You are a Virtual Assistant at the bursting point in your business

Virtual Assistants (VAs), those unseen angels who do a variety of tasks for their clients from a home-based office, are struggling; not so much from a lack of business as from an over-abundance of business.  Yes, just like in any profession, there are new VAs out there who are just getting started and are struggling to find clients and get their business off the ground. However many VAs are reaching a critical point in their businesses – having too much business coming their way – which in itself brings a whole new set of challenges. As the founder of an online recruitment and matching service for VAs, I’ve worked with many hundreds of VAs over the years and have seen a common journey in the growth of their businesses:

1. VA gets a few clients and some good experience under their belt
2. VA’s clients refer them to other potential clients (of which there are always plenty!)
3. VA says yes to these new clients and soon has a full business
4. VA’s business becomes “uncomfortably full.

They are getting so much work from various clients that it is hard to keep up (and life all of a sudden is super stressful)

This is what I call the bursting point. If you’re a VA who’s even remotely capable, and you haven’t experienced the bursting point yet, trust me, you will. Any VA who has the hot skills that clients are looking for will very soon be full-to-bursting with clients.

It’s like eating a huge meal at Thanksgiving; you are so full you could burst, but the food is so good you just can’t say no!

Does this sound like YOU?  Check out Tina Forsyth’s Becoming an Online Business Manager book and get more details on how to move beyond the bursting point: http://www.BecominganOBM.com

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I like to look at the role of the Online Business Manager through the lens of how we help support our clients.

What do clients need? What are they asking for help with (and having trouble finding!)?
What is truly going to help them grow and expand their business?

After all, if it wasn’t for the needs of our clients, the role of the Online Business Manager wouldn’t mean anything. We are here to serve them and their businesses, so it is essential The Role of  the Online Business Manager to really understand their needs in order to provide the best level of support.

Together with Andrea Lee, I’ve spoken to hundreds of small business owners over the past few years who are desperately seeking the help of an Online Business Manager. They didn’t know that’s what they needed; they just knew they needed help!

Here are some of the most common challenges that people have shared with us:

“I am so overwhelmed and just can’t do this on my own anymore – help!”“I’m making a good living, but just can’t seem to make my business grow beyond where I am now.”

“I’ve worked with a bunch of VAs but I can’t seem to find one that can do what I need. Why is it so hard to find the right person?”

“There’s so much going on in my business but I’m not sure what is getting done and what isn’t. I wish I had someone to manage all those pieces for me.”

“My brain is bursting with new ideas for my business, but I’m busy enough as it is. I guess all these ideas will have to wait …”

Are you considering becoming an Online Business Manager?  Get the full scoop here: http://www.BecominganOBM.com

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(excerpt from Becoming an Online Business Manager) 

Just the other day I spoke to a lovely woman about our Hot Skills VA Training program, where we teach online skills and tools to virtual assistants.

She and her husband ran a very successful embroidery business for years, where he was the tech whiz and she was the marketing pro. After selling the business, she decided she wanted to work online. Not necessarily as a VA, but in some kind of capacity where she can help clients use the power of the Internet to grow their businesses.

“Sounds like you want to be an Online Business Manager,” I said to her. After explaining to her a bit more of what the role is about, she was thrilled to realize that it was even a possibility!

Being a successful business owner herself, she definitely already has what I call a marketing mindset, which is an essential piece of being a successful OBM. With a strong business background and marketing mindset, anyone can learn the online tools and skills necessary to become an OBM

After all, business is business. Whether it is an online or traditional business it all boils down to the same thing – create value that people will pay for.

This type of potential OBM is probably one of the most exciting to me, especially when I consider someone like the stay-at-home mom or dad. They have chosen to stay home with their children instead of going back to work, and may have amazing business and marketing skills that are lying dormant for the time being.

Many of them would love to be able to work, if only there was an opportunity that allowed them the flexibility to be home with their children while making a living. I know there are potential OBMs at home watching (yet another!) episode of Barney and wishing they could use their brain for more than memorizing the songs from kid shows.

Or, as anyone who has ever worked in the corporate world knows, there are MANY talented people out there who are under-utilized and essentially miserable in their jobs. (This could be you!) My friend Pamela Slim has an excellent blog called EscapeFromCubicleNation.com, where she helps people transform from corporate prisoner to thriving entrepreneur. One of the most common challenges her readers face is that they know they want to get out of their jobs, but they have no idea what to do next.

It is to these business-savvy professionals in particular that I send a “virtual poke” to consider becoming an Online Business Manager.

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…There are many online professionals who are already doing OBM level work for their clients but don’t realize it, and because of that are selling themselves short in the marketplace and even in the eyes of their current clients. OBMs in disguise usually come to realize that they are doing more than what the virtual assistant or online support role calls for. It’s like the administrative assistant who’s really acting as HR Manager. Or the Executive Assistant who’s slowly taken on duties of the former Vice President,

Operations, only hasn’t received the title or pay raise.

High time to make an adjustment, wouldn’t you say?

There are a lot of folks out there who are already providing OBM-level support, but haven’t formalized that role, and as such, aren’t being compensated properly.In the next section we will be diving into the role of the OBM, and what exactly they do for their clients.

If you find yourself saying, “Hey, that’s what I already do!” then you may be an OBM in disguise. You’ve probably always known that you are “doing a bit more,” but haven’t really been able to articulate it to yourself or your clients. If that is the case, this book will give you a new “shingle” to hang out for your business, so that you can officially take on this role and enjoy the satisfaction and compensation that come alongside.

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The bursting point isn’t necessarily a bad thing, right?

You have what you wanted from your VA business, which was to be busy and make some good money. I actually consider the bursting point to be a rite of passage in a Virtual Assistant’s business; we all have to go through it in order to define what we do best and who we want to work with.

The thing is, though, that living in the bursting point is not sustainable in the long run. The bursting point is like a bubble, and if you stay in it too long, it is almost a guarantee that you will see the effects of imbalance in your life and that bubble will eventually pop with a messy splat, negative side effects touching everyone within range.

Signs that you are at the bursting point:

• You don’t have enough hours in the day to get your work done, and you are falling behind on many of your commitments
• You are feeling overwhelmed and are starting to dread hearing from your clients
• Clients are starting to get upset with you as the work is coming late, is not complete or is incorrect
• Your family and friends are asking you, “Why do you work so much?” or “Are you on that computer again?”
• You don’t have time to say yes to any new and exciting projects or clients that come your way (including those that pay a higher rate)
• Work has become a drag; you aren’t enjoying it anymore and may even start to avoid it or get depressed (this is a big sign of burnout!)

Does any of this sound familiar to you? If yes, you may very well be at the bursting point in your business.

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Once you’ve defined the needs, you can look for people to fill those roles. We are asked all the time how business owners can find people to join their team. We always recommend that you look first to your own network – start with who you know. If you need someone to create a video for you, simply send a note to your network asking if anyone knows a good A/V professional. 90% of the time someone will have a recommendation of someone they have used themselves or heard good things about.

Likewise, they may also be able to warn you against using certain people and save you some potential headache.

Most likely, as an OBM you probably have your own core team of contractors who you’ve used for projects in the pasts. I have my own rolodex of specialists in various areas who I can call on to use with any of my OBM clients – I know them, trust their work and because we have an established relationship they are quite responsive to my needs and will often “bump me up the list” even if they are super busy.

If you aren’t able to find someone via your network, then you will need to reach out to other sources. Elance.com and Guru.com are great places to find contractors for all kinds of online skill sets and projects. In fact, some of our best team members came from Elance. Another one of my best team members came from a Craigslist.com posting.  Being that you aren’t hiring a full-time employee, I wouldn’t look towards the traditional strategies of posting a job ad in newspapers or via online job boards such as Monster.com. Not only is that an expensive option, chances are that you will not attract contractors as most people who peruse job ads are looking for full time employment.

If you haven’t check out my Thrive Hiring System Job Board.. you might want to do that were there are over 400 virtual support professionals available for connecting with:http://thrivehiringsystem.com/home/directory-job-board/

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Defining the team is taking a look at the business needs and identifying what kind of help is needed. This is where your expertise will come in, as you need to know enough about the process of doing business online to know what kind of help you need to hire. It is VERY VERY important to know exactly what you are hiring someone to do, so as to prevent confusion down the road on both sides.

For example, say you want to create a video for your client to put up on their homepage. Does the person you’re hiring need to do everything from A-Z (identify the content, create the content, produce the video, edit it and coordinate with your web master to put it on the homepage)? Or will your client record the video with their webcam and you just need someone to add an intro and convert it into a format that you can put online? There’s a big difference between those two jobs.

Once you are clear on the needs of the business you can look at putting together job descriptions for people you need to hire. Don’t be intimidated by the terminology – it doesn’t need to be a standard corporate 5 page job description – you just need to outline the skills, abilities and availability that you are looking for. It is also a good idea to define how much you are willing to pay as contractors rates can vary.

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In the virtual world, most clients rely on a team of contractors to support their business, and rarely look to hire people as employees. Even though hiring is a fact of life when it comes to owning a business, I have yet to meet a small business owner who actually enjoys the process of finding, hiring and managing their team. Many business owners have gone through the process of finding and hiring (usually a VA or a web designer) and in many cases have struggled to make it work. They know they need a team to help in various areas, but they do not enjoy the process of hiring and delegating.

This is a huge area of need for most business owners, and the role of the OBM is highly important here.

Keeping it lean

I’m a big fan of automating before you hire. As such, I tend towards hiring a smaller, leaner team for my clients. The core team of key people will generally consist of the business owner (your client), the OBM (you) and usually one VA or support person. Depending on the business there may also be a delivery team, such as a group of associate coaches who help the client run their programs.

Outside of this key team there will be a number of contractors that you will call on from time to time for various projects. This may include copywriters, web/blog designers, graphic designers, A/V specialists, SEO professionals, Internet marketing strategists, business coaches, etc. Part of the beauty of working online is that there are so many wonderful contractors out there who can step in on an “as needed” basis. Gone are the days when anyone has to do it all. Now a business owner can have a core team, and then turn to specialists in these various areas when the business requires it.

In my experience, if there are too many people on the core team it can make for a very confusing and overly busy environment. Similar to having too many cooks in the kitchen, when there are too many people on the core team they can end up stepping all over each other and nothing gets done. Plus, the more people there are on the core team, the more diluted the responsibility becomes. An ideal team has only a few people at the core who are responsible for getting stuff done and for managing the other contractors who are doing the work.

As the OBM you want to work with your client to help define, source, hire, train and manage team members.

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