I recently had the privilege of interviewing the amazing Chris Ducker.
For those of you who have not heard of him, he's an extremely successful online business person, with several ongoing business ventures, including Youpreneur, and Virtual Staff Finder.
I got tonnes of great advice out of him (and you can too if you get your free ticket to The Life Coach Biz Summit, below;-) ), but I wanted to share something with you know which I know really changed the way I run my business.
At some point, as you grow, you are going to start needing to build out a team…
So the questions are, when do you start that? How do you know when you are ready? And what do you outsource first?
I asked Chris these very questions in regards to how to know when to hire a Virtual Assistant, and he told me about the 3 Lists to Freedom Exercise, which I want to share with you know.
On a piece of paper, draw two vertical lines – splitting the page up to three. Then, do this:
1. In the first column write down all the things in your business that you don't like doing.
These are the things that you groan when you see them on your to-do list.
The things that turn you into a procrastinator.
The things that keep getting moved from day to day through your diary
2. In the next column write down all the things that you struggle doing.
SO these are the things that need to be done, and that you don't necessarily hate doing, but that you just aren't great at.
The things that take you far too long to complete, and that even when they are done, they're probably not that good.
3. In the third list write down all the things you shouldn't be doing.
So, the things that it doesn't make sense for you to do.
Those things that aren't money-making activities, or that could be easily handled by somebody else.
The menial tasks, that while necessary, take you away from the things that you need to be doing.
Now, your goal becomes removing everything from these 3 lists from the list of things that you take care of.
So, these lists are your guide to your first hire.
You can't probably afford to outsource everything straight up, but you might be able to afford to hire somebody for an hour a day to get things done.
This hour can then be spent on money-making activities, which will enable you to further free yourself up from the things you shouldn't be doing.
Often times we continue doing things we shouldn't be for far too long.
WE get caught in a chicken and egg scenario where we can't afford to hire someone to help us, because we are too bust doing those things that aren't making us money that needs doing, to do the things that are making us money.
If this is where you are right now, you need to take the leap.
HIRE SOMEONE TO HELP, so that you can get to those things that will start to free you up financially.
For me, it was the realisation that if I was to do the things on social media that I needed to have the success I wanted, then it wasn't going to happen.
Doing them sucked my soul and left me with no energy for anything else.
I hired my first VA to get these necessary things done that I knew in my heart +I would never make time for.
I hired her because I realised I would not have success unless I did.
Sometimes we have to spend money in order to be able to make it, and the time and energy you get back, and the joy at removing those hated tasks from your diary, make it all worthwhile.
Now, I know that the thought of hiring a VA is a little overwhelming. Which is why I'm going to drop the link to Virtual Staff Finder below. They are a Philippine-based business who help people hire Philippine VAs.
They make everything super easy, handling the interview process right down to where you get the 3 best candidates to interview. I personally had an amazing experience with them, and am still working with my VA I hired through them 2 and a half years later.
So if you are struggling to get stuff done, sit down and do your 3 Lists to Freedom Exercise and work out what your first hire will be. Most times it is a general VA who can handle a whole heap of miscellaneous chores for you, but perhaps for you it will be something a bit more specific.
Here's the link for Virtual Staff Finder where you can read more about getting your own VA: https://vsf.samcart.com/referral/kt94ZO07/CHwquXoJPLHwemWj
In Your Corner
Donna Joy
