Time is our biggest constraint

As business owners we often talk about growing our business, we develop plans, we create ideas, but rarely do we find the time to realise them.   For many small business owners, the introduction of a Virtual Assistant can release them from the burden of day-to-day administration, freeing up valuable time and space to focus on what is really important.  The introduction of a Virtual Assistant is often a signification step on the pathway for growth, offering a flexible cost efficient solution to our biggest constraint, that of time.

For many, if not all small business owners, our biggest constraint is time, not least when we are trying to  grow our business and continually seeking some sort of sensible work life balance.   This is no easy task, as whilst the prospect of recruiting additional staff is an attractive desire, the harsh reality of limiting our fixed cost and long-term liabilities, will often restrict our ability to do so.  However help is at hand, as many small business owners are now calling upon the services of a  Virtual Assistant.

But what is a Virtual Assistant and how does it work?

With the growing reliance on technology, many of  the traditional tasks performed by a Personal Assistant or a Secretary can now be done remotely and whilst its fair to say that technology has also eliminated many traditional tasks, there is no question that it has also created an “instant society” where customers and suppliers expect an instant response and thus  administrative tasks will continue to grow, similar to the demands on our time.

A Virtual Assistant is someone who has the experience and capability to take away the day-to-day administration of your business, their remit and level of integration into your business is solely determined by you, the business owner.  However, more often than not the relationship will start with small duties,  such as letter writing, proof reading or simple booking keeping duties, and thereafter as the relationship develops a Virtual Assistant will often integrate into the business with the adoption of more regular tasks such as diary management, email account management and general day-to-day duties.

A Short Case Study – Bob The Builder

Bob is a self-employed builder often required to call upon prospective customers in between doing what he calls “the real work”; building stuff.  More often than not, work is lost and time is wasted, as Bob is endlessly catching up on paperwork, forgetting to issue quotations and invoices with little time, if any, allocated to the actual follow up of customer quotations.

However all is not lost, as Bob appoints a Virtual Assistant who will not only issue the quotation on behalf of Bob, but will also proactively follow up the quotation with a polite call to the customer.  This projects a professional and reliable image which ultimately allows Bob to grow his business, or in Bob’s case, to just to get on with “the real work”.

How can we help – At Bright Trees our Virtual Assistant service offers a reliable, trusted and cost effective “pay as you go” resource where day-to-day tasks such as managing email accounts, CRM data, raising invoices, quotations or customer follow up are managed remotely allowing you, the small business owner, to focus on growing your business as opposed to maintaining it.