I speak with many small business owners and entrepreneurs about the importance of working with a virtual executive assistant. One thing that often comes up is the feeling that they need to have it all together before making the hire. Have you felt this way? You may think you’re too disorganized to hire an assistant or that you don’t want to bring someone into your chaos. This is the wrong way to look at the situation, and this line of thinking may actually be holding you and your business back.
I Need to Get Organized First
If you think you need to have documented processes, a perfectly organized inbox, a complete task list, etc., before hiring, you don’t. Remember, you’re hiring support so that you can create documented processes, get your inbox organized, and more. If you could accomplish all of these things on your own and still have time to think about strategy and grow your business, you probably wouldn’t need the support in the first place.
Why Waiting Doesn’t Fix the Mess
If you’re like most leaders, you have a mental to-do list that never seems to get completed. That mental to-do list likely includes everything you feel you need to do to prepare to hire. Meanwhile, your workload keeps you busy, so you never get around to deciding what you want to delegate, documenting those tasks, or preparing to onboard your new EA.
You Don’t Need to Hand Over Everything at Once
Let’s take some pressure off of you. You don’t have to know everything you plan to delegate before getting started. This is another common misconception when working with a virtual executive assistant. This is also where working with a good virtual EA agency can help. They can help you decide what to delegate and where to start.
What You Actually Need to Be Ready
Don’t let the stress of thinking you have to have it all together before bringing on support stall your progress. The biggest thing you need is a willingness to release tasks that don’t require your full participation. Another thing to keep in mind is to be open to communicating with your EA and allowing the relationship to develop over time.
Having the right executive assistant support is an important step toward reducing your stress and giving you more time in your day and week, which can ultimately help your business grow. So, don’t let getting ready for help become another reason to delay the support you need.
If you know you need help but feel like you need to get everything organized first, let’s talk. We can help you decide where to start and what executive assistant support could look like for you, even if you don’t have everything figured out yet.
