How many hours do I need?

Ahhh…the age-old question and the most common one prospective clients ask. The answer is this: As many as your business needs.

Clear as mud, right?

There is no magic number. I can put together packages that include social media, content creation, general admin, email marketing, and the like. I can tell you from experience what other clients in your industry do. I can certainly give you estimates based on the information you provide, but really you are the only person who can answer this question.

There are a few ways to get a general idea of how many hours of assistance you’ll need. We’ll start with the easiest method.

First, what are your business goals and priorities?  And where are the gaps?

Is there something quick and easy you could get off your plate? (Create reminders, upload new photos or content to your site, add contacts in your CRM, schedule and confirm appointments, send thank you notes, create invoices, basic research.)

What tasks are you doing now that you really dread doing?  Chances are it’s just not your thing and you’re not very good at that or you wouldn’t mind doing it. Now, take note of how long that takes you. Is it an hour a day, two hours a day, five hours a week? Write that number down. Repeat for anything else you dread.

Next, figure out how many hours a week you’d like to free yourself up for other things. Would you like to be free every Thursday afternoon for networking? Add those hours to the first calculation.

Finally, add in personal care and errand time. Give yourself at least an hour a week. Small business owners wear so many hats and get burned out easily. Use that hour to get a haircut, go to the gym, get your teeth cleaned, stand in line at the Post Office…whatever.

Add all of those hours up and you’ll have an approximate idea of the number of hours of virtual assistance you’ll need.

The other way to decide how many hours of virtual assistance you’ll need is to work backward. Sit down with a pen and paper and write down everything you’d like to get done in a day, and how much time each task takes. Include sleep, showering, eating, and other things you don’t think about, like walking your dog. Chances are, this takes up more than 24 hours. Since your assistant can’t shower, sleep, or show up at a PTA meeting for you, you’re stuck with those hours. Take a look at the rest of the time overage and see what you can delegate.

Once you have that number in your head, give me a call. There’s an assistant waiting to give you some hours back in your day!

Yours in the adventure,

Angie