by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Jan 12, 2017 | Entrepreneur, Executive Administration, Small Business, Time Management, Virtual Assistant
Greeting the day as an overwhelmed entrepreneur has become part of the norm for many first-time business owners. The hats we wear are numerous and can present unexpected challenges in our day-to-day operations. It can be suffocating trying to figure out where to turn or what to do next.
Becoming more productive and being able to free up more time and leveraging your existing time, is one of the most skills that can literally multiply your success. Tor Refsland
You are an executive who worked hard, paid your dues and now you are sitting in the seat of responsibility. With responsibility comes an increased need to manage your time effectively. You cannot spend hours of your time formatting documents, writing business letters, building forms, writing and responding to emails, and editing or proofreading marketing material. Your decision-making, client relationships, and management of the company’s fiscal responsibilities take precedence. Hiring someone full-time is just not in the books yet.
What can you do? Is there a simple solution to help you achieve more by doing less?
Delegating
The purpose of delegating is to enable you to focus on your core genius, the tasks and projects that ONLY you can do; the revenue generators.
If you are being busy with many of the back end, admin tasks, you not using your expertise to the best of your ability; thereby further impairing your business advancement and opportunities. You’re potentially hindering your own growth which is counterproductive to starting your business. Let go to grow.
Tracking Hours
How much valuable time is used for follow up emails, searching/scheduling social media posts, writing/editing content, travel planning, document reviews, calendar reminders, project management, or presentation prep, just to name a few?
Track your time for the rest of the week, including the project, time on task, distractions, task completion, new additions to your list, items that were dropped to a lower priority or simply forgotten and how you felt at the end. In your review, what tasks clearly represented your core genius? What tasks were a low value?
Infinite list of responsibilities
All of the above are just a few of the basic yet necessary components to your business operations. It can be exhausting and frustrating to manage all of these tasks on your own. Unless you’re a super hero, it’s nearly impossible to be all things, to all people, all of the time.
In his blog post “The Way To Measure Your Productivity As An Entrepreneur”, Dan Martell suggests you:
- Create 4 buckets of activities: Admin, Work, Mgmt, Strategy
- Measure each with a monetary value: $10, $100, $500, $5000
- Focus on moving your way up the value chain (working ON vs. IN)
Measure each activity for what it is, then tally up your time for the day to get your daily value creation score.
The goal of these activities is to nudge you to work ON your business, rather than IN it. Typically, the IN does not generate revenue but keeps you busy. Busy isn’t necessarily productive. Busy can be frittering time. You don’t have time to waste.
When you love what you do, you want to do more of it!
Delegating gives you the flexibility you need to keep the company momentum going. Unburden yourself of these time consuming, the low payoff tasks/projects that keep you from the core of your business.
Stop doing stuff that isn’t valuable. So much of what people do in attempting to be productive involves just trying to fit more low value tasks into the same amount of time. Being productive means accomplishing more with the same or less effort. Mark Shead, Productivity 501
ACTION STEP
What’s on your To Do list right now that you’re ready to outsource? Do it and discover for yourself why so many other entrepreneurs embrace the power of delegating. What do they know that you don’t?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 10, 2016 | Delegation, Executive Administration, Time Management
There will come a time in your business when you feel overwhelmed with the day to day operations. There is simply too much for one person to achieve while remaining efficient and effective.
As an entrepreneur, the CEO of your company, you have a limited number of hours to work both IN and ON your business. Constantly flipping your hats not only takes time, but a shift in focus, a reorganization of your priorities and it disrupts your workflow. It probably makes you a little crazy or insane. You may end up overlooking important business details or even client needs because you are buried in the trenches instead of running the front line.
There’s just not nearly enough time to get everything done and still operate your business. It is this realization, the “Ah ha” moment, that you recognize delegating these projects and tasks to an assistant will make your life and your business, much more productive.
Delegation is an advantageous productivity tool we frequently hear about— one that will transform your businesses in terms of greater income and more free time for you! And who doesn’t love both of these?
BUT, many are timid about beginning the process for fear of relinquishing control of parts of our business processes and procedures. Mine! Mine! Mine!
It’s time to give up this thought process and embrace a growth mentality for your business.
Focus on the high payoff activities that model your organization’s vision, foundation, and core competencies.
Effective delegation for entrepreneurs is essential! When you outsource your tasks and projects, you are able to focus on more important responsibilities that only you can do to cultivate your business and generate revenue. The art of delegation is an indispensable part of establishing your growing business.
When you delegate properly and use software to help you delegate, you’ll find that your company runs more efficiently, productivity levels rise, people are happier at work, and your quality of work improves immensely. Amara Pope – timedoctor.com
You know you need to start delegating if:
- You spend 7-10+ hours online, curating, scheduling and managing your social media and it takes away from time with clients, colleagues, partners etc.
- You need to implement some systems to streamline your business processes
- You have wished for a like-minded brainstorming partner
- You are ready to scale, but don’t have enough hours in the day.
- You find it hard to concentrate and stay focused because there is too much for one person to do.
- You have some projects or platforms that are barely started or only half-finished.
- You lay awake at night wondering how you will manage everything.
What stops people from delegating:
- They feel they are too disorganized to illustrate what needs to be done.
- They believe they don’t have the financial means. (It is actually more cost-effective to partner with a Virtual Assistant as you only pay for project time).
- They feel their schedules are too hectic to take the time to delegate. (If you are this busy, your time restraints will only increase without delegation).
- They feel someone else won’t do it the same way or be as efficient (A virtual assistant is a solopreneur like yourself: efficiency, productivity, and industry expertise IS our business. We know of different tools and tips to professionally manage your projects in a proficient, resourceful manner).
Each of the above objections emphasizes the necessity to delegate. As long as you continue to clutch the tasks that stop you from growing your business, you will feel exasperated, overwhelmed, and unproductive.
Delegating will free up your time. It enables you to eliminate low-priority tasks while allowing you to concentrate your efforts on those business systems that enhance your productivity and your profit margin. Your time and energy should be committed to creating new products or services, networking, consulting with clients and prospects, forming strategic alliances, expanding into new markets, business development, social media engagement and so forth. These are tasks that only YOU can do. They are your CORE GENIUS.
Ask yourself:
- Is delegating a logical next step to help grow my business?
- How much time am I spending on tasks that impede my progress and waste my time?
- What are my most pressing issues or pain points that eat up most of my time?
- Have I been able to accomplish ALL of my daily To Do list items?
- If I delegated tasks, how would I use an additional 5-8 hours per week?
- How would I feel if I only worked on income generating tasks and outsourced the rest?
Delegation is the perfect low cost, high impact tool to help expand and develop your business without having to increase responsibilities or sacrifice your personal time with your family.
The bottom line is that effective delegation is the sensible alternative to help you scale your business and get more done.
It takes courage, intelligence, and humility to delegate in ways that actually drive productivity, engagement, and success throughout an entire organization. But every leader should aim for that high standard, rather than shrink from the risks it entails. Baird Brightman
Do you have a minute? Please share in the comments below your thoughts on:
What has been your greatest success or disappointment from delegating tasks/projects?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 2, 2013 | Executive Administration, Time Management
I was forced into a little work life balance yesterday when the charger port on my laptop decided to malfunction. After about 15 minutes of power cord twisting, manipulation and tape, I was able to create the perfect placement for charging. I am not able to move the laptop out of fear of losing the all important power plug tweak; so there it sits on the floor until further notice.
Thanks to continual time management, scheduling and beginning the work day at 6 AM, all vital projects had been managed. Organizational and productivity skills are a life saver. This daily preparation and task management saved me many headaches and hair pulling while my laptop was in a prone position for getting juiced back up.
After doing some initial research, Friday evening was my night to choose a laptop and I wasn’t coming home empty handed. What I wasn’t aware of was that EVERY computer comes with Windows 8. I had only heard nightmares and a variety of complaints – I was up for the challenge with the learning curve: up until 3:30 AM that is!! I woke at 6, hit snooze until 7 AM and have been here almost all day/night configuring, transferring files, working, screaming, swearing and finding my place with Windows 8 and a new laptop.
Windows 8 Shortcuts | APPS
I was delighted to find SHORTCUTS amongst their APPS, making my life just a little easier. While I continue to hit a few roadblocks OR maybe five, I am jumping the hurdles. I have read them, practiced them and of course forgotten many and I would like to share the FREE PDF I made of Windows 8 Shortcuts to help us all. Something else that has eased the transition a bit were the tips from the previous post on Keyboard Shortcuts. They have come in handy, especially with developing a comfort level with a new keyboard and touchscreen.
What tips or tricks can you share about Windows 8?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Apr 19, 2012 | Delegation, Executive Administration
One of the most important lessons a business owner can learn is that you do not have to do everything, nor are you able to. Communicating your vision to others and empowering others to take an active role within the organization is important. Empowerment can only come if you effectively delegate projects and responsibilities to others. When delegating make sure the person you are giving responsibility to knows exactly what is expected and has the interests and skills to successfully complete the task.
Delegation is giving others the authority to act on your behalf, accompanied with responsibility and accountability for results. Three basic but major skills needed to be an effective delegator are:
1. Trust – You must believe in the people you delegate to.
2. Honesty – You must be honest with them in what your expectations are.
3. Communication – You must clearly articulate what you need done.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 30, 2012 | Delegation, Executive Administration, Time Management
To focus ON your business rather than IN it!
Delegating to a virtual assistant is actually a low cost, high impact solution to your admin and concierge style needs.
May I invite you to consider if you outsourced just 4 hours per week, or 16 hours per month of the back end office details that you must currently attend on a daily basis, how much time you would gain to focus on income generating activities? As you know, when we attempt to manage some of these tasks, allotting 5-15 mins per each, it usually does take longer. Add up this time spent throughout the day and these initially small projects can equate to larger time robbers that keep you from doing what you do best, what only you can do.
There is a large ROI when you choose to delegate on a virtual basis. One of the cost savings of utilizing a virtual assistant is that you only pay for project time and there are no extraneous cost factors. What might help you to further investigate the value of a virtual assistant is a short but eye-opening exercise. For just one week, keep a log or spreadsheet of every task you work on, if you were able to complete it, the time spent …etc and at the end of the week, review your list and see how much time was spent generating revenue and how much time was spent on projects/tasks that could have been successfully delegated.
If you had spent say 15 hours on admin tasks:
• Is that truly your expertise?
• Is this where you generate income?
• What would have been a better use of your time?
• Could you have been more focused on the customer’s needs?
• Would you have had more time for business development?
• Worked ON your business rather than IN it?
Ace Concierge will:
• Increase your productivity
• Enhance your time management
• Improve your efficiency
• Give you back some of your work life balance
• Manage the back end details so you can manage your business
• Be one call, one text, one tweet away for assistance
Think about your options. Ask any questions. Review the data.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 12, 2012 | Executive Administration, Social Media, Word Processing
Ace has been busy assisting our client base with a variety of tasks and projects, helping to create more time for them to focus ON their business rather than IN it. While we have some consistent daily activities like social media management, many of the projects we complete for our clients are a variety of administrative or concierge type duties. The possibilities are limitless.
Our Virtual Assistant services encompass a wide range of solutions to help support our clients in their business activities. It is not merely WHAT we do for you in terms of tasks and projects, but it is more about what you gain by outsourcing your To Do list to Ace Concierge.
Delegation is a low cost, high impact solution enabling you to focus on what is important, rather than on what needs to be done. If you are tied up working on tedious administrative details, then you are not able to focus on building your business, providing customer service, using your core genius, or otherwise, doing what only YOU can do. Use your skills and talents to do what you do best and outsource the rest. Your time is too valuable to become engrossed in the “small stuff” when you should be dedicating your expertise to your company.
Here is a small sampling how we have helped our clients:
- Appointment scheduling
- Blog posts
- Calendaring
- Data compilation
- Document creation
- Editing/proofing
- Email management
- E-newsletters
- Internet research
- LinkedIn groups
- Mailings
- PowerPoint presentations
- Re-purposing content
- Social Media management: Twitter/Facebook
- Transcription
What is on your To Do list this week that you really don’t need to do, don’t want to do, don’t have time to do or don’t like to do? Think about what you can effectively delegate to help increase your productivity levels, time management and essentially, your bottom line.
Just think: if you outsourced 4 hours per week, you would gain 16 hours a month. Can you imagine what you could do with 16 more hours??
Our Ace solutions are only limited by your requests. How can we best serve you?
“A VA’s role is to help the business owner be more profitable by absorbing the tasks, responsibilities and roles that don’t allow the business owner to play to her/his strength.” Olalah Njenga
