Growing a business as a solo entrepreneur is an exciting process and you’ll learn a lot along the way. However, you’ll eventually hit a plateau, whether it’s the number of products you sell per month, annual revenue, or new clients you can generate. Fortunately, you can hire a virtual team to handle the workload so you can get on with higher-level business tasks.
Also, the remote work population has never been bigger since 85% of Americans report preferring remote jobs.
You’ll need to figure out the best time to hire a virtual team since doing it too early might be a waste of funds, and too late may cause you to leave money on the table because of slow growth. With that thought in mind, read on for 5 key signs that indicate hiring a virtual team is the next best logical investment.
1. You Don’t Like Admin-Related Tasks
Administrative tasks are an important part of any business, whether it’s setting up appointments, maintaining document databases, creating filing systems, or writing email templates. However, let’s face it, they can be pretty boring compared to the more creative tasks. Successful business owners are typically full of money-generating ideas they want to explore, and getting bogged down in admin tasks is no fun.
Fortunately, the internet is filled with low-cost virtual employees trained in almost any business-related admin tasks you can throw at them. Reducing the amount of boring work to run your business means you’ll find a new level of enthusiasm and potentially come up with new avenues for growth.
When hiring virtual employees for admin tasks, we recommend you find trained individuals who can complete all tasks your business requires. This ensures you don’t need to hire multiple people for the same job, which leads to more micromanaging.
2. You Business Is Not Organized
Do you feel like your business is more disorganized than a teenager’s bedroom? That might be acceptable during the initial phases – after all, there is a lot to learn, and prioritizing what’s important is a balancing act that leaves little room for organization. However, for the business to grow, organization is key to ensure each process is efficient.
Imagine being on the phone with a client who a problem and you have no idea what they are talking about because you can’t find the relevant client file on your computer – you could potentially lose that customer.
Fortunately, virtual assistants can help create and maintain systems that keep your business functioning and organized. More importantly, solid business organization is a prerequisite to scaling, which should be the goal of every business owner.
3. Missed Deadlines and Cannot Keep Up With the Calendar
As your business grows, eventually you’ll get to a point where you physically cannot keep up with the daily demands. This could be the number of meetings or phone calls you need to make, or the number of employees you micromanage.
Missing deadlines is bad for business because it can lead to a poor customer experience, and you’ll end up losing sales. Therefore, investing in a virtual team will pay for itself through business growth, and there are many freelancers looking for work.
For example, let’s say that you were micromanaging 5 employees successfully, but recently your team has increased to 10 employees, and you no longer have enough time in the day to manage everyone. This is when you hire a project manager or assistant who can help micromanage employees and free you up for other business tasks.
4. You Lose Focus on the Big Picture
Many business owners start off with big ideas for what they want to achieve and what their company to become, but along the way, they get bogged down in the small day-to-day stuff. There is nothing wrong with this in small doses – after all, a successful business requires a lot of mundane tasks to run successfully.
However, the business owner needs to steer the business in the right direction to avoid missing out on key opportunities. For example, a new trend might present a big money-making opportunity that can lead to a significant new revenue stream for the company. If the business owner does not have the time of day to look out for these trends, then nobody else will.
Therefore, hiring virtual workers to take any workload off you is a net positive for the business. Make sure to have a good onboarding process so that new virtual employees can have the biggest impact on your business and you won’t need to micromanage them at every step of the way.
5. You’re Feeling Overwhelmed and Unhappy
Starting and running a successful business is not supposed to be a walk in the park, but if it’s constantly taking a toll on your mental help, perhaps getting help from a virtual team could be the smart decision.
While most decisions are based on what can make you money, some should be about the bigger picture. If you can pay money to hire a virtual team and reduce your workload, then it’s a worthwhile investment. Running a business while constantly feeling overworked is not sustainable, so it’s the smart choice.
When hiring a virtual team, think about the tasks that add the most stress and negatively affect your state of mind. Outsourcing these tasks can make a big difference on your longevity to ensure you don’t quit when the going gets tough.
Final Thoughts
The process of hiring a virtual team is a skill that you’ll need to develop over time. At first, you might be skeptical about delegating important business tasks to others. However, leveraging the power of other people is a key ingredient for business growth.
With practice, you’ll set up a trustworthy and productive virtual team that will make running a business not a chore but one of the best experiences of your life.
