As Autumn peeks around the corner & leaves begin to show signs of browning; businesses begin to consider their options for the coming year ahead.

When businesses need to grow & to ensure a business has every opportunity to blossom & progress, additional staff will always enable a business to flourish & develop, making the very most of additional skills set’s & mind set.

However, do you need to have someone on your payroll, to make them & you feel like they are a pivotal staff member? How else can you employ someone to support your business, without the need for a desk, Tax/NI registration & or even having them physically onsite with you?

The upsurge in freelancers & Virtual Assistants & home workers, doesn’t show any signs of slowing, as more & more people are taking advantage of the remote working ethos & going it alone. With more & more co-working sites springing up, with supply & demand driving this innovative working method; how can business owners benefit from employing a Virtual Assistant or Freelancer to support their business?

Stage one. Why do you need another pair of hands?

If you have noticed that administration, invoicing, answering email, answering the telephone, travel arrangements, expenses & keeping on top of policies, legislation & procedures is taking you away from the day to day running of your business; it might be time to consider hiring another pair of hands. A Virtual Assistant (PA/Executive Assistant) can transform your business, by supporting you & enabling you to get back to running your business.

“I have worked with Helena for a number of years. Proactive and efficient she quickly grasps the nub of what you want her to do and gets on with it. If she is unclear, she asks intelligent questions and will provide alternatives if she believes there is a better way. I have seen Helena cope with enormous stress in a calm and organized fashion without getting flustered or frustrated. She is a pleasure to work with and someone to be relied on when it counts.”

Oonagh McPhillips, Head of Organisation Development. Ricardo Plc.

Stage two. How to choose the right person for you? Skills set, experience, etc

When you have made the decision to hire a VA/EA, you will first need to consider what are your key area’s you need help with. Some VA’s can specialise in accountancy for example, others in full VA/EA support & others specialise in social media, the list goes on.

If you are struggling with the day to day running of your business, it might be better to seek out a VA with a full breadth of experience & skills. This will enable you to have more confidence in approaching & finalising the list of tasks you require support for. However, if you are seeking someone to support you in building & maintaining your social media presence, then a Social Media VA would be a better point of call.

The most important phase of working with a VA/EA is the ability for you both to interpret the business needs & for the communication to be free flowing.

Helena Parrott – Director/VA Virtually Smart Ltd has spent the past 20 years building her business repertoire & knowledge of the inner working of a variety of industries. It is this expertise & vast amount of skills, which now has other business owners & teams of people rely on Helena, to guide, advise, support & transform their business’s.

“Helena is quite simply a machine – ultra efficient, a pleasure to deal with and fantastically pragmatic at seeing what needs to be done and getting it delivered at speed/to quality. She quickly scans the landscape, sees what needs to be done and uses her initiative to deliver it. Supremely cool, calm and collected – nothing phases her and despite supporting me with zero introduction to Virgin Atlantic – she quickly navigated our systems and networked her way across the business. She transformed my life and I was gutted I couldn’t poach her to come in-house and work for me permanently. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone who runs a busy, global organization.”

Claire Cronin, CMO Virgin Atlantic. January 11 2018

Stage three. Contract & expectations.

Once you have found the right person, setting up a contract is the next stage. One thing to remember, is that a VA is not a member of staff, they are a freelancer & they will have their own contract arrangements to be agreed upon. With this in mind, a freelancer or VA will have a set amount of hours to undertake the tasks arranged. If additional tasks are required, it is advisable to check with your VA that they have the capacity to undertake them. Most VA’s will have more than one client, all with allocated hours & expectations throughout a working week.

One other aspect to remember, is that a VA is a business owner, just like yourself & therefore, if your VA advises that they are available between the hours of 8.30am – 5.30pm, these times are to be respected. Any additional tasks to be completed outside of these hours, for example an event or awards evening; must be agreed in advance by the VA & yourself.

Stage four. Developing relationships.

Once you have your VA as part of your business, the communication going forward is imperative. Helena Parrott’s skills set enable her to be flexible & proactive to her client’s needs. Helena recently spoke about her flexible approach to working alongside Dolphin N2

“By acting independently & supporting the team in the background, I continue to embellish upon & strengthen my existing skills. I’m very adaptable though, so pretty much whatever they ask I can get done. As the team are so busy, I often use my own initiative to make decisions for them & am given carte blanch to do so by the team.” Helena Parrott – Director/VA Virtually Smart Ltd

Ensuring your VA is fully briefed, has access to all of the relevant passwords, accounts & business programmes in advance of your working relationship; will enable a seamless flow of information & before you know it, you’ll be reaping the benefits of hiring a VA to support your business. In addition, being able to trust your VA implicitly is a core part of the relationship you can build with them.