Melissa Ingold — March 23, 2019 — March 23, 2019
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What’s that you say?
You’re having a tough enough time getting comfy with the idea of outsourcing specific workloads, and the prospect of hiring a personal assistant makes you cringe?
I hear that, lovely. As entrepreneurs, we’re typically self-reliant, hard-working women who want to do everything ourselves.
It’s a noble instinct, but one that bites us in the butt! As business owners we need to value our time, entrust certain tasks to experts, and focus on growing our endeavors.
But it can take a while to embrace that philosophy. And it can be even MORE challenging to accept that hiring a personal assistant is something you can and should do, not an indulgence reserved for corporate CEOs.
Let’s talk about why.
Why entrepreneurs need to hire a personal assistant
OK, “need” might be a bit strong!
But many of us lose sight of the fact that when we outsource our marketing, sales, and admin work, we’re still left with all of the standard-issue life stuff: scheduling doctor appointments, errands, managing our personal calendars, and more.
Those things are important, but also time-consuming to coordinate, which means they take our attention away from big-picture planning and strategic business tasks.
When we make our peace with outsourcing elements of our lives to personal assistants, we are truly freed up to do the impactful entrepreneurial work our businesses truly need from us.
What’s the difference between a personal assistant and a virtual assistant?
Just one little letter makes a huge difference!
A virtual assistant (or VA) is typically focused on business and work tasks exclusively. This person might handle scheduling your client appointments, writing social media updates, and dealing with customer support issues.
A personal assistant (or PA) works more closely with the business owner and covers personal, non-work tasks. This person might handle booking airline tickets for you and your family, buying gifts, and coordinating personal appointments.
What can a personal assistant do for you?
As is the case with all assistants, each personal assistant will have different skills and preferences.
If you’re interested in hiring one for yourself, be sure to bring a list of tasks you’d like covered to make sure all candidates are comfortable handling them!
But to get you in the ballpark, common tasks for a personal assistant include:
- Personal calendar management including school and doctor appointments for yourself and your family
- Travel arrangements for business trips or vacations (flights, car rental or uber, hotels)
- Running errands (groceries, post office, dry cleaning, drugstore, etc.)
- Paying bills (or coordinating with your bookkeeper)
- Buying and sending gifts or flowers (birthdays, anniversaries, client gifts)
- Research (restaurants, hotels, entertainment, or even for purchases)
- Travel or household packing and unpacking
- Put furniture together (book case, desk)
- Organizing (closets, office, etc.)
- Meal prep
And just generally keeping you on-track and on-schedule.
Sounds pretty fabulous, right?
Hiring a personal assistant isn’t something every entrepreneur can do right out of the gate, but the busier we become the more appealing a PA’s help will seem.
Even if you’re not ready this instant, I hope reading my post has convinced you that this type of personal support can be a real game-changer for small business owners.
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