mindset, to employing a member of staff to help you. For a start, it is much more flexible, and there’s no need to worry about the whole set of issues around employing someone, as you are not going to do that.
Hiring a virtual assistant is easy, and it is something you can do by the hour. Virtual assistants can take on a wide variety of administrative support tasks, that will free up your time to concentrate on fee-earning business, or on taking the steps necessary to ensure the success of your new venture.
What can you ask a virtual assistant to do? That will vary depending on the VA you contact, but could include event and diary organisation, travel planning, invoicing and following up on outstanding payments – something that could have an immediate positive effect on your cashflow. Some assistants may also be able to support your needs by making or receiving telephone calls, from following up on leads to answering calls on your behalf.
Others can take care of bookkeeping, using software such as Xero or Sage to help ensure your financial business matters run more smoothly, expenses are logged and statutory paperwork such as VAT returns are completed and submitted on time.
Imagine the benefits of passing just some of these tasks to someone else, who is skilled and experienced at carrying them out! A virtual assistant can schedule tasks on a regular basis, so that they are always completed in a timely manner. And, with the time saved, you can instead plan what is more important to you. With your work-life balance in mind, that could even mean spending time on your fitness with a visit to the gym. Or it could mean carving time out of your busy diary to ensure you attend an important event such as your child’s school play or sports day. Making time to be at such events can be priceless.
Your virtual assistant does not need to come to your office, as they can work remotely. Simply linking up using cloud computing resources, email and perhaps having a virtual meeting via Skype or Google Plus can ensure you work effectively together. So don’t delay, contact us today, and see how we can improve your work-life balance this week.