Expanding Your Staff - Without More Employees?

I arrived at a stage in my law practice a few years ago where I felt I could go nowhere. I was rooted—stagnant-- and had reached my personal capacity to run my business, get new clients, handle office work, and then repeat the process all over again. I felt horridly bogged down by admin, which involved billing, sending out retainer agreements, and having to input business card information. None of these tasks added to my income, but I had to get them done. I came to the conclusion that I need someone to take over these tasks as well as basic-level marketing from me, so I can concentrate on drumming up business. However, I shared the fears of most entrepreneurs who are doing everything themselves, that I could not afford the costs ' new office furniture, salary, benefits, leave, and so on ' that having a new employee entailed.

So what did I do? I reconfigured my business, found some ways to work a little more efficiently, automated a few more procedures. Yet I soon find myself banging my head against the same capacity ceiling. I faced burnout. Visions of the Peace Corps in Outer Mongolia danced in my head.

I opened up to the idea of virtual assistance the next time around. I had already outsourced some of my work, and had outside consultants for developing my website and taking care of accounting and bookkeeping. Why not do the same for my administrative and marketing tasks?

Administrative Help Without the Employment Taxes

Like other consultants, virtual assistants (VAs) are generally considered independent contractors. "Assisting" is their business. Among other factors that the IRS looks at to ensure that someone really is an independent contractor (and not an employee in disguise), VAs set their own hours, provide their own office space and equipment, negotiate their own rates, and perform similar services for other clients. This lack of complete control over VAs and their work environment - coupled with their paying their own employment taxes -- lends to their being considered independent contractors.

What Can a VA Do Best?
Make a list of all those tasks that do not require your individual attention. For example, building a database of contacts from all my networking events is not a job that requires me to attend to personally. It is a routine task that my VA takes care of, and on completion, sends me a copy that I synchronize with my existing database. An updated database without any interference from me!

Moving forward, you should next make a list of all those little jobs that you can't stand. If you are like many entrepreneurs, coping with accounts receivable and payable may not be at the top of your list of fun things to do. Bookkeeping may be outside of your VA's experience, but she can take over the task of finding an appropriate bookkeeper for you.

Building a Collaborative Relationship with your VA
There is nothing different from looking and building a sound collaboration with a good VA than you would with a regular hire. The following questions may help clarify your ideas:

- What type of skills, expertise and background should your VA have?

- How long has the VA been in business, and how much training does she (VAs are usually women) have in the business world? What kind of administrative skills does she possess?

- Gauging her level of professionalism from, for example, her cover letter, what are your first thoughts? Does she use proper grammar, or is her writing filled with typos? If she has a website, do you feel confident about hiring her, after viewing her website?

- Can you make the time commitment to the position (for at least a few months) to make sure you give it a fair chance to settle in?

- Is your VA used to having agreements with other clients in writing? Will she agree to sign a confidentiality memo to keep all information private?

- What about backup facilities to cover any contingency such as a family emergency that might take her away?

Once you have listed all your requirements, you can post your job to sites such as AssistU.com. Read through cover letters and websites from applicants, and even conduct interviews on the telephone to find out more about their backgrounds and gauge how they run their business. My VA has been helpful to me in more ways than I can count. Not only has she taken over the old and routine jobs, as my business grows, I delegate new tasks to her. By adroitly handling the background tasks, she frees me to stay at the forefront of my business, which is exactly where I need to be. Ask yourself: Would you prefer to be in the background or at the front line of your business? Which will be more profitable?


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