“Work to live, not live to work.” How many times have you heard this from friends and family, or have seen this motto on promoted in a meme on social media? For many Small Business Owners, working to live is easier said than done.
Let’s face it – if you don’t work to run your business…then there IS NO business. So, what can you do to turn the tables? You could go back to a ‘9 to 5’ again…but then again… NOT! You love your small business and are hungry to make it thrive. Your business is a big part of who you are, and you’re not prepared to give it up, no matter what the cost. So, then what?
Maybe it simply means that you need to work smarter, filling your days with the business you love, and less time spent doing business tasks that, while are necessary, are not your jam.
If you feel like your work-life balance is more off-balance than balanced, it’s time to enlist the help of a Virtual Executive Assistant.
- Take back the night.
Or your nights…and your weekends! As a Small Business Owner, you attend to your core business and the needs of your clients all day. Your business is all consuming and it’s what pays the bills! Unfortunately, that may mean you are stuck doing your business administration work after hours, often eating into your much needed free time. You know – making client invoices, reviewing the day’s emails, basic bookkeeping – that kind of busy work that must be done, but is so time consuming and tedious.
You need and deserve a break! Hiring a Virtual Executive Assistant could be the solution you are looking for. By offloading administrative and routine tasks to a Virtual Executive Assistant, you can open up time for yourself to make your nights and weekends FUN again. Finally check out that new restaurant you’ve been wanting to try, escape the city for a weekend, catch-up with friends, go for a run, binge that Netflix series everyone is talking about – the sky’s the limit, and a Virtual Executive Assistant can help take you there by giving you the gift of free time.
At VEA, our Virtual Executive Assistants come to the job ready to work, armed with experience and skills that let them hit the ground running.
- Get a new rhythm. (And we don’t mean dancing.)
As a Small Business Owner, you know that there are administrative tasks that simply must be attended to during working hours. The problem with these tasks is that they can be noisy and demand immediate attention, cutting into the productive routine of your day. Answering client inquiries, scheduling appointments, returning routine phone calls – these are just a few of the administrative interruptions that can wreak havoc on the precious time of your daily business.
Yet there is no doubt that the completion of these tasks in a timely manner, while not your core business, are critical to your success. Why not hand these tasks over to an Virtual Executive Assistant and consider them done! Our Virtual Executive Assistants are experts at time management, making it easy for them to juggle many balls in the air at the same time.
There also may be personal tasks that need attention during the day, that ever-growing nagging list of to-dos that you can just never get to: making a dentist appointment, booking lunch with a friend or colleague, finding that perfect gift for your significant other. These kinds of things are important in your life too, and somehow you need to find the time to get them done. But like the shoemaker’s kid, they are the last to ‘get the shoes’.
Our Virtual Executive Assistants are double agents and can also be your Online Personal Assistant. Having helped other Small Business Owners just like you, our Virtual Personal Assistants can easily slip your personal tasks in amongst your required business administration work. Not only that, but they also come equipped with tons of experience and may be able to provide you with suggestions or ideas of things they can help you with that you may not have considered.
- More time = more business.
Do you ever feel like you are busy all day, jumping from business task to meeting, and back to business task – but you are not making any headway? Frustrating, right?
This kind of exhausting, busy tempo is all too familiar with Small Business Owners because there is just so much to do and so little time. But there is also the possibility that you could need some help with time management. One of the beauties of having a Virtual Executive Assistant is they are one step removed from your core business, so they can step back and look at the bigger picture of your day with a fresh perspective.
A Virtual Executive Assistant can help you by managing your busting-at-the-seams calendar, helping to create some much needed space in your day. By being mindful of how and when appointments are booked, your Virtual Executive Assistant can create time blocks in your day for focused time. And focused time is what small business owners need. Focused time offers you uninterrupted THINKING time, which is what you need to brainstorm ideas to maintain your businesses or push it to the next level.
Conclusion
So, to summarize, if you are a Small Business Owner who needs help creating more time in your day but are hamstringed by an overload of administrative and personal tasks or by a lack of time in your daily calendar, it’s time to consider getting help.
You know you don’t want to commit to a part-time or full-time salaried employee, so a Virtual Executive Assistant/Online Personal Assistant could be just the ticket: no overhead; on demand and flexible services; experienced, professional and ready to work. A Virtual Executive Assistant/Online Personal Assistant could mean the difference between you working to live – and not living to work. And let’s face it, isn’t that what life is all about?
Derek Burbidge
Manager of Sales and Marketing
