Why a Personal Assistant Might Be Perfect for You
As we round out the month of January, you might be asking yourself – how am I going to hit these goals without more support? And I hear you.
I can remember getting home from a business trip, opening the fridge, and finding nothing but old orange juice and one apple. I was livid. I mean, why do I work so hard only to come home to the sweet, sweet “reward” of an empty refrigerator?
I know that so many entrepreneurs have had this experience. You work really hard in your business, but then you feel really unsupported at home – likely in more ways than one.
You end up spending your weekends cleaning the house, unpacking, or doing your returns. It feels like the harder you work in your business, the more you have to work in your personal life just to make up for the time that you’ve spent working.
If this is you, I want to offer some suggestions. Something that really helped me in this situation was bringing on a personal assistant.
Now, before you tell me that you can’t afford a personal assistant, just hear me out. First, let’s talk about what a personal assistant could do for you.
In my case, a personal assistant helps me do my grocery shopping. She has a list of the 15 items that I need for the meals that I normally eat, and she makes sure that they’re always stocked in the refrigerator and the cupboards.
She helps with keeping folders organized for my clients, processing their paperwork, sending back returns, and making sure that bills get paid.
For my clients that have kids, their personal assistants help them set up summer camps, schedule doctors’ appointments, and order things that the kids need.
All these admin tasks drive us crazy and make us feel like we have no spare time outside of our businesses. But when you have a personal assistant, it can make life so much easier.
Now, I know even the term “personal assistant” brings to mind images of the rich and famous. But in all honesty, personal assistants are also there for you as an entrepreneur so that you can rest when you’re not working.
So where do you find a great personal assistant? Start with your own community. Look for somebody who could use extra cash. A college student – or even a mature high school student – could do this kind of work for you. Ask around your neighborhood.
If you’re in a town with actors, dancers, musicians, or other performers and artists who are in school or early in their careers, it’s likely that they could really use some extra cash with flexible hours.
You might also meet or know people working in stores or around town who seem really responsible – maybe ask them if they could use a little extra money and some more work.
Now, here’s the key piece that many of you get stuck on: how could I possibly afford someone like this? I want you to do the math with me.
If you get somebody into your home for five hours a week, $20 an hour, that’s $100 a week or $400 a month.
This means that you’re saving yourself 20 hours a month with this person helping you. In those 20 hours, let’s say you end up doing 10 sales conversations and closing three people for a thousand dollars each.
You have now brought in $3,000 while paying out only $400, which is about a nine times return on your investment. It’s kind of amazing.
And yet so many entrepreneurs just don’t allow themselves to have this sort of help. Instead, they end up feeling bitter and resentful towards their businesses, because they feel like they spend too much time working and too much time outside of work dealing with these admin and personal tasks that have been piling up.
This week, as you’re thinking about the new year, the new month, and what you want for yourself – if what you want is more time, I invite you to consider bringing on a personal assistant.
Speaking of efficiency, a quick reminder – we have our next Flow Method Day coming up on February 25.
If you haven’t heard of the Flow Method, it’s my way of teaching you how to finish twice your usual amount of work in half the time. When you buy the Flow Method program, you automatically get to join us at a Flow Method Day, where we come together (virtually) to use the Flow Method to get stuff done!
You can check it out at FlowMethodProgram.com.
