Is Lack of Time Costing You Business?

Published by Debra Barber on August 1st, 2011 - in General, Small Business

As the owner of a small to medium enterprise you will undoubtedly experience times where you feel as if you have to rush through certain tasks in an attempt to get on top of everything.

Let’s imagine for a moment that the task you’re rushing through is the proofreading of a business proposal. You do a quick scan through your document and find no errors. You check again with the spelling and grammar checkers and still nothing.

Thinking that everything is fine with your copy you send the business proposal to the potential client and they spot several errors within the first few paragraphs. This smacks of unprofessionalism and will surely result in that individual seeking the services of another business.

There are two major reasons why you were unable to spot the mistakes in your copy. Firstly because you’re so connected to your writing and didn’t have the time to let your work breathe before going back to it, and secondly because spelling and grammar checkers aren’t foolproof. For example, they failed to pick up the errors in the following sentence; According too other small business owners it’s wise too ensure against loss off income. Errors such as the ones in the aforementioned sentence could have easily been spotted by a proofreader.

A proofreader is a fresh pair of eyes who not only ensures that your copy is clean but also frees up time for you to focus on other areas of your business. Remember, time is money.

Speaking of money, imagine the amount of money you missed out on from that potential client because of some spelling and/or grammatical errors. When you think about things in those terms the cost of a proofreader really is a small price to pay.

Guest Blog Post by Tony Keen.

A qualified journalist with a keen eye for detail, Tony Keen founded TK Proofreading in January of 2011. Tony studied under the tutelage of respected journalism professor John Henningham in 2004 and since then he has written for a vast number of websites on an array of topics . Tony is passionate about the written word and is dedicated to providing a range of businesses with a high quality service at an affordable price. For more information on the services offered by TK Proofreading visit the website. You can also interact with Tony on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Small Business CEOs Build Support Teams

Published by Debra Barber on May 16th, 2011 - in General, Small Business, Virtual Assistant

There are many elements required to ensure the success of a CEO; however, two key elements that come to mind are:

• knowledge of industry, products and services, and
• access to a team of highly qualified individuals.

Having a background providing Personal Assistant support to CEO level has made me realize how much a CEO relies on their Personal Assistant as well as other members of their team. This made me think: what is different about the small to medium business owner/manager?

The main difference is that small business owners don’t have the same resources available to them that a big business CEO does. Common threads of thought among many small business owners are:

• I’m not a CEO – why would I need a support team?
• I feel it is best if I do it myself.
• It will take me too long to train someone to do things the way I like them done and I can’t spend the time on this.
• I don’t have the resources for a support team.
• I don’t want to worry about whether or not I’m up to standard with leave entitlements, superannuation and insurance required for team members.
• It’s too hard to put a new team member in place and I can’t afford the time to do so.
• I wouldn’t know where to begin.

I’m sure you will agree that these belief systems are limiting. What makes a small to medium business owner different from a CEO? Other than the size of the budget you have to work with, really nothing. Just like a CEO in big business, the small to medium business owner has (among other things):

• knowledge and expertise within their industry
• knowledge of their business and business goals
• responsibility for attaining business goals and targets
• control over setting/changing goals and targets
• responsibility for ensuring an increase in the bottom line from year to year
• accountability for targets met/not met.

Following is some food for thought for the small to medium business owner:

Q: Could you imagine the CEO of a big business designing and typing up the company’s Annual Report?

A: In my experience, the CEO only writes the ‘Directors’ Report’ or ‘CEO Report’ and in one of my corporate positions, I actually wrote this for my CEO. The creation, formatting, design and organization of printing, production and distribution would fall to the Personal Assistant.

Q: Would the CEO organize the company’s AGM or other events?

A: This task would fall to the Personal Assistant or administration team to handle and ensure that all aspects of the event (i.e. venue, catering, invitations/notices, marketing etc.) were completed.

Q: Could you imagine the CEO typing their own correspondence or reports, designing templates and forms, creating their own presentations, handling their company’s social media marketing or troubleshooting IT issues?

A: Simply put, no. There are team members available who specialize in areas such as: administration, copywriting, IT, HR, marketing and design (to name a few).

Q: Does the fact that the CEO wouldn’t consider doing these tasks make them lazy?

A: Of course not! Firstly, most CEOs wouldn’t have the expertise and completing these tasks would take far more time than leaving it to an expert in their team. But, more importantly, taking care of the multitude of tasks that their team can handle would not be the best use of their time. The CEO’s time is much better spent on core business issues that require their expertise and knowledge–tasks that build the business.

I ask again … how does the small to medium business owner differ from a CEO? The answer is: you don’t. You still need to make the most of every second you have. It is imperative to the success of your business to spend your time on core business requiring your expertise and knowledge and concentrating on building your business.

So, how do you address the issues, discussed above, that many small to medium business owners face? The solution lies in partnering with a Virtual Assistant.

Consider how partnering with a Virtual Assistant will impact your bottom line, when you look at these benefits:

• free up time in your day to focus on core business and building your business
• no office space, hardware or software required
• no training required when you partner with a VA Certified Virtual Assistant
• no superannuation, income tax, leave entitlements or insurance to worry about.

You may not carry the title ‘CEO’ but you ARE the CEO in YOUR business. Your time is just as important as a CEO’s in the top 100 companies. The question is: do you value it as such?

Often, small to medium business owners have built their business up from nothing and letting go of control is difficult to do. It is in your best interests and in the interests of your business to partner with team members who are highly qualified and certified to ensure you receive the results you deserve. When partnering with a VA Certified Virtual Assistant, you can be sure you are partnering with a highly skilled professional who will require little or no training. Often, your Virtual Assistant can teach you something new.

As an independent contractor, you will only pay your Virtual Assistant their project or retainer fee and perhaps some incidental costs (i.e. envelopes, printing and postage for a mailout) that you would incur if you did the job yourself.

Where do you start?

Engaging a Virtual Assistant is designed to be a hassle free process. To find out more, take a look at our recent article answering the question of how to engage a Virtual Assistant. This article will give you a good idea of where to start.

As the CEO of your business, why not consider building your team today to ensure your success. I’d like to invite you to continue reading about how one ‘CEO’ in small business found partnering with Online Personal Assistants.

“Before we began working together I lacked time to complete all necessary tasks. Also, my weak technical/computer skills meant I was slow to complete some tasks and other tasks I couldn’t complete due to a combination of both of these issues. After working with you I started doing my newsletter again on a regular basis. My last workshop was a joy and a pleasure and also financially successful because I was not exhausted and stressed. You took the pressure off by attending to tasks I didn’t have time for but which were essential to the success of the workshop. I now have peace of mind knowing I can make plans now and develop systems that I couldn’t do before left to my own devices. Further value is gained by your proactive approach and your office and business experience means you make suggestions as to what I could or should do that I was not even aware of. You are a legend and an answer to a prayer.” ~ Marlene Rattigan, ‘CEO’ of Kidz-Fiz-Biz

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How to Engage a Virtual Assistant

Published by Debra Barber on May 15th, 2011 - in General, Small Business, Virtual Assistant

There can be a variety of reasons to partner with a Virtual Assistant, including many of the benefits outlined on our ‘Benefits’ page. Recently, I was asked, “How do I engage a Virtual Assistant?”  In this post, you will find answers to this important question according to our systems & processes. You will discover how partnering with a Virtual Assistant may be the appropriate solution for your business.

New clients contact us through various methods, including: website, networking or current client referral. After the initial contact is made, the first step is to schedule a no-obligation consultation. Prior to that meeting, you will receive a brief questionnaire that will allow us to prepare questions for your unique business. The meeting will take approximately one hour and may be completed face-to-face or via telephone, whichever is most convenient for you. During the initial meeting, you will tell us about your business and together we will develop a plan to support your business through our Virtual Assistant services. This plan will become your Productivity & Cost Saving Audit.

Deciding to partner with a Virtual Assistant means examining your business. What tasks are you doing that could be completed by someone else?  Because your business is unique, your Virtual Assistant needs are also distinctive and individualised. You can work with a Virtual Assistant to your comfort level. Some clients know where they would like assistance, whereas others need help to determine which tasks can be delegated. Online Personal Assistants can help you discover those duties you can entrust to a Virtual Assistant.

After determining your business needs, we will send a proposal for your review. Online Personal Assistants works with businesses on a per-project basis or through an ongoing support role. You may choose to seek proposals from other Virtual Assistants. When doing so, consider whether you require a Virtual Assistant in your city, state or country. If location is not a factor, you may choose to search a Virtual Assistant Directory or conduct a Google search to find another Virtual Assistant for comparison purposes. Most importantly, determine your personalised goals prior to contacting a Virtual Assistant. This will ensure you receive the information most essential to you.

When searching for a Virtual Assistant, consider the following:

Experience: Relevant experience is a factor in determining Virtual Assistant fees. (You may pay a lower rate for one Virtual Assistant; however, you need to determine if that Virtual Assistant has the skills necessary to complete your work to your expectations.)

Knowledge: Ask yourself if you need a Virtual Assistant that has knowledge of your industry and how to manage a business. Consider a Virtual Assistant that shows initiative and can assist you with a variety of tasks.

Budget: Determine your budget when you review a prospective Virtual Assistant. This will help verify if your chosen Virtual Assistant can work within your budget. However, when working through your budget it is important to remember that with more time to build your business you may need to invest more initially than you will get in return (from new business you can generate).

Location: Decide if it is important to have someone local or if you can broaden your search to include other geographic areas.

Specialised Services: If your tasks are specific and concentrate in a particular subject, you may want to utilise a Virtual Assistant who specialises in that area. Remember though, many Virtual Assistants have extended teams who handle specific tasks so that you don’t have to juggle multiple assistants.

Turnaround Times: Communication is imperative when working with a Virtual Assistant. Be sure your Virtual Assistant knows your deadlines and time requirements. The majority of Virtual Assistants will have a standard lead time. For example, Online Personal Assistants requires a three-day lead time for most tasks. At times, jobs will be completed well within this time frame. However, sometimes the full three days will be utilised. Remember to communicate your requirements for each deadline to your chosen Virtual Assistant.

Testimonials: If you are concerned about not meeting face-to-face, check testimonials of previous clients and conduct additional research to ease your mind.

The above list illustrates several items that should be considered when engaging a Virtual Assistant. Ultimately, you must also choose a Virtual Assistant who suits your needs, personality and work style.

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Small Businesses Back It Up!

Published by Debra Barber on May 15th, 2011 - in General, Small Business

I am often surprised by the number of business owners who do not regularly backup their computer system so that a version is available if the original data is lost or corrupted. There are many unforeseen circumstances that may occur, for example, fire, flood, a computer virus or simply your computer crashes and causes you to lose your data. It can even be accidentally deleting a file.

Sometimes data is able to be recovered when your system crashes; however, this is often at considerable expense and requires taking the computer to an expert.

How many business owners would be lost without their files if their computer crashed and data was unable to be recovered? How much would it cost you to rebuild all the files you require in your system? You may keep all your business cards, but consider how much time it would take to re-enter all the data.

Recently, a client with a home-based office experienced data loss for the second time. The first time, her data was unrecoverable and she not only lost valuable business data, but also all her photos and family videos. At this time, she did purchase an external hard drive to backup files. When the data loss occurred a second time, some data was able to be recovered; however, the external hard drive was affected and some things were lost. She immediately called me asking for the details of the online backup service I use and signed up the same day.

A backup service is a resource no business owner should be without. It is too risky to fail to backup your valuable files. I use ‘Carbonite’ – an online backup service. This is a service I would not be without. My investment is around AU$70 per year for unlimited backup of my files including photos and video clips. The benefits are invaluable. To date, I have only needed to retrieve files on a few occasions. For example, nothing adverse happened to my computer, but unfortunately I worked on a file and clicked ‘save’ without retaining a copy of the original. I was able to access my online backup service and retrieve a previous version of the file. The service is also great if you accidentally delete a file. Instead of recreating the entire file, you simply log in and retrieve the last backup version.

Many business owners are too busy or often forget to complete a backup at least weekly. With the Carbonite online system a backup is easily done. As long as you are connected to the Internet, the backup will automatically run in the background. I have not experienced any slowing of my computer whilst the backup is in progress. Initially, the backup takes some time depending on the amount of data you have stored on your computer; however, subsequent backups are seamless and you won’t even realize it is running in the background. Basically, you do not have to give it a second thought and there is no risk of forgetting or not having time to complete this important task.

Please be advised that I am in no way affiliated with this service other than being a customer myself. I simply wish to share what I have found to be an invaluable resource. How much would you pay for peace of mind?

Click here to visit the Australian Carbonite website or here for the US Carbonite website and see if this is a solution for your business.

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