How to Systematise Your Business for Greater Efficiency and Stepping Away Stress-Free
As a business owner, you are constantly balancing the needs of your customers with the demands of running a successful business. You’re always looking for ways to increase profits and reduce costs, while ensuring you provide the best service possible.
One way to do this is to systematise your business. By systemising your business processes, you can save time and money, create greater efficiency, and free up your schedule so that you can step away from your business more often.
Let’s explore how to go about systematising your business.
Create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
The most important thing in any successful systemisation process is having standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place. These are written instructions that describe how tasks should be completed within an organisation—they detail the who, what, when, where and why of a particular task or process.
This information should be written down so that everyone in the organisation understands their roles and responsibilities in relation to completing specific tasks.
Having SOPs will make it easier for new employees to get up-to-speed on their duties quickly as well as minimise mistakes due to lack of communication or misunderstanding between colleagues.
Make Use of Automation Tools
Once you have created SOPs for each task or job role in your organisation, it’s time to start automating these processes wherever possible. Automating certain processes can help save time and money by streamlining workflows and removing unnecessary steps from daily operations.
There are many tools available that allow you to automate certain tasks like scheduling appointments or sending out invoices automatically at pre-set intervals. And if automation isn’t needed for a particular task or process yet, then consider investing in software solutions that integrate with other applications and systems in order to streamline operations across multiple departments simultaneously.
Analyse Your Systems
Finally, it’s important that you regularly review and analyse your systems once they are implemented so that they remain efficient at all times.
Consider using analytics tools such as Google Analytics or heatmaps in order to measure user engagement with different areas of your website or app – this can help identify potential issues before they become major problems.
It also helps keep track of customer feedback so that changes can be made quickly if necessary.
The Benefits of Systematising Your Business
The biggest benefit of systematising and automating tasks in your business is that it frees up time for yourself so that you can step away from the day-to-day operations of the business without worrying about whether things are still running smoothly in your absence.
Additionally, systems and automation allow you to provide consistent customer service regardless of who is interacting with customers at any given time—which helps foster trust among customers while also saving you stress and worry about whether customers are getting the experience they deserve every single time they interact with you or one of your employees.
Finally, setting up these systems also makes it easier to delegate tasks because everyone involved knows exactly what needs to be done—so there’s no confusion or miscommunication between team members when it comes time for task distribution (which can save heaps of time).
Systematising your business is essential if you want to ensure maximum efficiency while reducing costs over time. By creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each task or job role within your organisation, automating where possible using various tools, and analysing regular data points through analytics platforms like Google Analytics – you will be able set yourself apart from the competition while freeing up more time for yourself outside of work!
Doing this will not only benefit you but also those around you who depend on a well-organised business environment! Allowing more freedom away from work means more quality time spent with family & friends which will ultimately improve both mental health & wellbeing!
There are plenty of professionals out there who specialise in helping business owners and entrepreneurs build systems so that their businesses run smoothly even when they’re not around – so don’t hesitate to reach out for assistance today!
Live with purpose,
Kristian Livolsi
5 Questions to Ask Your Accountant and Bookkeeper to Maximize Profitability
When you are running a business, having an accountant and bookkeeper in your corner is essential. These professionals can help you keep track of your financials, stay on top of taxes, create budgets, and more. That said, many business owners and entrepreneurs don’t know how to get the most out of their accountant or bookkeeper.
Here are some questions that you should ask them to ensure that you are getting the most from your professional relationship.
1. What Are My Tax Liabilities?
One of the most important things that you will want to ask your accountant is what your tax liabilities are for the current year. This information can be invaluable when it comes to budgeting for taxes and ensuring that you have enough money set aside for those payments.
It can also give you a better idea of where else funds could be allocated so that you can achieve optimal profitability each quarter.
2. What Financial Reports Should I Be Tracking?
It’s vital to have a handle on all aspects of your finances in order to make sound decisions as a business owner. Knowing which financial reports you should be tracking is key here, so be sure to ask your accountant or bookkeeper what they suggest keeping an eye on regularly.
This helps keep everyone up-to-date and aware of where the business stands financially at any given time.
3. What Financial Goals Should I Have for My Business?
One of the most important questions you should ask your accountant or bookkeeper is what financial goals they think your business should have. Every business has different needs, so it’s important to hear what your professional thinks would be beneficial in terms of financial goals. This could be anything from lowering costs to increasing profits margin and more.
4. Do You Have Any Cost Saving Recommendations?
If there’s one thing every successful business knows how to do, it’s save money whenever possible. Ask your accountant or bookkeeper if there are any cost saving recommendations they may have after taking a look at your books.
They may suggest tightening up spending policies or reducing overhead costs such as utilities or office supplies in order to maximize profitability each quarter and increase overall savings in the long run.
5. What Are The Benefits Of Automating Certain Processes?
Automation is becoming increasingly popular as businesses look for ways to streamline processes and save time and money. If you’re considering automating certain aspects of your business operations such as payroll management or customer service, then it’s worth asking your accountant or bookkeeper about the benefits this could bring in terms of cost savings and efficiency improvements.
GROW YOUR BUSINESS
Asking these 5 simple questions—what are my tax liabilities; what financial reports should I be tracking; do you have any cost saving recommendations; What Financial Goals Should I Have for My Business; What Are The Benefits Of Automating Certain Processes — can help ensure that you get the most out of your accountant or bookkeeper relationship by helping you stay aware of where funds are being allocated and making sure expenditures align with company goals.
With their expertise by your side, there’s no limit as to what heights your business can reach!
In this video, Simone gives you the step by step guide to what to ask your accountant and bookkeeper. VIDEO
Find a the FREE SOP here: (maybe this could be a separate landing page as a Lead Magnet)
Live with purpose
Kristian Livolsi
The Benefits of Positive Cash Flow in Business
As a business owner, you know that having a positive cash flow is essential to the success of your company. A positive cash flow indicates that money is coming into your business faster than it is going out. This gives you the financial stability and flexibility to invest in new projects, hire additional employees, and expand your customer base. But what are the long-term benefits of having a positive cash flow? Let’s take a look.
Increased Revenue
Having a positive cash flow means that more money is coming into your business than going out. When this happens, you can reinvest that money into areas of your business like marketing or growing staff to increase revenue. By investing in areas that will bring more money into your business, you can grow the overall value of your company over time.
Improved Credit Score
When you have a positive cash flow in your business, it shows lenders that you are responsible with managing expenses and generating enough income to pay them back on time. This can help improve your credit score so if you ever need additional financing for future investments or projects, lenders will be more likely to approve loan applications or give favorable terms and interest rates.
Better Financial Planning
Having a consistent positive cash flow also helps make budgeting easier because you have an accurate picture of how much money is coming into and going out of the company each month. This gives you better insight when planning finances for upcoming projects or expenses so you can make informed decisions based on realistic expectations rather than guesswork or estimates.
The Relationship between Profits and Cash Flow
When most people think about the health of their business, they think about how much money they are making in profits. While profit is an important metric and indicator of success, it doesn’t always tell the full picture. A company may report high profits but could still be struggling due to a lack of cash flow.
This can happen if there are large accounts receivable balances that haven’t been paid yet or if there are long lead times on customer payments. In these cases, profits may look good on paper but the reality is that there isn’t enough actual cash coming in to cover all of the expenses associated with running the business. This is where having a positive cash flow becomes critical; without it, businesses will struggle to stay afloat.
How to Improve Your Cash Flow
The best way to improve your cash flow is by reducing how long it takes customers to pay their invoices and increasing how quickly you pay out expenses and bills for goods and services rendered. Of course, this isn’t always easy or straightforward as customers may not be willing or able to pay quicker than 30 days or you may need more time to review bills before paying them out.
However, providing incentives such as discounts for paying earlier can encourage customers to do so while also allowing your company more flexibility when paying out its own bills. Additionally, automating billing processes whenever possible can help streamline the process while improving accuracy and efficiency in collecting payments from customers as well as processing outgoing payments from vendors or contractors.
As business owners, managing our companies’ cash flow should always remain top-of-mind. With proper planning and implementation of strategies such as automation, incentives for early payment, and careful monitoring of accounts receivables and payables, we can ensure that our companies maintain a positive cash flow that will allow us to continue growing our businesses for years to come!
It also has numerous benefits; increased revenue, improved credit scores, and better financial planning are just some of them. It provides an extra cushion for unexpected expenses and lets owners feel confident about their financial future as they plan for growth and expansion opportunities down the line.
If improving your cash flow is one of your goals this year, now is the perfect time to get started! Give our team a call to see how we can help 😃
Live with purpose,
Kristian Livolsi and the Business Growth Mindset Team
How to Get Clarity and Direction to Grow Your Business
As a business owner or founder, you’re often pulled in a dozen different directions, especially when you’re just starting out. You want to get your business off the ground and make it successful, but it can be hard to know where to start. It’s easy for goals and plans to become confused with day-to-day operations. Taking the time to step back and focus on getting clarity and direction can be invaluable when growing your business.
Here are three simple steps that you can use in order to get clarity and direction so that you can focus on what matters most.
Take Time for Reflection
The first step is taking the time for reflection. This means setting aside specific times during the week where you can sit down and think about where you want your business to go. Think about what goals you have set for yourself both long-term and short-term, as well as what steps need to be taken in order for those goals to become reality. Taking this time allows you to really evaluate what is important when it comes to growing your business. You will also get a better understanding of how each task or action contributes towards those goals thus helping you prioritise accordingly.
Analyse Your Strengths & Weaknesses
Once you have an idea of where your business is headed, it’s time to assess what resources are available at your disposal. What skills do you possess? What kind of tools do you have access to? Are there any areas where more training or additional personnel might be beneficial? Taking stock of both your strengths and weaknesses will help provide clarity on the path forward for achieving success with your business.
Develop an Action Plan
Once you have taken the time for reflection, it’s important that you develop an action plan based on the goals that were identified during the reflection period. Outline a timeline of tasks that need completing in order for these goals to be achieved as well as any steps needed along the way such as identifying resources or building partnerships with other businesses or organisations.
It may seem daunting at first but having a clear plan of action will make it easier for you to stay focused on achieving your desired results while also allowing flexibility should something unexpected come up along the way.
Prioritise Your Goals
Finally, once your action plan has been developed it’s important to prioritise each goal according to their importance within your overall strategy. Prioritising helps ensure that tasks are completed in an efficient manner while making sure no detail gets overlooked or forgotten. Additionally, by assigning priorities it allows more flexibility when dealing with unexpected issues since more crucial tasks are already handled first before anything else gets addressed which leads us back full circle!
Taking the time for reflection, developing an action plan, prioritising your goals, and analysing your strengths and weaknesses are essential steps towards getting clarity and direction so that your business can grow successfully over time! By following these simple steps not only will things become clearer but it will also help keep everything organised which saves both stress and energy in the long run! So take some time today and start planning out exactly how you want your business to grow now into success!
If you’d like help with this then give our team a call!
Live with purpose,
Kristian Livolsi and the Business Growth Mindset Team
Fostering An Entrepreneurial Mindset
There is no one-size-fits-all formula for success, but there are certain traits that foster an entrepreneurial mindset. This is particularly true for women founders and business owners who must work hard to overcome the traditional gender roles and the stereotypes of what it means to be a successful entrepreneur. In this blog post, I will discuss how to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset in order to become a successful business owner.
Develop Your Ideas
One of the most important characteristics of entrepreneurs is their ability to develop creative ideas and pivot when needed. Developing new ideas is key to staying ahead of the competition and creating something unique that stands out from the crowd. When you have a strong vision for your business, it gives you the confidence to take risks without fear of failure. You can also test different ideas out until you find the ones that work best for your business model.
Embrace Change & Remain Flexible
In today’s fast-paced world, change happens quickly and often unexpectedly. As an entrepreneur, it’s important to remain flexible so you can adapt quickly to changing trends and customer demands. This means embracing change rather than resisting it and having a solution-oriented approach when faced with roadblocks or unexpected changes in your business plan. It’s important to remember that every challenge provides an opportunity to learn, grow, and become better at what you do.
Stay Focused On Your Goals
It’s easy to get distracted by all of the shiny objects out there but staying focused on your goals helps prevent detours in your journey toward success. Don’t be afraid to turn down opportunities if they don’t fit into your long-term plans or add value in some way because this will help keep distractions at bay so you can stay focused on achieving your goals in a timely manner. Additionally, make sure that you set measurable goals so that you can track progress along the way as well as celebrate small wins along the way!
Network With Other Business Owners
Connecting with other entrepreneurs is a great way to get inspired and stay motivated while growing your business. Not only can they provide advice on how they overcame certain obstacles, but they can also offer support during difficult times or celebrate successes together!
Utilise Your Strengths & Weaknesses To Your Advantage
We all have strengths and weaknesses – so why not use them both to our advantage? Identifying which skills come naturally to you can help you make better decisions when it comes to delegating tasks or creating new strategies for success. On the other hand, recognising where you could use some help is just as important – don’t be afraid to ask for assistance when needed!
Fostering an entrepreneurial mindset requires courage and determination but it can ultimately lead to great success if done right! The key elements include developing creative ideas, embracing change with a solution-oriented approach, and staying focused on measurable goals in order to keep distractions at bay while working towards realising long-term plans. By cultivating these traits, women founders and business owners are able to create something unique that stands out from the competition while creating lasting success for themselves!
If you want to go from good to great, then Get In Touch with my team and see what availability we have for 2023 to help you and your team build a market dominating, competitor crushing strategy.
It’s time you raise your standards and flourish.
Live with purpose,
Kristian Livolsi
How To Conquer Business Failure and Flourish in Hard Times
A growth mindset is a fundamental requirement for success. When facing challenges in your business it can be the difference between success and failure. A growth mindset allows you to see what’s possible instead of being stuck in the fear of failure.
Learning from other successful business leaders allows us to gain an insight to how we can fail forward in business. There are many great examples and Richard Branson and Elon Musk are the first to come to mind. Both are hugely successful and both have experienced many failures in order to be successful.
Everyday we should be learning from these masters, as well as the many businesses that surround us, including our own.
Have you ever failed? If so, how often? What have you learnt? Have you taken those lessons and used them to move forward in your business?
The best place to start is with you!
There are several key strategies I use with my clients to help them reflect so they can conquer failure and flourish. What separates the victors from the victims are the five decisions every business owner needs to make.
These five decisions include;
1. Growth Mindset
Stop denying yourself success. According to Prof Dweck, your “… most basic abilities and skills can be developed through dedication and hardwork – brains and talent are just the starting point.” This means that Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. You need to practice growth mindset thinking in order to get the very best out of yourself and others.
2. People
All leaders need great people to flourish – customers, investors, partners, advisors, suppliers, talent and above all their home network. These relationships are critical.
When you fail to deal with the relationship issues in your business and life, they will drain you and leave you with very little to expend on strategy, execution and cash.
3. Strategy
Articulating a clear and differentiated strategy is critical in good times and when navigating a storm. When it’s supported by a strong culture that delivers on the brand’s promise then you can scale with confidence.
Strategic thinking is the thinking before the plan! It takes disciplined people, with disciplined thought. When was the last time you took dedicated time out to work on your strategy?
4. Execution
Most people start with execution and most fail here too. The key to execution is taking action on your strategy and following a proven system to get results. When all your processes are running without drama and driving profitability then you know your entire organisation is executing.
Jim Collins in Great by Choice states, “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely of conscious choice, and discipline.”
5. Cash
You must know your numbers and you don’t need to be a numbers person to understand them.
There are three financial statements you must learn;
- Balance Sheet
- Profit and Loss
- Cash Flow
Cash is king, although Gary Vee says content is king, I think both are equally king. However cash is oxygen that fuels your business growth.
For a business to flourish you need consistent sources of cash, generated internally to fuel the growth of your business.
How you think about cash and how you understand your numbers will determine your success.
If you take action on these 5 areas and your growth mindset, you will flourish in hard times.
Are you ready?
Then contact the Business Growth Mindset team to organise a free discussion about where you’re at, where you want to be and how to get there!
Educogym Fitness Guru To The Stars – Jamie Myerscough EP 9
Jamie Myerscough is an Entrepreneur and CEO of Educogym. He has a business degree from Trinity College, Dublin and is also a qualified Holistic Nutritionist with the Irish Health Culture Association.
His first venture began just out of college, co-founding Phorest Software, a CRM software developed for the Hair and Beauty Industry. Phorest is now a world leading supplier of salon software with over 10,000 customers world-wide.
In 2007 he started as a personal trainer with Educogym and in 2008 opened his first Educogym franchise. In 2011 he then became CEO of the franchise.
Educogym is an award winning gym franchise based on a global award winning model. Their mission is to get your body, mind life and community into shape. Jamie is a celebrity trainer having trained the likes of singer, Robbie Williams and former Ryder Cup Captain and Open Champion Darren Clarke. He has a passion for all things health and fitness and transforming people’s lives.
Jamie’s Book Recommendation
Good to Great by Jim Collins https://www.jimcollins.com/
Connect with Jamie here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/health-fitness-gym-business-coach/
Educogym: https://www.linkedin.com/company/educogym/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myeducogym
Website: https://educogym.com/
Thank you for listening, if you enjoyed the episode, please rate the show and write a review that shares with others what you enjoyed the most. We love hearing from you so please drop us an email hello@kristianlivolsi.com.au Don’t forget to Subscribe to this channel for updates and future podcasts! If you have any questions about today’s podcast or want to get in touch send me a message or book a call here https://businessgrowthmindset.com/
Energy Healer and Soul Alignment Business Woman – Tracey Gilles The Evolved CEO EP 8
Tracey Gillies from the Evolved CEO joins me on The Business Growth Mindset podcast.
Tracey is a wife, mother of three, business woman, spiritual, medium and coach. She’s also an energy healer, soul alignment and entity removal expert.
After struggling for years from postnatal depression, Epstein Barr, glandular fever, adrenal fatigue, anxiety and overwhelm, from the pressures and demands of motherhood and day to day life. She started researching natural, holistic modalities to try and heal herself.
This led to the most intense and enlightened healing and spiritual journey.
She now has developed the gifts and skills that allow her to access a person’s neurological, psychological and spiritual frameworks to heal them at a cellular DNA and energetic level.
Through this process, she’s able to heal, balance and align any blocks and restrictions in a person’s mind, body, energy and soul so they can unlock optimal mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
Tracey and her husband, Greg Gillies have developed the Evolved CEO signature program, specifically for CEOs, business owners and entrepreneurs who want to master their inner health and inner self, awaken their life’s purpose, and above all, transform their life.
Get comfortable and listen up because today, you will learn about the power of the soul, and how everything is energy…
Connect with Tracey here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceygillies/
Website: https://www.traceygillies.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tracey.gillies
https://www.facebook.com/GregGilliesPage
Thank you for listening, if you enjoyed the episode, please rate the show and write a review that shares with others what you enjoyed the most.
We love hearing from you so please drop us an email hello@kristianlivolsi.com.au
Don’t forget to Subscribe to this channel for updates and future podcasts!
If you have any questions about today’s podcast or want to get in touch send me a message or book a call here https://businessgrowthmindset.com/
Authority and Lead Generation LinkedIn Master – Adrian Lea EP 7
Join us for this episode of this season’s Business Growth Mindset featuring the Authority and Lead Generation LinkedIn Master, Adrian Lea.
Adrian Lea is a country boy who’s made it big in business with a proprietary LinkedIn system with his company, Growthlink.
People would say he’s fitness obsessed and a champion of others. However, Adrian loves to see people win on LinkedIn with their profile.
He loves to keep things simple for his clients by systemising lead generation and authority building.
Growthlink focusses on 1 thing, LinkedIn authority and leads without advertising.
In this episode, Kristian asks the hard questions:
What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing in your role/business/project right now and how are you tackling it?
What should I ask you that I don’t know enough to ask?
Tell me about a customer that was inspiring or touched your heart and tell me about a customer that changed your business.
What’s your biggest failure and what did you learn from that experience?
If you could turn back the time and talk to your 18-year-old self, what would you tell them?
Then we have some fun with 5 questions in 5 minutes! 🤣
Adrian’s Book Recommendation 📚
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Connect with Adrian here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/health-fitness-nutrition-coach/
Growthlink: https://www.linkedin.com/company/leaway/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adrian.lea.3
Thank you for listening, if you enjoyed the episode, please rate the show and write a review that shares with others what you enjoyed the most.
We love hearing from you so please drop us an email hello@kristianlivolsi.com.au
Don’t forget to Subscribe to this channel for updates and future podcasts!
If you have any questions about today’s podcast or want to get in touch send me a message or book a call here https://businessgrowthmindset.com/
How Can Outsourcing Help Us In Our Business?
Outsourcing is a great way for companies to cut costs and increase profits. Outsourcing allows you to focus on what you do best, while leaving other tasks to professionals who are experts in those fields.
Outsourcing can be done on an as needed basis or an ongoing basis, depending on the needs of your business. If you only need help with a specific project that requires specialised skills, outsourcing can be an effective solution. If you want to outsource more than just one project, then you may want to consider hiring someone full-time so that they can become familiar with your company’s needs and culture.
Business owners all over the world are jumping on the outsourcing bandwagon and some have great stories to tell, others not so good 😳, but outsourcing can be a blessing IF you know what you’re doing!
How to work with your Virtual Assistant
You need to have the right mindset around outsourcing to set you and your virtual assistant up for success.
Here are some tips we’ve found that work for us:
- Don’t expect to find an instant star
- Expect it to take 3-6 months before you see big benefits
- Expect to spend 1-2 hours a day for the first week or two to set your virtual assistant up for success
- Spend time learning about your virtual assistant’s life
- Don’t expect your virtual assistant to do the strategic thinking – that’s your job!
- Don’t overload your virtual assistant with too many tasks at once, ease them into it
- Communicate expectations and priorities
- Be aware that your first hiring may not be the perfect fit and that’s ok… Just keep going
- Hire for attitude, not necessarily for skill
Outsourcing the mundane tasks allows businesses to thrive and scale, as business owners free up time to work on their business instead of in their business. It also helps high level managers concentrate on high level tasks. There are just so many reasons why this is an important thing to do, no matter if you are running a business, big or small.
And especially now, with the labour and skills shortages we have in Australia, outsourcing has never been more important.
Virtual Assistant Tasks
Email management
Email is one of the most important tools used in business today. When you have employees, it’s even more important to keep track of your email accounts. However, if you are a one-man show or have a small team, it can be difficult to keep track of all of the emails that come in and out of your inboxes.
One way to solve this problem is to hire a virtual assistant who can help manage your email accounts on a daily basis.
Customer support
Virtual assistants can take on many customer-facing roles, including answering phone calls and emails. They can also manage social media accounts and schedule meetings.
Diary management
Get a virtual assistant (VA) to help you manage your diary. VAs can do all kinds of things for you, from managing social media accounts to answering emails, but when it comes down to it, their main job is helping you schedule your time better so that you have more free time.
They’ll book appointments for you, check your schedule against theirs and make sure that nothing clashes. They’ll also update calendars with important events or deadlines and remind you when they’re coming up so that you don’t miss anything important.
Social media management
Social media is a great way to promote your business, but it can be time consuming to manage on your own.
If you have a social media expert on your team, they will be able to handle everything for you.
However, if you don’t have the budget for a dedicated social media manager or you simply want to take things off your plate, consider hiring a virtual assistant (VA) who can assist with social media management.
Here are some things that VAs can do to help with your social media management:
Post content:
Posting content on your business’s various accounts can be time consuming and difficult for some people. A VA could post high-quality content regularly for each account.
Schedule posts:
Scheduling posts ahead of time allows you to share content at optimal times and reach more people without having to manually post every day or week. VAs could also schedule images so that they’re ready to go before posting them on different networks.
Respond to comments and messages:
Administrative tasks
Your virtual assistant can help you with administrative tasks. They can take care of your emails, making sure that they are sent to the right person and that they are answered in a timely manner. They can also manage your calendar and schedule meetings on your behalf. This will free up valuable time for you to do more important things.
Data entry
This task is one of the most important tasks that you can delegate to your virtual assistant. So, how do you choose the right person for this job?
Data entry can be a tedious process, but it’s also an important one. You need someone who not only knows what they’re doing, but also has a good eye for detail and accuracy.
Personal needs (Flight booking, present buying…)
Your personal assistant is your go to for all your personal needs. If you are a busy person and need a helping hand in your personal life, then you can hire a virtual assistant to free up some time. This will allow you to spend more time with family and friends, which is great for your emotional health.
Research
Virtual assistants can be great for research, especially if you’re a small business or entrepreneur. They can help you find valuable information that would otherwise be a hassle to locate on your own.
Basic bookkeeping
Basic bookkeeping is a task that requires a high level of accuracy, attention to detail and careful record-keeping. You can outsource this task to a virtual assistant who will take care of the following:
- Bank account reconciliations
- Cash flow analysis
- Financial reporting
- Preparing invoices and sending them out
- Preparing payroll (including tax calculations)
Anything that you’ve systemised!
If you have a big project that needs to be done, but it isn’t something you can do in the next few days, then break it down into smaller tasks. Anything that you’ve systemised you can assign to your virtual assistant.
Why hire a virtual assistant?
Virtual assistants can help you increase your productivity and do the things you just don’t have time to do. When a task is systematised virtually anyone can do it! Using a virtual assistant is a smart way to save you money as wages are generally significantly lower than Australian wages and this allows you to divert money into other avenues.
Now… How do you go about hiring a virtual assistant to help you increase your productivity and save you money?
Firstly, you need to take a look at all the tasks you or your team do every day that can be delegated. These repetitive tasks need to be systematised and set up as a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) that anyone can follow.
When you have 15-20 tasks systemised that’s when you can start to look at outsourcing. Look at the type of tasks you require to be done. Are they generalised tasks or are they specialised tasks? Administrative tasks will generally require a “general” virtual assistant, whereas something like editing podcasts/media or bookkeeping will require a specialised virtual assistant. Once you’ve decided what type of virtual assistant you require, the fun part starts!
We always write a job description of the type of person we require from our outsourcing company that is centred around our company values and attitudes we have set. We then contact the outsourcing company, Growth Outsourced to find 2-3 people who fit our job description. We then interview those people virtually and make a decision.
Here’s some quick tips on how to increase your virtual assistant’s performance and set them (and you) up for success:
- Have good systems in place
- Have a good onboarding process
- Use task management software (we use ClickUp)
- Spend time with your virtual assistant and learn about them as a person
- Use daily/weekly meetings to stay on track
- Use a reward & recognition system
- Do performance reviews and offer constructive feedback
- Provide an annual pay rise
- Have fun
Lastly, if you’re unsure about whether outsourcing tasks in your business is right for you, then complete our Task Review sheet, then have a chat with us here at Business Growth Mindset and we can discuss how it’s benefited our business and helped us scale.
Live with purpose,
Kristian Livolsi