Hiring your first assistant: six steps to determine what you need

If you are ready to start delegating to an assistant, first let me congratulate you! This is an important and empowering step that will free you up to grow your business and attract more clients.

So how do you hire an assistant and figure out what they can do for you? Here are six steps to help you get clear on what you need.

1. Make a List of Tasks. Think about what you need help with more than anything. Spend a few days writing down every single thing you do in your business and in your life during the day. From picking up the dry cleaning to sending out letters, whatever it is – write it down. Keep track over a few days to get a good idea of what you really do.

2. Sort into Categories. You’ll discover things fall into categories. For example, categories might include: technology and social media, personal errands, office work and sending out mailings. This is what you can explain when interviewing assistants to see if they have the skill sets you need.

You may find you need a couple of assistants with different skill sets to cover all the bases. It would be unusual for a single individual to be good at everything.

3. Determine What You Can Pay by Task. Next to each item, make a note of how much you could pay someone to do this task for you. Some things will be $10 an hour and others might be $15, $20 or $30.

During each work day, you want to be able to focus on just two things between 9am and 5pm:

A) What brings in money.

B) Marketing to attract more clients.

Anything else could potentially be handled by a capable assistant.
4. Group Tasks to Get an Average Hourly Wage. Group tasks into categories by what you want to pay, take an average and then offer this as the wage. Whoever you interview and select can always counter offer by telling you that number is too low or say yes and take the job.

5. Number of hours per week. Give some thought to how many hours per week it takes you to complete your tasks. This will help you get a good idea of how much time you’ll need the assistant for and will help them understand your requirements.

6. Virtual Tasks vs. Working on Site. The last thing you need to figure out is if your assistant can work virtually or needs to get the job done in person. You may have a VA working virtually for technology related tasks and another who does your errands in person. The more you can delegate, the more time you have to devote to attract more clients.

Your Client Attraction Assignment
Once you complete this exercise, write up a brief job description which you can use to advertise for an assistant. This can also be used as your discussion points for the interview. When you have an assistant in place, you will have more time to attract more clients and bring in more money.