Well hey there! Welcome to another episode of the Biz Balance Podcast! I’m your host, Karen Greenoe, and today, we’re going to be diving into one of my favorite entrepreneur hacks...the virtual assistant! More specifically, the six glaring signs to look for to let you know that you are ready to bring a virtual assistant into your business!

I had to laugh the other day because I was chatting with a wedding planner friend of mine in my studio and she said “Is Jenna here? I want to meet her! She’s always so on top of things but I’ve never met her!” She had absolutely no idea that Jenna was my virtual assistant. Jenna does such a good job acting as an extension of my brand that this planner didn’t even have reason to believe she didn’t have a physical desk in our building! But that perfected system didn’t happen overnight...it took five years of work, trial and error and back and forth to get to this point. But now that the system is perfected, even a vendor I work with quite frequently could not distinguish her from my in person, full time staff because of how well she represents my brand.

Now, before we go any further, I want to let you know that this episode is brought to you by my totally free Master Class, “The 3 mistakes I made when I hired my first virtual assistant...and how you can avoid them.” Just head over to karengreenoe.com/masterclass to snag your spot. If you’ve listened to any of the past episodes of this podcast, you will know that hiring my first virtual assistant changed my work and personal lives in ways I cannot even imagine. It gave me the time to take a step back and work ON instead of IN my business. Buuut I didn’t do it perfectly from the get go! It’s been a process of perfecting over the past five years and I am going to share my insider tips with you! So if you are ready to hop off of the hamster wheel of your business and get back to what you love doing, you won’t want to miss it! Head on over to karengreenoe.com/masterclass and sign up today!

Sign #1: You want to clone yourself.

Do you ever feel like you’d be much better off if there were more than one of you? I know I do...especially in the kitchen! I still don’t understand how it’s possible to saute the veggies while simultaneously patting your chicken dry all while making sure you don’t burn your rice. And I don’t know about you, but while I am trying to do all that, it mysteriously ends up taking twice as long! What the heck? Well, the same applies in your business. When you have so much going on in your business that you are trying to juggle at one time, everything takes longer, you get frustrated and you might even burn your rice. Not worth it. Between task switching, emails pinging and your phone ringing, you can’t manage to stay on top of it all.

Sign #2: Your business is holding you hostage.

Ok, so I have to kind of chuckle at this one because I have always thought of my business as my first born child and it makes me laugh thinking of one of my kiddos constantly vying for my attention while jumping up and down while also chanting “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” But as entrepreneurs, that’s what our business does sometimes. With the constant ping of our phones and inboxes and whatever social media app that you can’t figure out how to turn the alerts off on, it's a shock we ever get away. The hostage situation is real, y’all!

Sign #3: You spend more time working IN instead of ON your business.

I know you feel me on this one! All of those little admin tasks that add up to an entire day of work while you bounce back and forth between tasks and then suddenly, you look at your phone and realize it’s already 5 o’clock! Where the heck did your day just go? And I’m willing to be that all of those little tasks were NOT the reason you started your business to begin with! All of this adds up to a whole lot of not being able to grow because you simply cannot find the time! So many little things keep popping up needing your attention and you don’t have one second to step back and look at the big picture!

Sign #4: You always feel behind.

You know the feeling. You wake up in the morning and before you take that first, sweet sip of coffee, you check your inbox. Yep, still full. All of a sudden, before your feet have even hit the floor, you feel behind. So much of what you do is reactive instead of proactive. No matter how many hours you seem to work, your to-do list keeps getting longer and your inbox keeps getting fuller. Yuck.

Sign #5: You know you need help but you aren’t ready to hire a full time employee.

Here’s the thing. We are all given exactly 24 hours in a day so that kinda puts a cap on what we can do in any one day as a solopreneur. And let’s face it, you aren’t meant to spend every single waking hour working on your business. That is a sure fire way to burn out and, when you do come up for air, you will realize how much of your life you’ve actually missed out on. Bottom line, if you want to grow your business or even if you are happy with your current business size and simply want to reclaim your time outside of work, you need help, and you know that. But, hiring a full time employee is scary and it can be expensive, especially if you run a business that ebbs and flows with the seasons, like mine.

Sign #6: Your friends and family miss you.

This one is the most important. You find yourself all consumed with your business and you can’t seem to come up for air. You aren’t fully present at the dinner table with your husband or while you are reading bedtime stories to your kiddos. You know that full inbox is calling your name and you’re going to have to spend a few hours after tucking your little ones in catching up so you aren’t behind any more tomorrow. And I’m pretty sure your partner would love to catch up on your favorite TV show while snuggling with you on the couch instead of glancing over at you from a distance with the glow of the laptop screen illuminating your face.

Ok, this one is the kicker for me. Lucky for me, my husband straight up called me out on it and told me he wanted me back. It came to a head and I knew I had to change how I work if I wanted to enjoy our time as a family. But I get you, change is big and scary, but it can be good. Allow yourself the freedom to change this year. 2020 is your year.

Before we go, let’s reveiw those six signs one more time:

Sign #1: You want to clone yourself.

Sign #2: Your business is holding you hostage.

Sign #3: You spend more time working IN instead of ON your business.

Sign #4: You always feel behind.

Sign #5: You know you need help but you aren’t ready to hire a full time employee.

And finally…

Sign #6: Your family misses you!

You owe it to yourself, your business and your family to ask for help. I know you started your business with your own blood, sweat, and tears, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Share the load and enjoy the ride. And of course, don’t forget to sign up for my free master class “The 3 mistakes I made when I hired my first virtual assistant...and how you can avoid them.” Head on over to karengreenoe.com/masterclass and reserve your seat before they’re all gone!

Until next time, keep your head up and your shoulders back...you’ve got this!