The cost of not outsourcing
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Do you find yourself busy but not getting anywhere? Are day-to-day admin tasks taking up your time when you need to be doing something else for your business?
You may have recognised this for some time, but feel you don’t have enough work to sustain an employee. Then you may have considered outsourcing some of your admin tasks to a Virtual Assistant, but when you are used to doing everything yourself for ‘free’, outsourcing might seem like an expensive, unnecessary cost to your business.
Yes it will be a cost to your business, but what is it costing you not to outsource?
Is it costing your spare time?
Do you find yourself catching up on paperwork in the evenings or weekends? Is it having an impact on your social life, family life or health? Owning your own business is tough and yes, sometimes this does mean long hours, but continuously working long hours can affect sleep, health and mental well being.
Is it costing your reputation?
Running your own business requires you to be many things; the marketing person, accountant, recruiter, administrator, receptionist, HR Manager, the list goes on. Just because you are expert in your business does not mean you are expert in everything required to run a business. If admin just isn’t your thing, poorly constructed correspondence, spelling mistakes or poor grammar will not reflect well on your reputation. Nor will unpaid invoices, bad diary management or a poor social media presence.
Is it costing your productivity?
Are you doing things a certain way because ‘that’s the way they’ve always been done?’ It can be easy to stick to old ways but that doesn’t always mean it’s the most efficient or productive way. Most Virtual Assistants come with a wealth of experience, they may be able to streamline processes or implement new procedures to help you increase productivity.
Is it costing your profitability?
You are the powerhouse behind your business. You represent its brand. You drive its performance. The time you spend on day-to-day (dare I say it, menial) tasks is the time taken away from running your business. Worst still, are you spending valuable business hours doing basic admin tasks? Freeing up your time will give you Improved focus on core business activity.
Still not sure if outsourcing to a Virtual Assistant is worth it?
Jot down how many hours you spend in a week on tasks that are distracting you or stopping you from running your business. You could use a free time tracking app such as toggl.com (opens in a new tab). I bet you’d be amazed at the results. If you could delegate that work to someone else, what would you do with all of those free hours?
If it’s the cost that concerns you, do the following calculation:
Hours spent on admin x Your hourly rate = How much you could be earning instead. Then - Cost of Virtual Assistant = Profit + Reclaimed hours.
If it’s the cost that concerns you, do the following calculation:
Admin hrs x Your hourly rate = Potential earnings. Then... - Cost of VA = Profit + Reclaimed hours.