Few months ago, a busy mom of two contacted us and wanted to know how we can help her free her time and also with her new business – starting her own Kindergarten school. She had been a teacher for most of her life and wanted to start something of her own. Parents, kids and her local community loved what she did. She knew what she wanted to do and how she wanted to do it but did not have the time to do it all by herself.
Like most other start-ups, the resources were few and the work load was humongous. What set her apart from her competitors who were mostly franchise schools was her 3-step education program. Her idea was to have higher teacher to student ratio, teach Montessori to her students to give them an extra edge which none of her competitors did and give back to the community by working with kids with special needs. Vision, dedication and commitment to be the best kindergarten school in her district was her dream and there was nothing stopping her from that. It resonated with us so closely, because when we started Virtual assistant service company back in 2003, we knew we are going to be the best in virtual assistant service space. Period.
How hiring a virtual assistant helped this young entrepreneur
One great thing about hiring a virtual assistant is they help you become the best in your area of expertise. They not only free up your precious time, but also take away all the mundane, repetitive and boring tasks that can be done by ANYONE else.
It is very hard when you are on the front line to do everything, starting from organizing an open house, sending out invites, filling out the paper work, sorting out the resumes of so many brilliant teachers, ordering Montessori beads and blocks from manufacturers, getting them shipped, preparing catalogs, templates, school calendar and so many other tasks. That is exactly what her Virtual assistant did. And Tasks Everyday is a great resource of virtual assistants, because we pair you up with an assistant who has worked in similar area or has similar qualifications and most importantly shares your vision.
Now coming back to the story, her Virtual assistant enabled her set up, run and grow into one of the best preschool kindergarten in her district. With more time at her hands, she could concentrate on newer teaching skills, organizing fundraisers and meetings, Paint Easter eggs with the kids and most importantly do what she loved to do both at her workspace and her home.
This is just one of the stories of our clients who enjoy doing what they like by having their virtual assistant work on their daily tasks. If you have any questions about our virtual assistant services, get in touch with us on 1-888-670-4882
It is whole big world out there and no matter how unique your idea is there is someone else doing it, even if not exactly the same thing, a slight variation of that already exists. Should this stop you from experimenting and giving it a go ahead? Or is there something that you can learn, improve and better out than others.
The key is to find your ONE thing – Your signature. And why we need to do that, the reason is simple: Be the best at it.
How to do it exceptionally well!
- Statement: What is that one thing that sets you aside from the herd? Find that something special and make it better. Tap into the untapped market with a familiar product or service that they are already using but much better than the existing providers. The idea is to do what you are doing exceptionally well.
- Engage your customers: We have been providing virtual assistant service and if there is one thing that we have learnt, it is to keep your customers close. If your product or service is engaging and delivers what it says it does on the cover – you are in for gold! Customer engagement comes before the satisfaction and economic benefits. It’s all about the experience. Make them a part of your story.
- Nurture relationships: Establish the trust and share your experiences with your clients. Re-energize the bond between you as a company and your customers. Tasks Everyday flourishes on relationships. We as humans have a basic instinct to co-operate and form relationships. All we need to do is to tap into this primate instinct.
- Focus on your target market: Don’t try to do everything for everyone. Find your niche, cultivate it, nourish it, empower it, give it the right tools for growth and once that is done it is time to sit back and bask in the glory.
- Improvise and learn: Don’t be stuck with your idea. Be open to the possibilities of change and improvise with them. Be open to constructive criticism and learn from your shortcomings. That is what Tasks Everyday has done over the years. Each client has made us better. We are not perfect and no one is. We have learnt from our mistakes and with each error there is a lesson learnt.
The hardest part is knowing what all needs to be done but not having the time or skilled people to help you achieve your goals. You need to get rid of the clutter and focus on your One Thing! All those things that are a part of the clutter need to be cut down. This doesn’t mean you stop filling your expense reports, because you hate to do the paper work and it is keeping you astray from focusing on your One thing! But have someone else do the data entry work. So that you get to keep your sanity and do what you love to do while your assistant works on the mundane sheets and tasks.
Running a business soon becomes all-consuming, and as your business grows, you often find it’s impossible to cope up with the extra work. And If you are the one of those “I can do it all” kinds; you will soon find yourself in a pile of work that could easily be done by someone else. You know you want help, but simple can’t afford it or the skills needed to do the job are simply not available locally.
Finding the right talent at the cost you can afford is a challenge that most business owners face. Productivity needs to be coupled with cost efficiency.
Even offline businesses these days need computers, manage excel sheets, data processing, and taking care of all sorts of tasks that can be done by someone using online software’s. Every business these days need online presence, a least minimum having a website, updating blog or your store based on if you are selling products or services online, and not all of us a business owners are technically savvy. We are good and fast learners, but do you really need to learn wordpress- or Photoshop or e-commerce store updates to do all your work yourself. or you rather be spending that time on something more productive, like thinking of newer strategy , analyzing the analytical reports, customer surveys and behaviors.
Goal of every entrepreneur is: How to stay ahead in your business.
The answer is simple, be the best in your niche market, keep your costs low and always stay a step ahead of your competitors.
Virtual assistants play a vital role to help you realize your goals. How do they do that: Here are few pointers:
- Cost Advantage: well you knew this one, your assistant comes at $6.98/hr and you can use his services for all the mundane or specialized tasks you need help with
- Focus on staying ahead and best in your space: when you can delegate your tasks effectively to your team of assistants (we have talked about delegation in one of our earlier posts), you can now spend your precious time brainstorming new ideas, and stay on frontlines. As you no longer have 100’s of unchecked emails, or never ending to-do list on your calendar.
- Commitment: your assistant asks you for tasks everyday, even if you don’t have something immediate to be taken care of, you start thinking of all those extra things and details that could help your business grow. Like designing marketing email to announce your specials for Labor Day weekend special. Its that little foam in your cup of coffee that keeps you coming back to the same cafeteria, so does your business have that special foam!
You will start delegating tasks that you never knew existed. Going that extra mile, thinking of newer ideas and ventures, while your assistant stays grounded and does all the leg work for you, you can give your business that extra lift it needs to fly and take over the newer skies of opportunities and growth!