Sometimes the words “start-up,” “entrepreneur” and “small business” can conjure images of fledgling dreamers setting up shop in their apartments, struggling to pay student loans while launching their big ideas.
Of course, the reality is much broader and deeper than that image. Today’s entrepreneurs come in all ages, shapes and stages of experience. Many who are starting up new ventures are winding down other successful careers, drawing upon their C-Suites knowledge to try different enterprises.
It’s nearly impossible to “do everything right” when you’re doing “everything.” Even if you’re ambitious, resourceful, tireless and clever, you are a mortal with limitations, strengths and weaknesses. You simply can’t be best at everything, not to mention you’ll never have enough time to do everything on your own.
Small business people are often big thinkers with plenty of drive and motivation yet not a lot of capital, staffing or support. Their broad vision and intense drive sometimes supersedes the reality of logistics and the fact that there must be some money to spend in order to make more. Inspiration and operations must coalesce for small businesses to establish roots and grow.
Anyone who’s a fan of the TV show Seinfeld likely recalls the episode in which Kramer, Jerry’s affable and laughable neighbor, decides to hire a college intern to help him with his various ‘enterprises.’ Eventually the college advisor terminates the internship because it became clear the student was working for “a solitary man with a messy apartment that may or may not contain a chicken.” Even still, the intern came back to eagerly help his eccentric boss. That was a devoted assistant!
I recently met an entrepreneur with a home-based business. She’d retained a college student to be a virtual assistant, in hopes of alleviating some of her workload and forging ahead on some market research and new business prospecting. Of course, a perceived plus for this sole proprietor was the affordability of hiring a student who could work remotely. Yet as I began to inquire further, it became clear there might be some potential snags to the arrangement.
I have given a lot of though to the possibility of hiring a Virtual Assistant to help me out next year in my business. In have been told by friends and colleagues that hiring a virtual assistant could help me streamline my business, and help me stay organized. Goodness knows I could use the help!
In order to make a well-thought out decision, I decided to make a list of all of the things my virtual assistant could help me with. Here is what I came up with:
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David Jones writes With Virtual Offices becoming an increasingly popular choice of office space, I take a look at some of the reasons why a Virtual Office might be the best solution for your business.How can you make your business look far bigger, more professional and successful than it actually is without increasing your overheads?
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