Is Your Business Ready to Hire a Virtual Assistant? Or have you tried hiring virtual assistants in the past based on advice from your business coach or business bestie? Maybe you’ve hired one, maybe you’ve hired many, and you’re always like, “why is it not the magic pill that everyone says it’s going to be”? That is what we’re going to talk about today.
But before we dive in, I also just want to say this: we talk a lot about misconceptions and myths and what it’s really like hiring a virtual assistant, things that go wrong when you hire a va, mistakes, etc, but I also just want to say that growing your team and hiring a virtual assistant isn’t really optional if you want to grow a big business. There are exceptions to every rules, but when you get to a certain point in your business, you need help.
Whether hiring a virtual assistant is your next move or not, chances are a lot of these mistakes are transferable to different relationships in your business. Personally, having two people on my team support me and believe in the vision as much as I do and just be overall fantastic, has been a game changer.
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Who is Sophie Robinson?
Sophie Robinson is a Planner turned Virtual Assistant with a decade of experience in the wedding and events world. She has managed resort events, corporate team buildings, weddings, pool-side family trivia, conferences and tradeshows. After a cross-state move with her now husband, a short career change as an elementary teacher, and quick realization that she needed to be back in the wedding world, she started her Virtual Assistant business for Wedding Pros.
Now she helps Wedding Pros say “I do” to ditching the overwhelm by joining their teams, managing the backend of business, and up leveling their client experience using systems daily.
TL;DR: If you’re a wedding pro and are ready to hire a virtual assistant, find our more about working with her here.
How can we determine if hiring a virtual assistant is the right move for our business compared to hiring another specialist or just waiting?
Yes, I hear this all the time when people are thinking about if they are ready to hire a virtual assistant. When I started my business two years ago, I had just heard the term “VA” or “virtual assistant” for the first time, and a month later I was starting a business as one. My journey in business has involved explaining to many people what a virtual assistant even is.
In the last few years, it’s really blown up. If you go on TikTok, Instagram, or Google and type in “VA” or “virtual assistant,” there’s a VA for everything. People are starting to know what that term means, and coaches and biz besties are constantly recommending them. Once someone hires a VA, they tell everybody around them, “You need a VA. My VA is amazing,” but what does that really mean?
It’s such a buzzword right now: “hire a VA, they’ll fix all your problems,” or “the VA is the first person you should bring into your business.” Hot take: I don’t think a VA is always the best first hire or first thing to outsource in your business. If you had asked me that two years ago, I would have said differently, of course. You and I have both evolved in our businesses, and that’s my hot take right now, especially as someone specializing in wedding pros, though I think this applies to all industries.
When I started out, I was the “pick me” girl, willing to take anything off your plate and do all the general admin work. I passionately wanted to help these stressed-out business owners. I’m an Enneagram Three, a true people pleaser. When they said email was overwhelming, I took over their inbox. When they wanted to create content in Canva, I gave it my best shot. When they wanted to update their systems, I figured it out, even if I didn’t know the system yet. But through that, I onboarded clients who I quickly realized weren’t ready for a VA.
That’s not how you start a relationship, whether it’s romantic or working. Long story short, I don’t think a VA is always the best hire. There are benefits because we’re contractors and not employees, so there are no salaries, taxes, or insurance involved. But there’s an onboarding process and a preparation process if you’re ready to hire a virtual assistant.
If you haven’t put in that time, even mentally, if you haven’t thought about what you want to delegate or what that will look like for you, especially if this is the first person you’re ever hiring, you need to slow down and reevaluate. Is it a VA, a specialist, or something else in your business that will help you out?
Are you saying we need to have certain things in place before hiring a VA, and that a project-based specialist might be a better fit initially compared to a long-term VA relationship?
Sure, absolutely. I think a VA is not a quick fix no matter what. Just like you don’t like doing everything in your business, you shouldn’t expect your VA to or be great at doing everything in your business either. You need to determine if you need a specialist, a systems overhaul, or general admin help. Many VAs offer general admin tasks like email answering, calendar scheduling, and fixing template emails in your HoneyBook or CRM of choice. Which a VA would be great at no matter what your industry is. But for tasks like social media strategy, you might need a specialist rather than a VA.
Then when you get on Tiktok and see the “pick me energy” of the new VAs entering the workforce, they may not be able to tell you that they aren’t the right fit yet. They might not know to tell you to hire them once you have a system in place, or a social media/marketing strategist on your team. So that’s more what I mean is it’s a longer term relationship, but you also need to be smart about what it is you want them to do if you are ready to hire a virtual assistant.
Do you think the advice for VAs to “niche down” is problematic? I’ve struggled to find a VA who can generally help with various tasks instead of just specialized roles. What are your thoughts on this?
The biggest issue right now for aspiring or current VAs is whether to offer general admin services or niche down. There’s a lot of talk about niching down quickly so you can identify your ideal client and market to them effectively. While there are benefits, if you niche down too quickly, you might not know what you enjoy doing most or who you enjoy working with. I niched down to wedding professionals because that’s my background, but I initially took on all tasks to find out what I was good at and enjoyed. By following the advice to niche down too quickly, you might do yourself a disservice.
Do you have a minimum of hours you recommend is worth starting when hiring a VA?
When I first started, I offered packages of my time, which you’ll see across the board. It’s a great way to test the waters and start budgeting for outsourcing. However, I agree that 10 hours a month isn’t enough if you’re ready to hire a virtual assistant. I offered 10, 20, and 30-hour packages, and all my new clients chose the 10-hour option because it was the smallest and cheapest. This often left us running out of time and unable to complete their to-do lists.
I’m not slow at these tasks, especially with my wedding experience. The issue is that when you are ready to hire a virtual assistant, the VA is learning your business, brand voice, and how you respond to emails or where you save things. It’s not just 10 hours of your time but 10 hours of someone else learning your business while doing the work. This often leads to disappointment and unrealistic expectations on what can actually get done.
To avoid this, be very specific with your directions, no matter the task. Treat it as if you’re describing it to a 2-year-old. This clarity helps on both sides and prevents misunderstandings.
What should we have prepared before we bring someone on when we are ready to hire a virtual assistant?
I always suggest recording your time for a week when you are ready to hire a virtual assistant. Track what you do and how long it takes each day. It’s annoying and time-consuming, but it will be eye-opening. You’ll see tasks that aren’t CEO-level work, tasks that don’t move the needle in your business, generate revenue, or close sales.
As a control freak with a wedding background, I understand how hard it is to release control. However, when you see how many hours you spend on tasks like learning Canva to create a graphic that doesn’t close a sale or bring a lead, it becomes easier to outsource.
Audit your time and identify tasks you don’t need or like to do. Consider if someone else can handle these tasks. This will help you determine if you have the systems in place to delegate. If everything is organized, move forward with hiring. If not, prepare your systems for that person to come on board. This time audit is crucial for effective outsourcing.
What are some of the biggest mistakes you see business owners making when ready to hire a virtual assistant?
The biggest mistakes I see business owners making across any industry about whether or not they are ready to hire a virtual assistant, is unclear communication, lack of prioritization, and not having clear assumptions about what they need. Instead of dumping all tasks on a VA, hire people with a purpose and for their specialty. I want someone who excels at what they’re doing for me, not just a catchall to handle everything.
Be intentional with what you assign when you’re ready to hire a virtual assistant. Communicate well with your VA, have clear expectations, and avoid hiring a catchall for the long term. Get specific with what you want from the start.
LINKS MENTIONED:
- Learn more about working with Sophie if you’re ready to hire a virtual assistant (or want a Honeybook or AislePlanner systems build)
- Follow Sophie on Instagram
- Follow Sophie on Threads
- Listen to this episode on Elizabeth McCravy’s podcast about team communication
- Learn more about working with our marketing agency here
- Follow me on Instagram
