Is it time to outsource to a Virtual Assistant?

None of us like change, or very few of us anyway.  Change for me does not sit easily.  I would like to be a more “fly by the seat of my pants” kind of gal but I am not.  So, when I moved from employed to self employed the change was massive! But it was the best thing that I did.

However, I thought once I had gotten into a routine that things would settle down and nothing would change again.  How wrong was I!  Change is inevitable when you are self-employed, things move quickly, you are constantly having to think on your feet and be flexible in the way you are working.  You are always having to review your business model, look at finances, decide on priorities etc.  That way your business is always moving forward and keeping up with the competition.

Due to all these commitments, plus the everyday work that comes along it is no surprise that at some point you will feel the dreaded “overwhelm”.  Now this may pass until the next time, but it may not and there is one very effective way of dealing with this – outsource!

It will no doubt come as no surprise to you that I like to promote outsourcing after all it is how I run my business.  My clients outsource work to me and I make their lives a whole lot easier.  It really is as simple as that.   But making the decision to do this is not easy.  There are numerous things to consider:

• Can you afford it?
• What could you outsource?
• How would you find the right person for you?

These are just a few of them.

The thing is that outsourcing does not have to be super stressful.  It should have the opposite effect and there are plenty of options out there.  There may only be certain tasks that you want to outsource such as your social media, website maintenance or diary management to name just a few or you might have a list as long as your arm that you wish someone else could do for you.

I wrote a blog last year called 25 things a Virtual PA can do for you so you might want to take a look if this is something that you are considering.

My point is that when you have a growing business at some point you have to make the decision whether to outsource or not.  This is a very personal choice, but I cannot wait for the day when I can outsource, this will mean that my business is growing and moving forward, and I will want to ensure that this continues to happen.

So really my question to you is “Is it time to change the way you work in 2018?”.

If you would like to know more about how The Umbrella Tree can help you moving forward, please contact me at emma@theumbrellatree.co.uk or visit www.theumbrellatree.co.uk for more information.