Creating a healthy balance in your business and your life
For those of you who I yet have the privilege of meeting, I wanted to share a little bit about myself. Why?
Because stress, overwhelm and mental health issues should be spoken about. There can be a certain stigma around admitting that you’re struggling – almost as if it’s a sign of weakness. I’m here to tell you that you can share your vulnerabilities with others, remain strong and know you aren’t alone. You can grow from your challenges, implement new techniques and create a healthy balance in your business and your life.
What happens if we don’t get the balance right?
I’m but one of 1000’s of Australian working Mum’s, who has suffered from workplace stress and overwhelm. It lead me to dream and create Versatile VA so I could become an advocate for work life balance. Not only to create balance for myself and my family, but to support women in business who juggle so much. To let you know you’re not alone. When we support each other and build each other up, we all achieve amazing results.
Becoming a Mum changed me
No one can adequately prepare you for the mass of emotions, ridiculous tiredness and life altering changes becoming a Mum can do to you.
When I became a Mum, I was working for a large organisation, with a passion to make a positive difference. When baby Jess was 6 months old, my maternity leave ran up. I just wasn’t ready to leave her, we were only just getting to know each other, she needed me, and I her. So I extended my leave for another 3 months, which was all I was permitted to do without losing my job. When Jess had been in this world the same length of time she’d been inside my womb, I returned to work.
My first day back to work, I rang day-care twice to see how she was. When someone was kind enough to ask how I was coping, I burst into tears. People stared, and I was told to take 5 minutes and go and pull myself together. I went through the motions, attending a few meetings and typing away at the computer with a longing in my heart. When I collected baby Jess that afternoon my anxiety immediately lifted, I was so relieved my little girl who was crying and reaching for me, while I walked away from her in the morning was smiling and contented. she’d had a good day, but I had not.
Time passed by, and whilst I was working part-time, the workload was the same as my full-time job (just squished into part-time hours). I found myself finishing work by 9pm when reports and deadlines were due. Clearly this was having an impact on my whole family. I hadn’t realised the impact it was having on me , I was overwhelmed. When I stopped being able to be structured and organised in my approach, I knew something was wrong, I ended up taking stress leave, feeling ashamed and like a failure, as hours and hours of additional work and a commitment to ‘make a difference’, whilst sacrificing family time and self-care, went unnoticed and unappreciated.
I had no more to give. I was stressed, overworked, unhappy and burnt out, I’d lost myself. I didn’t realise at the time, but I was suffering from post-natal depression. After seeking the proper support from a psychologist and slowly implementing self-care techniques, it became abundantly apparent that work-life balance wasn’t achievable in this job and I resigned.
Jess is now 9 years old and since then I’ve had another gorgeous daughter – Abby. I’ve had some amazing business opportunities in various organisations and one year ago, I proudly launched Versatile Marketing. Continually practicing and forever seeking to enhance the harmonious work/life balance.
Running your own business can be hugely rewarding, but for many small business owners wearing all the hats and having sole responsibility for the company’s success or failure can take its toll. Knowing how to reduce stress at work by proactively looking after yourself, learning to say no and establishing good habits should be things we all practice in our working environment.
Let’s take a look at some methods you can try to help overcome stress and anxiety in your working day and regain your passion and purpose for the business that you’ve built.
1. Create business and personal goals
If we ‘begin with the end in mind’ – step 2 of Steven Covey’s book 7 Habits of Highly effective people. We can remain focused on our big goals. Without setting goals, we can often jump around putting out one fire after the next. Or we action tasks in an ad hoc style, which in turn creates overwhelm.
Challenge yourself to set business and personal goals. Set yourself 5 personal goals and 5 business goals for the year or for the next 6 months. Everything you do, should fall into the achievement of one of the end goals. Remind yourself of your goals on a daily basis.
Reflect upon the achievements at the end of that period. See what worked and what didn’t. Then shoot for the stars again, either resetting the same goal, or creating new ones.
2. Create healthy routines – they’ll become healthy habits
Simple habits and routines free up willpower for where it is needed most. They minimise decision fatigue, so you have a more productive day. This is most applicable in the morning. So, if you plan your morning effectively the day before, you’re setting yourself up for success.
Let’s look at a healthy morning routine:
It might start with a warm lemon water first thing after you wake
A prayer, gratitude, affirmation or a 5-minute yoga exercise to pay respects to your body, mind and higher purpose.
A review of your calendar and to -do lists so you are well-prepared for the day ahead.
A warm shower
A cuddle in bed to spend a few quality moments with each of your kids before you rush them around getting sorted with clothes, hats, breakfast and bags.
You pack the lunches you prepared the night before into your bag as you head off to start your workday on the front foot.
Reward yourself with a coffee or whatever it is that sets you into a happy work mode.
If you can eliminate decision-making from your mornings, you’ll have more energy and time to have the most productive morning you can! All because you’ve set up some healthy routines and prepared the day before.
3. Create healthy boundaries – Say ‘no’!
Learning to say ‘no’ to some work requests is particularly challenging if you are a people pleaser like me. But it’s important to remember that there is only so much time in one day. What you say yes to now, will create a ‘no’ to the next possible opportunity, you can’t say yes to everything as there just isn’t the time. So, unless you are asked to do something in alignment with one of your goals, it’s important to start practising some healthy boundaries and say ‘no’.
By saying no, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t good at time management, the contrary, you are valuing your time to achieve the goals you have set for yourself and your business, it’s a smart way to fast track your success and reduce burnout.
4. Self-nurture – Take time for you!
As a small business owner and parent, self-nurture is often one of those things that falls to the bottom of the long list of ‘to-do’s’. It is vital to schedule time out in your calendar for some rest and relaxation. You can’t be your best without giving to yourself.
This may mean that you’re:
honouring your knock off time each day to go for a walk and unplug
turning off the computer at 830pm nightly, so you relax and get some good sleep.
treating yourself once a fortnight to a massage or getting your nails done.
>soaking in a bubble bath with a book and a glass of wine
going out with your friends or on a date
Whatever it looks like for you. Pick up your diary right now and schedule it in. Block out time in your calendar on a regular basis and honour it, you are honouring you!
So please know, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Implement at least one step in the right direction today, it will assist you to achieve a healthy balance. Set meaningful goals, plan your time based on your goals, set healthy habits in place, learn to say no and practice self-nurturing on a regular basis. Unless we get the balance right, we are not living into the purpose of our passions.
Versatile Marketing has been created to support business owners doing the juggle, just like you!
Our goal is to provide valuable support and guidance to you. Our blogs, Facebook page and soon to be launched Group (stay tuned) and our website resources are all intended to support you. Creating genuine heart-centred, supportive and longstanding business relationships with Australian small business owners.
When and why outsourcing work to a Virtual Assistant is smart business decision!
Are you trying to do wear all the hats in your business and yet somehow the dream of owning your own successful business is looking different to the reality?
Have you been dreaming that someone could swoop into your business and rescue you from the mountain of paperwork, emails, digital filing, social media, copywriting and the rest? A person you could trust to keep the business running while you are away for work or pleasure?
It’s likely that you need a virtual assistant! These highly skilled and efficient professionals are the ultimate multi-taskers. They make your life easier by helping your business run more efficiently.
But what exactly does a Versatile virtual assistant (VA) do? What are the benefits of hiring one? And why do you (and your business) need one?
What is a VA?
When I am attending networking events, parties or even when I’m at the shops and someone asks “what do you do?” and I respond with “I’m the proud owner of a virtual assisting business”, the next question is always “What is a virtual assistant (VA)?”
So, let’s start by answering this question with a basic definition:
Please take note of the word ‘person’ NOT robot – if you are looking for the automated robotic type of VA. The one with no personality or soul, you have come to the wrong place! I bid you farewell, as we at Versatile VA have plenty of both. 😉
If you have read The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. Virtual assistants were an integral part of the 2007 bestselling book. Ferriss claimed to have hired virtual assistants to pay his bills, check his emails and run parts of his company.
In fact, in a 2018 report by BankWest Curtain Economic Centre “Future of Work in Australia” “11.6% of the Australian workforce are independent contractors, equivalent to around 1,270,000 workers.” An increasing number of these workers are virtual assistants.
What work can a Virtual Assistant help with?
Virtual Assistants skill sets vary, some are generalists, some specialists and others management VA’s. Some of the most common jobs they perform include:
Office administration
Secretarial work
Transcription/translation
Data entry/spreadsheets
Appointment bookings
Database management
Proofreading/editing
IT services
Blogging
Social media support/marketing
Graphic design
Photo editing
SEO
Sales and marketing
Inbound and outbound phone customer support
Website design/management
Accounting/payroll
HR Admin
Project Management
With technological advances and the ability to perform vital business functions in an office less environment, there are incredible benefits VA’s bring to businesses.
Why should you hire a VA? What are the benefits?
There are a multitude of benefits when hiring a Versatile virtual assistant. Here are a few:
1. The standard 9-5 business day does not apply
Owning your own business has peaks and toughs. Sometimes you need a piece of work done urgently. Or you want to maximise efficiency by utilising additional hours outside of your standard working hours to give your business a brilliant competitive advantage.
This is but one of the perks of having your own VA. (It’s important to note, most VA’s charge an urgency fee for work which requires an urgent turnaround.) However, pre-arranged after hours work, is how we roll.
2. You value your time
When you wear all the hats in your business, it can often lead to stress and overwhelm. It often means something isn’t being done with the level of focus it deserves.
While you most likely have the skills necessary to complete both the administrative and specialised tasks. It’s been proven when we are stressed or not at optimum energy, our executive and critical thinking skills suffer.
If your rates are higher than your VA’s, consider how you could be making more money by working on your core business function. Having your own VA creates space for you to work smarter and devote your workday to the key areas of your business requiring your full focus and energy.
3. Increased productivity
Imagine a rainy day, traffic is delayed, moods are lowered, and irritability increased as the average employee makes their way into the office. Dripping wet and cold they start the day with probably a less than a go getter attitude. You are now paying for them to make a coffee and have a chat with their colleagues about the traffic, the rain, their weekend and so on.
Alternatively, with no travel time a VA is ready to work, possibly donning some attractive Ugg boots, but with a vitality that is unequalled by any rainy day, peak hour traffic suffering employee. Employees can also cost an employer money and resources in non-productive time.
A VA will time track their work, clocking out for toilet breaks, coffee breaks and everything else which is NOT working on your project or task. That means you receive 100% productivity.
We are also business owner’s and have a vested interest in your business’s success. Our business model lies heavily in repeat business and referrals from happy clients.
4. You only pay for work on your project
Many small businesses have peaks and toughs in busyness, so too their need for business support. The good news is, as your VA is an independent contractor, you can negotiate the terms of their engagement to work within these peaks and toughs. You are no longer paying for twiddling thumbs.
New research, conducted into Australian business productivity by Nitro, revealed; out of the 1000 Australian workers interviewed, productivity pain points costing businesses included:
43% felt wished they could reduce meetings
70% said they lacked proper training
54% impacted by negative workplace culture
48% delayed by outdated technologies and systems
An employee earning $80,000 costs a business $5000 in unproductive hours.
Your own VA works productively as:
There are no distractions with broader organisational meetings.
They are trained and qualified to perform the tasks, or will draft systems and processes as you show them the ropes.
They provide their own computers, anti-virus, software programs etc and can easily adapt to the systems the hiring company uses.
There are no negative cultural issues to distract them from being passionately focused on achieving brilliant results for their hiring company.
5. Timezone advantage
Some VA’s work across alternate time zones as another productivity offering. Working around the clock to maximise business productivity. Versatile Virtual Assistants work in Australian NSW time zone. As we only service Australian businesses we can take calls, hold meetings, schedule calendars with ease, because are always only a few hours apart from all the states and Territories. There are some tangible benefits of hiring an Australian VA for your business rather than an overseas counterpart.
6. Reduced operational costs
Virtual assistants are independent contractors so that means you don’t have to pay for:
payroll taxes
annual leave
sick days
insurance
office space
worker’s compensation
other employee benefits
equipment costs
paid training or bonuses.
As we cover our own expenses, you simply hire a VA to perform a specific job. Pay them for their service, and that’s it. Hiring a VA is a big money-saver and a clever investment decision.
When should I outsource?
Whether you’re an entrepreneur or an executive, time should always be regarded as a valuable commodity. With many balls in the air, how you manage your time will determine your level of productivity. Thus, the best time to hire a Virtual Assistant is now! You might especially want to hire a VA if:
You’re overwhelmed by your current workload.
You want a collaborative business support, so you’re not doing it all on your own.
There’s a backlog of blogs to write, filing, data entry & emails to action or you need someone to manage a project.
You want to use your time more productively.
You need something done but don’t have the skills or time to do it.
You might think you can’t afford a VA if you have a start-up, or don’t need one if your company is already established, but VAs can be game changers for almost any business. After all, there is truth in the saying, ‘time is money’. If you spend more time supporting your business instead of building it, you’re not maximising your efforts.
Now that you know how beneficial a VA can be for your company, what’s stopping you from hiring one?
With our versatile experience covering over 20 years’ in several industries and business functions from management, contracts, compliance, project management, office administration, blog writing, social media and more, we are more than equipped to assist. More than that, Versatile VA’s genuinely care about your business and its success. We invite you to check out our business services. Whatever type of business you own, we are confident we have the skills to make it run even better. We will be your behind the scenes secret weapon.
At Versatile Marketing you can access customer centric, experienced virtual assistants and online business managers any time you need it without the costs of having an employee. By staying focused on your core business function and outsourcing the rest, you can free up your time for personal breaks and scale your business. We look forward to working with you in the near future!
5 tips to help your business systemise and outsource
So you’ve decided it’s time to outsource your time-consuming business tasks and those projects as Marie Condo would say, that don’t ‘spark joy’.
You’re not alone, in Australia, numerous businesses are seeing the value in outsourcing significant parts of their work to online business services/outsourcing partners, as it brings in expertise from outside the business to assist with a specific project or manage a specific function, when required.
Outsourcing is an effective business strategy used by companies in all industries to run a cost effective and efficient business and is instrumental in business growth. However, for it to be effective, it’s important to do the groundwork first.
Here are 5 tips to help your business systemise and outsource like a pro.
1. Determine the tasks that you want to outsource
As a small business owner, you’re likely to be wearing many hats, to drive growth in your business, its vital you assess which tasks are not core to your business function, and systemise where possible and outsource the remainder. The first step is to record all the tasks which are NOT core to your business function.
You then need to assess which of these tasks take the most time to complete? Remember your time is money. The person you are hiring will, in most cases cost less per hour than you charge. By delegating the time-consuming tasks, you have allowed yourself the room to focus on your big picture business growth.
Next, write down at any tasks you don’t enjoy doing. If any tasks give you a sense of overwhelm or frustration, they should be outsourced, leaving you space to be a happier, healthier and more focused CEO.
Lastly, maybe there are tasks, which you actually enjoy doing and its not overly time-consuming, it may even be central to your business function, but you are now getting so busy you need an extra pair of hands now and then to help you out. Maybe you’re going away on holidays and need someone to hold down the fort? Sign up for our free template to help document your tasks.
2. Systemise your tasks
Before you outsource, assess if any tasks can be systemised. For example, if you are taking all the phone calls from prospect clients, diarising initial meetings and sending meeting invitations, consider using a booking system instead, e.g Calendly or Acuity. This allows your customers to book a meeting time which works best for them, (you’ve already set your available time), it will automatically place the booking into your calendar for you both, and can integrate with an online meeting tool like Skype or Zoom.
If you are emailing the same response to multiple customers, then set it up as an automated template. This can even be done using Gmail with canned responses. Use the systems you’re currently using and enhance them to work for you.
3. Document your processes
Once you’ve recorded all business tasks on a spreadsheet, document processes for all the tasks you intend to outsource. An easy way to do this to log in to Zoom and record yourself actually doing the task, it will record your voice your computer screen, then save it to a folder with a clear naming convention e.g.: ‘Business name_taskname_processes_year’.
To set up your outsourced project for success, always start with a clear statement of the outcome you want to achieve. Define your requirements clearly. Your outsource partner will need accurate complete information to provide a quality proposal covering requirements, time frame and cost.
Information to provide:
What is the process for the task (as above)?
What is the deadline or the priority for this task?
What documents, contacts, logins or other resources are needed to do the task?
Are there any risks or dependencies that may hold up task completion?
By relaying as much relevant and concise information as possible to your virtual assistant, you will increase clarity and accuracy and reduce overwhelm.
5. Build the trust – Start outsourcing with small tasks
In order to grow your business, outsourcing is essential. However, as a small business owner, you have a vested interest to provide the BEST service possible to your customers, so it can be daunting to trust someone to take on your work.
If you really want to grow as an entrepreneur, you’ve got to learn to delegate.
Richard Branson.
Outsourcing work to your marketing or virtual assistant involves trust they hold the same service and ethical values as you do. Using an outsourcing partner from your own country and background, with English as a first language and where you can validate references, or certifications with ease can help mitigate some of these concerns.
Consider doing a trial run with smaller tasks, before you make a long-term commitment. You will be able to ascertain if your outsource partner’s capabilities, communication and ethics are matched to your expectations and vice versa. Be prepared to put in time and effort to train and explain at the beginning, you won’t immediately have extra time but it won’t be too long before you will soon be reaping the benefits.
Open communication is key and as your business relationship evolves, provide feedback and solicit feedback from your outsource partner. Keeping an open line of communication is vital to ensure everyone is on the same page and expectations are being met on both sides.
Oursource your digital marketing tasks to Versatile Marketing
At Versatile Marketing, you can access customer centric, experienced marketing assistants and online business managers any time you need it, without the costs of having an employee. By staying focused on your core business function and outsourcing the rest, you can free up your time to get the balance back and scale your business.
Jess is now 9 years old and since then I’ve had another gorgeous daughter – Abby. I’ve had some amazing business opportunities in various organisations and one year ago, I proudly launched Versatile Marketing. Continually practicing and forever seeking to enhance the harmonious work/life balance.
3. Create healthy boundaries – Say ‘no’!
3. Create healthy boundaries – Say ‘no’!
What is a VA?
There are a multitude of benefits when hiring a Versatile virtual assistant. Here are a few:
When should I outsource?
