How Hiring a Virtual Assistant Saved My Business

The Challenge: Solving my control freak problem.

At one point I was creating and hosting shows; writing articles and editing; marketing and promoting; and cleaning the bathroom among other tasks. The big problem was I needed help, but did not want to manage employees or need a “real” office space.

The Solution: Focusing on virtual contractors and partners. I hired two, specifically skilled, self-starting virtual assistants (as contractors) who work from their homes and save me tons of hours per week handling details that were bogging me down including scheduling, Website management and more. Plus, I brought in partners willing to help sell sponsorships for commission.

The Aftermath: The virtual assistants have worked out amazingly well. Not only do we have a great work-flow going with more of my time freed up, but they are also fun to work with (and hey fun is a good thing, right?).

The partnership had mixed results. On the positive, I did not have to worry about sponsorships and revenue drastically increased. On the negative side, some of the sponsors were not great fits for us.

The Lesson: Expanding in any shape or form can be scary when the business is your baby. The key is not just finding the right partners, but finding partners who you mesh with and understand your business, style and philosophy. And before you know it, you will be freeing up hours like a bird flying on steroids.

Entrepreneur, mediapreneur, speaker and author David Siteman Garland is the Founder of The Rise To The Top, The #1 Non-Boring Resource For Building Your Business Smarter, Faster, Cheaper.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (Y.E.C.) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country's most promising young entrepreneurs. The Y.E.C promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment and underemployment and provides its members with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business's development and growth.