Until you have someone on your team that you can delegate specific tasks to, you will continue to waste valuable time and energy on activities that don’t contribute to your business’s growth. You have to be willing to let go and not micromanage.

As an entrepreneur myself, I get it. It is your business, and no one will likely love your business as much as you do. You birthed your company. You put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, and hopefully much laughter into it. Even founders of companies realize that if they want their company to get to the next level, they may need to hire someone with more experience running their company. They get out of the way.

I remember one startup BioTech company that I worked for in San Diego years ago. The Founder and acting CEO, Mark, was a Scientist. He and his team had made a significant discovery in his lab. He knew that to take his company to its next level, he needed to hire an experienced CEO, and he did. I was hired to assist that CEO.

I will never forget how much I respected Mark because he trusted someone else to become the CEO and make intelligent CEO decisions. Mark was not skilled in that area; he was an expert scientist. Mark hired someone who was more experienced at running a company, had relationships with industry experts, and knew how to establish a Board of Directors. It was Mark’s company, but he knew when to get out of the way. He also wanted to return to the lab and do what he was good at and was passionate about; science. That company is now trading on NASDAQ.

Michael E. Gerber, one of my favorite authors and who has the best-selling business book The E-Myth, asks:

“Are you working in your business, or are you working on your business?” He goes on to share that “having other people on your team helps to free up your time so you can focus on activities that have the greatest impact on your business and income.”

I share with my clients on our initial call that if you are working on non-income producing tasks (organizing your email, managing your calendar, setting up your BMW for service, etc.), it’s time to hire an experienced Virtual Assistant. Are you ready?

Is a Virtual Assistant an Independent Contractor or Employee?

Virtual Assistants are an affordable alternative to hiring regular employees. There is no overhead for your business. Most Virtual Assistants operate as independent contractors, and depending on where they live; their hourly rate may be significantly lower than what a local employee would cost you. They have their equipment; computers, cell phones, printers, desks, and they work from their home office wherever that may be. We will talk about the difference between an independent contractor and an employee in my next blog.