First of all, let me congratulate every solopreneur out there doing their best to keep their business afloat. I know that running a business all on your own is pretty challenging and exhausting. Though there is nothing wrong with the idea of going solo, it does hinder you from achieving a crucial aspect of business – long-term growth. That’s why, sooner or later, you’ll have to hire a virtual assistant (VA).

Soloprenuer Overview

Ok, I might be too pushy for insisting that you will soon need to hire a VA without even getting into details. So, I’ll explain why going solo hinders your business from growing in the long run, which hopefully will help you understand why it’s a wise choice to have a VA.

People become soloprenuers nowadays simply because they’d love to make money out of their passion. And they think they can do everything on their own with a little research. That is true, especially for start-up businesses that are trying to save as much money as possible.

Thanks to the vast information freely offered on the web, DIY-ing has become the next best thing – which allowed thousands of soloprenuers to make their business work successfully. Who would want to spend money hiring someone to create graphics when you can make one yourself with a little bit of guidance from watching Youtube videos and reading blogs, right?

But Here’s the Problem

It takes time – a lot of time – just for you to learn a new skill and apply it. Of course, it is handy, and it will help you build a good foundation for your business. But it still boils down to one thing: wrong time allocation.

That aside, time allocation isn’t the only problem. Another one is whether or not you love doing it yourself. Remember, if you don’t love crafting these petty works such as creating graphics for your ads; you’re going to get some unlovely results. Some of these results may even be the main cause why your business is not performing well.

On top of that, you have to focus on the gears that enable your business to run properly. And these are the administrative works, accounting, marketing, and so much more – not to mention talking to angry clients on the phone every time something goes wrong.

In a nutshell, at some point, you will feel this halt in progress. You will feel like your business is going nowhere as the results you want are simply not showing. You become stagnant. And you will feel that all the hours of the day isn’t enough anymore – overwhelmed. And by that time, you’re going to have to ask for help, which means hiring a VA, or be satisfied with what you have.

Why Hire a VA

If the conditions I’ve just stated above still don’t convince you, maybe a few benefits will:

• More time – Of course, we can’t make it 25 hours in one day (it would be nice, though). But we can allocate 8 hours of it to our VA by assigning certain tasks to them, tasks that you think is no longer necessary for you to do.
• Better Results – Back to creating graphics (let’s stick with one example), if it’s something that you don’t love doing, it will result in two things. One, it takes, again, too much time to produce. And two, the result will never be as good as someone who has been doing it for years. So, hire a VA who’s experienced in creating graphics or is specialized at it.
• No Need for Extensive Training – Most VAs you can find on the internet are tech savvy and experienced. But more importantly, they provide a profile that shows their specialty. The profile allows you to choose exactly what you need. It makes recruitment faster and less training as they’re probably good at what they boast. Of course, you’re going to hire a graphics artists VA to produce you quality graphics, not sales copies.
• Save More Money – Believe it or not, outsourcing remotely saves you a lot of money rather than hiring someone physically. Why? That’s because you don’t have to provide a workplace for them, no need for extensive benefits and bonuses, and you pay them strictly by the hour or per task completed. That gives you a lot of versatility and great control of your budget.

Where to Find a VA

Getting a VA is as easy as pie. As long as you know where to look, hiring the right virtual assistant should be fairly easy. Though take note, before you start hiring, you need to read and assess two or three things:

• Their profile
• Their portfolio or sample works
• Their reviews (if any)

You need to check their profile to have a quick gauge at their specialty and to see their rates (most of the time, the rate is always displayed). Seeing what they’re good at and how much they’ll cost you will help you budget wisely and prepare yourself even better.

Now, seeing their portfolio or samples of their work will allow you to truly determine their level and if what they’re asking for is reasonable. Looking at their portfolio gives you some leverage to negotiate the rate and the terms rather than blindly hiring someone just because they say they’re good at it.

And lastly, the reviews allow you to have a second opinion. It also confirms their authenticity – directly eliminating the odds of being scammed. Though reviews don’t promise anything, it still gives you a gist of who you’re hiring.

Here are some places you can go to in order to find your next Virtual Assistant:

• Upwork
• Freelancer
• Peopleperhour
• Onlinejobs.ph
• Guru
• Fiverr

One more thing before I wrap things up, make sure that your VA is someone who you can work with harmoniously. Of course, results are a priority but what good are they when your VA is adding more stress and simply not making things easier.

So, for all soloprenuers out there, if you think that things are getting a bit out of control, don’t forget that a VA is the best solution you have. Think of your virtual assistants as assets and you’ll see how fast things will change and progress. And oh, feel free to comment your experience with having a VA below.