Why do we always insist on doing it all?
I can't tell you how many clients and other business owners I see every month who continue to believe that THEY have to DO IT ALL.
I learned this lesson a couple years ago. When I hired my first assistant I thought I had to hire "an employee" so I got the insurance, worker's comp, payroll service and put an ad out.
I didn't even know what I could pay or for how many hours mind you at this time, I just knew in order to get more successful and get more business quicker - I needed someone to help me do the things that were slowing me down.
So I found my first "employee", paid the payroll, taxes, etc. It was all relatively easy.
Unfortunately that employee ran his course and I soon needed someone with additional talents and skills. So I (being the connector that I am) found that employee another job with a client of mine and hired a different employee for myself with added skills that I needed to get me to my next step.
That second employee was so good in fact that she got hired out from under me to work full time in a great job. I wished her well because it was ideal for her but then I was stuck again and back on the hamster wheel, doing it all myself.
I was introduced to a temp agency who could have someone come and work in my home or from their home if need be for certain projects. I hired someone from the temp agency who worked out very well. She had another small business of her own and she did other work for other professionals as well. She brought many ideas to the table for me and challenged me to work more ON my business and let her work IN it. She took on client projects and research projects plus other things that I really didn't need to be doing. I in turn was able to network more, follow up more and got a lot more new clients and referrals after this.
After this temp gal ran her course I was so used to someone working "virtually" for me, from her home or from mine depending on the day or project that I wasn't sure I wanted someone to come back into my home office space again. This is when I learned about Virtual Assistants - what a concept! They do my work from their home and it gets done efficiently and successfully.
I now have 3 Virtual Assistants and looking to hire one more. One who does all my bookkeeping, manages my shopping cart sales and my QuickBooks, one who does all my data entry for all the business cards I collect out networking and they also do any mailers that need to go out to my list. The third VA is my right hand gal - she does everything I can think of. Anything that comes across my desk that needs to be signed up for, looked into, opportunities that need investigating plus she handles my whole membership program (Marketing Mentor Program) - new sign ups, cancellations, email blasts, website updates and so much more! I couldn't think about doing this alone anymore and I am no longer on the hamster wheel!!
I realize it's hard to figure out how and what to outsource at first because you think you are the only one that can do certain things.
Once you do this you will be able to step off that hamster wheel more often than not and you will have so much more free time to do the things that you LOVE TO DO, be with the clients you LOVE working with, be able to develop new products and services and figure out ways to leverage your time and expertise to make you more M.O.N.E.Y. with less effort and less time.
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