Are You Jane-of-all-Trades?

Can I ask... What was your reason for starting your business? Financial freedom? No bosses? No office politics? You want to help people?

All of these reasons (and the others that are floating in your head) are admirable and should inspire you to reach high for your goals. However, the only way to reach those goals is to stay focused on your main mission... your clients! Not the admin tasks.

The Jane-of-all-trades are the fempreneurs who feel the need to do everything themselves. They manage their social media, make the sales calls, schedule their own client appointments, answer emails, handle customer service issues, and do their own monthly bookkeeping. In addition to they, they manage the myriad marketing tasks that are necessary to attract customers and grow their customer base.

If you’re focused on ALL of these admin and marketing tasks, how much time are you really dedicating to your clients? While keeping your clients happy is essential in running your business, all the other admin and marketing tasks are certainly necessary. So, how do you split your time? Below are my top three go-to's or shall I say, my must haves in my business to free up some of my time!

Administrative Assistant

One way to free up your time is to delegate your admin tasks to an assistant. It’s up to you whether you choice to hire a Virtual Assistant, who works remotely from their home office, or a real life admin assistant, who lives nearby and comes into your office to do physical tasks. Either of these assistants can answer the office phone, schedule appointments, answer questions about your coaching programs, and keep your social media profiles updated.

Here's a word of caution when hiring, though. Be very clear on the tasks you need completed and what skill set you expect. Absolutely anyone can say they are an admin assistant or a VA, even if they have limited experience. Make sure to go through an extensive interview process, ask for and call their references. Your business is important. So you want to hire a qualified applicant.

Accountant

For the more specialized tasks such as your financial books, hiring a CPA or a certified bookkeeper is very important. Not only are they bound by confidentiality and a code of ethics but they know how to keep accurate records as well as organize everything for a smooth tax season.

Legal Assistance

This is beyond crucial for your business. I learned the hard way that DIYing my legal documents are a complete set-up for failure. Using online templates are not the best recourse for legalizing your business. While templates online may be all you can afford at this moment, a good lawyer will make sure that they have your best interest at heart, keeping you business protected with jargon (that you may not understand) but is necessary to do business. They're happy to explain everything so that you understand why something is there.

In general, hiring experts in their field is a wise business investment, even when it comes to hiring admin assistants. Those with solid job experience can finish tasks much more quickly and efficiently (and with fewer mistakes) than someone with less experience, or even you! Remember the last time you tried learning new software? There’s a learning curve to everything; why put yourself through that, wasting precious time and money, when there are experts who can implement that software in half the time?