Could a Virtual Team Help Your Six or Seven-Figure Business Recover from the Recession?

Could a Virtual Team Help Your Six or Seven-Figure Business Recover from the Recession?

A virtual team may be just what your successful company needs to recover from a historic recession brought on by the pandemic. The reality is that most successful businesses (although not all) have struggled this year.

And for some, it feels like you’re just trying to pick up all the pieces. Now, it may be time to regroup and rebuild. Feelings of hope and doubt may visit you in turns over whether you can satisfyingly do that.

If that’s where you find yourself, you aren’t alone and you have options when growing a business after a recession (and during it). The same entrepreneurial and risk-taking spirit that got you this far is still there. So, you look at the challenges, even if they seem daunting, and courageously find solutions. That’s just who you are.

As you figure out how to grow your business in light of the pandemic, we can help. We’ve been able to support successful businesses in adjusting to this year’s volatile market conditions.

In her “Forbes” article entitled How to Reinvent Your Business to Survive a Recession, Michelle Clarke shares the following: “With some preparation and foresight, companies with executable business continuity plans in place are usually better positioned to dedicate the resources required to quickly implement a strategic response to a disruption by pivoting or reinventing their business model.”

Here are some reasons to consider a virtual team as you decide on business growth strategies during the recession.

Prompt Results When You Need Them Most

Perhaps you had to let some of your employees go, and now you need to scale your business quickly again. The only trouble is that you feel stuck because hiring takes loads of effort, time and training. How will you ever promptly deliver the results your customers or clients demand?

Hiring a virtual team can help you to scale or rescale your business rapidly. That means less stress over having the help you need. It also means you can set aside the worry over having the expertise you’ll need. Right from the start, you’ll have a highly skilled team ready to make great things happen at your company.

A Team Outside of Your Company’s Challenges

When your business goes through challenging times, all of your team members feel that stress from the top to bottom. And just when you need innovation the most, all that stress can translate into a drop in energy, creativity and purpose.

How do you bail yourself out of such a scenario? While the best plan will require a multi-pronged approach, one answer for some businesses is to hire a virtual team outside of the company to assist with navigating these challenging times.

Instead of just hiring one virtual assistant, you’ll get a virtual assistant team. Bringing on a virtual team outside of your home-grown one has its advantages during tough times. Your remote team will be able to better emotionally separate themselves from the stress you feel in your business (while still being passionately involved in building your dreams).

What does that mean for you and your company? Help for your most pressing challenges from an energetic and creative team. You’ll get optimal results even when anxiety levels may be high in your business. You might also benefit from an outside perspective which will allow you to break free from operating in survival mode or feeling paralyzed.

White Label Services When You Need Them Most

White label virtual assistant services can also be a vital part of your comeback strategy. As you recover from the recession, now may be the opportune time to add new services or reintroduce previously existing services you had to cut back on for a while.

But what do you do if you’re not yet ready to hire someone as a full-time employee? One possibility is hiring a skilled part of our team to be part of the face of your team. You can present individuals from Smart to Finish as your own employees with our white label services during tough times, impressing your prospective clients or customers in the process.

Not only do you look more established by doing this, but you’ll automatically bring on an expert. That type of customer confidence can allow you to grow (or regrow) your business with fewer frustrating moments and unknowns. You just may find that bringing on a team of white label professionals is the ‘secret sauce’ for how to grow your company during challenging times.

Could a Virtual Team Be Part of the Solution to Your Pandemic Challenges?

Have you hit six figures or seven figures in your business, but things have been unusually tough this year? At Smart to Finish, we understand the many obstacles facing a six -figure business and larger along the path to success. We also realize that what matters most is that you can improve the lives of people around you who need your product or services while meeting your revenue goals.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can assist your business during the pandemic and the future, feel free to get in touch for a free 30-minute consultation. Whether you need an online business manager, virtual assistant or remote team, we’re here to make sure you grow your business regardless of the challenges.

Business Growth Strategies for Your Pandemic Quantum Leap

Business Growth Strategies for Your Pandemic Quantum Leap

Business growth didn’t go as planned this year, that’s for sure. It’s safe to say that no one could’ve guessed how 2020 would unfold. Not too far into the year, the pandemic rapidly changed how we live and do work worldwide. Many businesses took massive financial hits, and some of them didn’t survive.

But some businesses bringing in six figures or greater have experienced just the opposite. Jordan Valinsky’s “The Mercury News” article entitled Business is Booming for These 14 Companies During the Coronavirus Pandemic shares the following: “During this upheaval, some companies have been thriving because of dramatic shifts in consumer behavior.”

You feel fortunate as an entrepreneur because your company is one of the few that thrived, possibly more than ever, this year. You feel incredibly grateful because some of the seemingly most immune industries suffered major business growth setbacks as a pandemic-induced recession rocked the global economy.

Maybe you specialize in online creative services, outdoor products, or medical supplies or another industry that just went crazy in a good way this year. While you’re thankful for the business, you may feel overwhelmed by the customer or client demands you need to meet.

The most pressing question if your business is bringing in six figures, seven figures or more is, “What do I do now? What do I do today to meet that customer or client demand?” If those are your questions, we have some answers that may help. Specifically, you may want to seriously consider hiring a remote team to assist your business during times of such high demand. Here’s why.

Delegating and Outsourcing Without Lengthy Delays

You instinctively know now isn’t the time to hire a team and spend weeks and months training them if you have delegation needs today. It just isn’t realistic. You’d lose so much time and resources in the process. You also don’t want to heap unrealistic expectations on new hires during such stressful times.

That’s where hiring a remote team from a virtual assistant company can help. You get on-demand delegation power when you need it most. That allows you to meet the needs of your clients or customers more seamlessly. And that same excellent service will help to ensure that your customers and clients return.

Expert Help Right Away

As a business owner, you realize that building the right team can take months and years. It isn’t an instant-gratification pursuit. It takes patience and persistence. But what do you do when you can’t grow the skills of your employees in time?

Although there are a variety of strategies worth considering, one of the best is hiring a team of already established experts who will provide the skills you need at your moment of need. That’s what a remote team can do for you.

Experience Working with Businesses in the ‘Quantum Leap’ Phase

Even before the pandemic and resulting recession, our team regularly worked with businesses going through a boom.

We understand what it takes to help companies during high-demand times. We also realize how necessary it is that your business rises to the occasion when there’s a rush for a particular service or product.

Given our experience, you’ll gain a virtual team skilled in helping you navigate the good stressors of a booming business. That way, you’ll be able to focus more on ‘steering your company’s ship’ instead of existing in survival mode.

Would You Like to Maximize Your Business Growth During the Pandemic?

If so, Smart to Finish is here to make sure that, no matter how busy you are, you’re able to meet the increasing demand for your product or services brought on by the pandemic. We can help your six-figure business or seven-figure business to keep delivering the same stellar service your customers or clients have come to expect.

Regardless of whether you need a virtual assistant, virtual team or virtual manager, we can make growing a business a lot less frustrating. If you’d like to learn more, please reach out to us for a free 30-minute consultation to discuss the best business growth strategies for your company.

How the Power of Delegation Can Grow Your People Skills as an Entrepreneur

How the Power of Delegation Can Grow Your People Skills as an Entrepreneur

Learning the power of delegation can take months and years to achieve. So, why go through with the sometimes-painful process of learning the art of delegation as an entrepreneur?

The increased opportunity to grow your business and revenue as an entrepreneur should be enough to take it seriously. But have you considered the personal growth benefits associated with delegating? Although the fiscal pressures you face can sometimes be immense, the people skills you gain can be even more valuable over time.

Although budgetary needs are critical and can feel all-consuming, it’s possible to meet them and still not succeed on a deeper level. Because, ultimately, the point of the entrepreneurial journey is to improve the lives of people. That means your customers, clients, staff and yourself. Money aside, if that goal isn’t met, then what’s the point?

Your most valuable business connection is the people meaningfully involved with your dream. As you learn how to improve delegation, you’ll notice that your people skills grow too. And it could be argued that no greater ability exists than being able to meaningfully and authentically connect with others. Here are some people-skill benefits you can expect as you learn to excel at delegating tasks.

Delegating Helps You Listen to Your Intuition Better

When you first became an entrepreneur, you may have ignored your ‘gut feelings’ or intuition when making business decisions (and gotten burned as a result). But, after a while, you probably regretted not listening better.

This ‘sixth sense’ is so essential to business growth. It allows you to be guarded or less so even when all the facts aren’t in. It helps you decide to go with the ‘less impressive’ job candidate because there’s something about them you can’t fully explain that’s different.

As you delegate work, you continually improve your intuition skills. Fostering this skill allows you to read between the lines, pick up on non-verbal cues and make the best decision. No course or book can give you the answers on whether to outsource a particular task to ‘John’ or ‘Andrea,’ for instance.

You listen to your intuition, fully understanding life is nuanced and people are far more complex than we often admit. Being sensitive to what’s best for you, your staff and your customers through following your intuition can make them feel cared about and valued. People will always appreciate authenticity like that.

It separates you from entrepreneurs who bowl over others because they feel they have to ‘win’ at all costs. And it can help you achieve your higher purpose while in business and leave a lasting legacy worth following.

Delegating Teaches You How to “Let Go” for Better Results

As an entrepreneur, you can control how hard you work, but you can’t perfectly guarantee your results. You have to learn to control what you can and let go of what you can’t.

But what can and should you control when it comes to people? You really can only control yourself. You naturally hate being micromanaged as an entrepreneur, and so does your staff. Attempting to gain more control than necessary on projects and oversight leaves you emotionally and physically spent.

Micromanagement also leaves your staff feeling frazzled, untrusted and less productive than they could’ve been. Learning effective delegation teaches you the invaluable people skill of letting go. Because the surest way to lose your people is to ‘smother’ them in an attempt to bend them to your will.

In his “Entrepreneur” article entitled How to Delegate Better and Become a Great Leader, John Boitnott shares the following advice:

“Empower your workers to feel like they’re making valuable contributions and are trusted to handle new responsibilities. Part of that empowerment means giving your workers access to the people, equipment, information and materials they’ll need to do a good job. As a result, they’ll gain more self-confidence and will achieve more.”

Guide your staff only as much as necessary. After that, as hard as it initially can be as an entrepreneur, let go and let your team do their best work. After all, the feeling of being in control of others is just an illusion. A vital part of growth personally and professionally involves getting out of the way so everyone can give their best effort towards collective success.

Delegating Improves More than Just Your Work Relationships

Developing effective delegation skills means learning to get things done with the help of others. It means learning to ‘play’ as a team, work hard, foster mutual respect and accomplish your goals while remaining sensitive to others’ goals and dreams.

Delegating done well can improve your work relationships as an entrepreneur. If carried out correctly, your workers will feel valued that you entrusted them with so much responsibility. They’ll appreciate your healthy balance of proper guidance and autonomy.

The valuable people skills gained from the delegation of responsibility will also give you the tools needed to nurture your most vital relationships. That may involve how you interact with your extended family, close friends, children and significant other or spouse.

With solid people skills in place you’ve learned from delegating, you’ll have the unique ability to nurture your most vital relationships. And in doing so, you’ll have a healthy support system in place to make a positive difference in the lives of your clients, customers, staff and personal life.

Want to Discover the Power of Delegation on a Deeper Level?

As you grow in your delegation skills, you’ll find a variety of available strategies to meet your company’s needs. One powerful possibility is hiring a virtual assistant company to assist you with tasks.

Smart to Finish can help you with delegation whether you need an online business manager, virtual team or virtual assistant. We offer on-demand solutions to your staffing needs, so you don’t have to wait months and years to grow as a business.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can grow your business, feel free to reach out to us. Scheduling a 30-minute free consultation only takes a minute but could be one of the biggest steps you take towards scaling your business.

Delegating Tasks: Why It’s Important to Your Growth as an Entrepreneur

Delegating Tasks: Why It’s Important to Your Growth as an Entrepreneur

Why is delegating tasks necessary to your growth as an entrepreneur? Because learning how to delegate is far more than something you do. Most importantly, the delegation of responsibility done well shapes who you become.

In her “Entrepreneur” article entitled 7 Rules for Entrepreneurs to Delegate Effectively, Anna Johansson says, “You need to think about delegating some of your work. Delegation is a key factor in entrepreneurial success, on both a personal and professional level.”

At first glance, delegating may seem like nothing more than a mundane task entrepreneurs check off their lengthy to-do lists. But the end result is a destiny and not just a duty.

As an entrepreneur, you’re continually growing. You may not always think of it that way because of your ever-growing responsibilities, but that’s the undeniable reality whether your company is struggling or thriving.

Not all entrepreneurs experience the same growth trajectory though. Some look more like a stunted, water-deprived garden plant. Others experience lush growth like a plant regularly given plenty of water. What makes the difference between the two?

While the answer to such a question is nuanced, learning the art of delegation as an entrepreneur is an integral aspect of your growth process. Here’s why you should regularly delegate work if you want to grow as an entrepreneur.

Someone Out There Can Do Those Tasks Better

Yes, that’s initially a tough one for one’s ego as an entrepreneur but so true. Among all the jobs you have to get done, some are a constant struggle because they aren’t where your passions and strength lie.

That doesn’t make you weak or inept. It’s just the reality every entrepreneur out there faces. To grow, you have to learn to play to your strengths. But you can’t stop there. You also need to gather individuals around you who are strong in areas you aren’t.

The more this happens, the more your business will thrive. You won’t always feel like you’re doing some tasks well but failing at others. You’ll have more time to grow in the skills that interest you most and become even better at them because of your delegation skills.

Less Frustration Means More Passion

You need to maintain your passion as an entrepreneur to stay motivated and continually grow. But somewhere along the way, all the things you have to do can sap the joy out of you. And you can start to feel regularly frustrated.

Every entrepreneur goes through seasons of aimlessness, complacency and a loss of vision. And not all entrepreneurs survive this stage. For some, that’s a good thing because they’re ready for a different entrepreneurial challenge. But others simply need a bit more perseverance to break through the listlessness.

Although seasons of frustration can help you grow, no one receives a trophy for staying there longer than you have to! Less frustration through effective delegation gives you more time and inner calm to make the best choices for your business and those who’re helping your mission to become successful. You also have more time and energy to focus on personal growth as an entrepreneur.

The Power of Delegation Ensures Even More Growth Will Happen

What do you experience as an entrepreneur when you aren’t delegating appropriately? An incredible amount of physical, emotional and spiritual stress. You’re always busy—like someone lost at sea in a rowboat who’s unsure of where to locate the closest shore.

There’s an enormous effort with little progress. It’s hard to figure out a plan to grow as an entrepreneur (let alone figure out how to implement that strategy). You’re always just trying to ‘keep your head above water.’

Something drastically shifts when you begin delegating, though. You become more intentional about your business strategy, and you’re able to focus much more on self-improvement. You finally have time to get out of the way of your business and just concentrate on leading it.

And it’s not long before you find ways to improve. One major perk of noticing opportunities to grow as a business owner is that encouraging your team to grow personally becomes a higher priority. Your goal isn’t about ‘squeezing every last dollar out of them.’

It becomes about genuinely wanting your staff to achieve their highest potential because you’re interested in them as people. And when your staff feels valued, you’ll be amply rewarded.

Could You Use Some Help with Delegating Tasks?

Once you go all-in on delegation, finding virtual help can significantly improve your personal and business growth. You can quickly enhance your delegation of duties through a virtual assistant company instead of going through the long, arduous and unpredictable process of hiring in-person staff.

Instead, you’ll have an on-demand solution to all those nagging tasks that need to be done. Those tasks may be completed best by a virtual team, virtual assistant or online business manager. Smart to Finish can help you develop a customized delegation strategy so you and your business continue growing.

Would you like to find out more about how we can assist you? If so, feel free to reach out to us for a free 30-minute consultation. We look forward to working with you!

Happy Delegation Day!

“Are You Tired, Overwhelmed And Overworked?
Do you want to have support in your business but don’t even know where to start?

 

Are you staying up late at night trying to figure out how to setup an email campaign or broadcast?  

We dare you to do something about it. 

Discover why delegating is your secret weapon to have more time, energy and happiness. (Oh and of course business growth!)

Introducing… the Delegation Dare.

A 10-Day Virtual Intensive to train you how to change your mindset and learn the  key strategies to make delegating work for you.

Here is a recap of what you will receive when you join…

🤗 A private Facebook group where you will access daily trainings and live Q&A calls.

📃 Templates, checklists and action guides to use as tools in your learning.

💻 Includes 10 hours of virtual assistant support hours!

📩 Goodies in the mail to help you with your delegating practices! 

🛎 Includes a 30-minute bonus session to map out your delegating strategy!

Here’s what some of our clients have to say about delegating to us:

The easiest techie girl I’ve ever worked with and she knows how to make things pleasing to the eye. Plus, I love knowing if I’m in a pinch or my website has a glitch, she will find a solution fast! Amber ROCKS!”  Jeanna Gabellini

“Where most entrepreneurs get stuck in everything ’tech’ it takes to market their brand and sell online. There’s no need to do it yourself, or even figure out what you need. Smart to Finish is a great resource for busy entrepreneurs who need virtual assistance and tech support.”  – Ali Brown

How to Work from Home with Kids as an Entrepreneur

How to Work from Home with Kids as an Entrepreneur

Are you an entrepreneur who’s wondering how to work from home with kids? If so,
you’re already well aware of the many stressors that can occur when mixing kids and a
home-based business. Add to that the year of the Pandemic with disrupted school
schedules, and few other questions become as relevant as this one.

Although there are many benefits of working from home, the lifestyle has plenty of
challenges too. And until you try working from home with kids as an entrepreneur, it’s
hard to imagine how significant this adjustment can be.

In her “Small Business Trends” article entitled 10 Tips for Working from Home with
Kids, Annie Pilon sums up the struggle well:

“Parents see an advantage to spending more time at home. But they also find
it challenging to stay focused on their tasks. It leads to chaos during dedicated
working hours. And it can also be tough for some to “turn off” the office mindset when
it’s time to hang out with family.”

Can you relate to this tug-of-war obstacle? If your answer is ‘yes,’ here are some working
from home tips with children in the house to consider.

Avoid Doing Parenting and Remote Work at the Same Time

Why is this a bad idea? Because at least one of the two is bound to suffer. Either it’ll be
the health of your child or your business at stake. Since these two interests are
interdependent, and both need to thrive, you need a better option.

In reality, it’s impossible to regularly engage with work and family simultaneously. This
is especially true if you’re trying to figure out how to work from home with a baby. When
working from home with a newborn or young child, you’ll have to either do one or the
other.

Working and parenting at the same time only leads to perpetual discouragement and
frustration. And as pressing as your business demands may seem, your kids need you
even more than your business does.

Instead, you’ll do better by staying up later than your child or rising earlier. Your child’s
naptime can also be a good opportunity to sneak in a little work. Finding someone to
occasionally watch your children can be quite helpful too.

How to Work from Home with Kids: Set Up an Office

Setting up a home office will help you make the line between work and family more
distinct. Having your own space for work will allow you to focus on your daily tasks
better too. Then, when you step away from your work area, you won’t feel so much
pressure to put on your entrepreneur hat when it’s time to parent.

This also helps your child to understand the work boundaries you need to be successful.
It’s natural that your kids will want to talk with you, ask for a snack or settle sibling
disputes. Having a home office helps everyone in the family better understand the
delicate balance of work and home life.

Get Out of the House with Your Family

You already know it can be challenging to turn off work mode when it should be family
time. There will always be more work, after all.

But what’s sometimes hard to see is you only have so many child-rearing years. You
want to make those years happy and healthy for you and your child while there’s still
time.

One way to focus more on your child is to intentionally get out of the house for a while.
Maybe you go for a hike or swim together. Or perhaps you go for a drive and get ice
cream. It’s most important to be intentional about getting out when your stress levels
are unusually high as an entrepreneur.

Regardless of what you do outside the home, just getting away for a few hours is a great
way to put work aside for a while. It makes working from home with children more fun
and manageable too.

Choose to Delegate for a Better Work-Family Balance

You can’t do it all. And if you try, you, your family and business will all lose. You only
have so much energy and time each day to give to work and your family.

If you’ve been consistently working hard but can’t seem to make nearly the progress you
need, it’s likely been time to start delegating tasks for a while now.

The importance of delegation is crucial since it can give you more time to take care of
your family and your health. It can also increase the value you bring to clients and
customers while growing your profits.

How to Delegate Effectively: Could You Use Some Help?

Effective delegation is a skill you can continually improve at regardless of how long
you’ve been an entrepreneur. And the more your business develops, the more useful
delegation in business becomes.

If you’d like to discover the benefits of delegation on a deeper level, feel free to get in
touch with Smart to Finish. Perhaps you’re just learning to delegate, or you’ve been at it
for a while now but need to learn how to delegate tasks better. Either way, we can assist
you.

By scheduling a 30-minute free consultation with us, we can develop a customized plan
for your business. Your journey of how to delegate better may involve hiring an online
business manager, virtual assistant or virtual team. Best of all, you’ll grow your business
stronger and faster while maintaining a healthy work-family balance.

Are You an Online Business Manager? Why You Should Use White Label Services

Are You an Online Business Manager? Why You Should Use White Label Services

As an online business manager, could you use some new ways to succeed? If so, adding white-label services to your business’s growth strategy could be part of the answer. Although plenty of businesses do benefit from the help of a white-label virtual assistant, many more overlook this valuable possibility. They focus more on ‘traditional’ growth strategies instead and miss out as a result.

In his Medium article entitled How to Grow Your Agency’s Bottom Line with White Label Services, Hans Holen shares the following:

“White-label services are often an efficient way for agencies to increase profitability by improving margin and growing top-line revenue at the same time.”

One constant in today’s tech-driven business atmosphere is change. For companies to be successful requires perpetual adaptation. With a white-label partnership, an online manager can ‘borrow’ a VA from a virtual assistant company while presenting the professional as their on-staff, home-grown expert. Their hiring interests could include white label marketing services, web development and much more.

How might this practice strengthen and advance your goals as an online business manager? Here are a few of the many ways.

Growth Without So Much Risk

If you’ve thought of adding an additional service to your business but have put it off for a while, that’s normal. Adding a new service can require a lot of planning, effort and expertise. And as an in-person business manager or manager online, you face regular pressure to grow your company while minimizing the chance for any ‘big’ setbacks.

The last thing you want is a less-than-satisfactory delivery of that new service when your existing ones have a reputation for excellence. There’s often significant risk involved with creating new services which can lead to the feeling of apprehension, cold feet and procrastination before finally taking the leap.

Yes, it’s possible that you need more time to think about adding an additional service. You obviously don’t want to make flippant or overly hasty business decisions. At the same time, if you’ve noticed the reoccurring theme of wanting to add new services to the business you oversee, now could be a great time to go for it.

By adding a white-label virtual assistant, you can experiment with offering new services before taking the ‘big leap’. For instance, you may have one client who needs help with web design and that’s a service you’ve wanted to add. You can hire a white-label virtual assistant skilled in that service to help with your project before going more mainstream with that offering.

Since you’ll be dealing with an expert right away, you won’t have to worry about a disappointing experience for your client. Then, you’ll be able to establish an ever-increasing framework for successfully delivering that service in the future.

You Can Hire on an As-Needed Basis (More Cost-Effective)

When you begin offering a new service, it’s possible the volume of demand for it may not be as strong as with your existing services. With a white-label virtual assistant, that’s no problem.

Simply hire your white-label VA for the services you need when you need them. It’s like having a full-time niche-specific expert available and only needing to pay for their services when your clients or customers could benefit from them.

Impressive Company Presentation

For better or worse, appearances matter in the business world. Offering a wide range of services shows potential clients and customers that you’re established and successful.

In the end, offering quality solutions while building strong relationships is what running a successful business is all about. The money earned is just a bi-product of that greater achievement. Having said that, without an initial impressive appearance, you may not get the chance to impress your client or customer as you hoped.

With a white-label VA, you’ll be able to bolster that impressive company appearance until you get the chance to show the high value of your services.

More Services Can Mean More Sales

Of course, you don’t want to offer so many services that you can’t provide high-quality outcomes. At the same time, the more ‘hooks’ you keep in the water, the more ‘fish’ you’ll catch.

Having a white-label virtual assistant enables you to scale your business’s growth more quickly. It also allows you to not only save money but to earn more. Those increased sales will allow you to continually improve your current services while developing new ones to offer.

Are You an Online Business Manager Who’s Considering White-Label Services?

At Smart to Finish, we love empowering your business and getting aspects of it moving that have been stuck in the mud. You may not have to put off offering that new service. It could be as simple as getting in touch with us.

Whether you need a VA, virtual team, virtual manager, or white label VA, Smart to Finish can help you to delegate like a pro. Would you like to discuss how we can strengthen and grow your business? If so, feel free to reach out to us for a free 30-minute consultation. We are looking forward to meeting you!

Tough Times: Why Using White Label Services Right Now is Smart

Tough Times: Why Using White Label Services Right Now is Smart

Could white label services help your business weather the tough times we currently face? Just about every company is obsessed with how to get through the economic and health struggles we’ve seen this year.

“Thriving business in recession” are the four words at the top of everyone’s mind right now. And just when it seemed like things were getting better, COVID-19 cases have spiked again.

What’s to be done? For starters, you need a ‘tough times’ strategy for your company. Businesses that do well in a recession learn to overcome their fears of changing with the times. Because operating like it’s pre-March 2020 likely won’t get you the results you want and need. Life is different now and, in some ways, it may never be the same.

One pandemic solution our Smart to Finish team has seen a demand for lately is white- label virtual assistant services. How does a white-label partnership work? In Ilfusion Creative’s “Medium” article entitled Things You Need to Know About White Label Marketing, the process is described as follows:

“White labeling is the business practice of hiring and rebranding another company’s product or service and then offering it to your customers as your own.” In this case, you’re rebranding a qualified staff member and their services from a virtual assistant company. This can include using white label marketing services but may also be broader than that depending on your business needs.

Why would there be an increase in interest in these services during an epic recession and potential depression? Here are some of the reasons we believe these services are more desirable than ever at the moment.

Fewer Health Risks with Your White-Label Virtual Assistant

With a white-label virtual assistant, you gain an invaluable addition to your team without the risks associated with the coronavirus. As a result, you can replace the concerns of keeping your staff safe and healthy with all the other pressing distractions a worldwide pandemic can create.

Previous Remote Work Experience Matters Right Now

If you’re like many businesses, you had to handle the frustrations of your business quickly shifting to remote work. Whether you’re a business owner, in-person supervisor or online manager, it’s likely been trying at times. One of the unique challenges was that your staff didn’t have the proper time to prepare for these changes.

While there are many benefits for employers and staff when it comes to remote work, anyone who says it’s easy isn’t telling all the truth. It takes a special self-discipline level to successfully work from home.

With a white-label virtual assistant, you’ll immediately have someone considered part of your team who’s used to doing virtual work. And that’s a huge advantage at the moment because developing that type of focus can take months and even years to achieve.

Cost-Effective Business Strategies Are Essential at the Moment

Yes, you could argue that ‘every penny’ counted before the pandemic. That’s how successful businesses operate, after all. But the reality is that many were lulled into a false sense of security because of the previously stable economy. Now they’re wondering how to survive a recession.

Proper budgeting for businesses is perhaps more crucial than it has been since the Great Depression. Because of this, businesses are turning to white-label VAs because they don’t need to provide an office for their new hire, train them or come up with a complex strategy before beginning to sell a new service.

A virtual manager can simply bring a white-label VA on board and pay for their services on an as-needed basis. And while other companies are downsizing, you’ll be able to add to your staff at a fraction of the cost. This also allows your profits to increase because of your newly available services.

Effective and Quick Results are Required

Worldwide challenges like these require effective and quick solutions. But that’s typically a difficult combination to pull off. So, what can you do when the best-possible outcomes matter more than ever before?

Hiring a white-label virtual assistant can save you weeks and even months. Lost time that could otherwise be detrimental to your company’s wellbeing, With white-label services, you won’t be trying to ‘start your engine’ when you already should’ve been ‘cruising down the highway’.

Plus, experts don’t happen overnight. It takes years of effort and, yes, failure for the best to get that good at their niche of interest. But the good news with a white-label VA is you’ll have a highly qualified team member from day one.

Could Our White Label Services Be Part of Your ‘Tough Times’ Business Strategy?

Smart to Finish can provide a variety of services and solutions whether you need an online business manager, virtual team, VA or white label VA. And these services can be especially useful during difficult economic times.

If you’d like to learn more about our white label or other available services, we’d love to chat with you. Scheduling a 30-minute free consultation with us only takes a moment. Helping businesses thrive regardless of the economic climate is what we’re all about!

Why You Should Hire a Virtual Assistant for Customer Support

Why You Should Hire a Virtual Assistant for Customer Support

If you were to revamp the customer support of your business, what kind of difference would that make? Over time, you could drastically improve your company’s reputation while growing your loyal customer base.

But the biggest question for plenty of business owners and managers is how to improve their customer support. When it comes to developing a customer service strategy or customer support game plan, that could involve hiring a customer service virtual assistant.

Yes, some virtual assistants provide good customer care to businesses similar to yours. This comes as a surprise to some companies that are prone to think of VAs only doing ‘generic’ administrative or office tasks.

True, these are valuable jobs to consider hiring a virtual assistant to help with, but there are plenty of other tasks to consider outsourcing too. Customer support is one of those tasks businesses tend to overlook when considering help from a virtual assistant.

Why should you consider hiring a virtual assistant to help with your customer support needs? Here are some reasons to consider.

Some Virtual Assistants Have a Passion and Gift for Customer Support

Virtual assistants gifted in and passionate about customer support can regularly look past its inherent challenges. They ultimately know their work is about offering satisfying solutions to you so your customers will be impressed. They find it fulfilling to bring powerful solutions to your customers. After all, helping customers is what it’s all about.

Some virtual assistants have a wealth of customer support experience they can draw from to help you to regularly ‘wow’ your customers. And their passion to consistently impress your customers will provide you with an expert right out of the gate.

You Can Hire a VA as Your Customer Support Strategy Develops

Your customer support strategy will constantly change to better serve those who need your product or services. But sometimes you may be unsure of where to start an effective strategy or how to bolster an already existing one.

That’s where hiring a virtual assistant can make a big difference. You get on-demand help so that your customers are thoroughly happy and keep coming back for your services or products. No more feeling paralyzed about your customer support or customer service plan. Your virtual assistant will be there to help you continually improve and adapt.

In the future, you may choose to bring on a virtual assistant as an ongoing part of your customer support strategy. You also may only need these services during a specific growth process. Either way, you’ll be ready to provide the kind of support your customers need and value.

A Customer Service Virtual Assistant Provides Versatility

Because virtual assistants are constantly immersed in the business world, the best virtual assistant will be able to provide a variety of customer support tasks.

That could involve responding to social media posts or online reviews. It also may include educating your customers about your products or services either online or over the phone. It could involve providing customer service when things don’t go as planned too.

And these days, more than ever, time is of the essence. With so many product and service options out there, a quick response can be the difference between gaining a new customer or losing one.

In her “Inc.” article entitled Virtual Assistants are the Best-Kept Secret of Modern Productivity, Diane Gottsman shares the following:

“It’s a 24/7 world, and in business, two of the most time-sensitive tasks are responding to customer communications and handling your social media presence. It’s critical to devote the resources necessary to stay on top of both.”

A Virtual Assistant Can Operate as Your Customer Support Manager

Maybe you have a larger business and on-staff customer service or support representatives. If so, what you may need most is someone to oversee your customer support team. In that case, a virtual customer support manager could make the most sense.

That way, you’ll have quick help to organize your team, ensuring everyone works towards their peak performance. This virtual manager or online business manager option is all the more necessary in these days of the pandemic.

Smart to Finish Can Improve Customer Support at Your Company

Would you like to learn more about how Smart to Finish can strengthen your customer service plan? If so, feel free to reach out to us for a free 30-minute consultation.

Whether you need a virtual assistant, a virtual team or online manager, our team can help your business reach its fullest potential.

The Pandemic of 2020: Need an Online Manager for Your Virtual Team?

As the pandemic rolls on, do you wonder if hiring an online manager could help your virtual team reach its fullest potential? If you’re like many companies taking their first shot at managing virtual teams, it hasn’t exactly been a transcendent experience.

You may feel like your grandma trying to use her smartphone for the first time. Or a child taking their first wobbly baby steps. If so, that’s to be expected. Many day-job workers are now working as a remote team for the first time.

The famous saying that ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ holds a similar truth. Necessity is also the mother of the implementation of that invention. People tend to be uncomfortable with change because even good change can take an enormous amount of energy to implement—at least initially.

That’s where many workplaces have been with the idea of integrating remote teams for the past decade or so. We’ve seen a gradual increase in remote workers but not to the extent you’d think given how technology continues to rapidly improve.

For years now, the idea of having virtual teams has been an attractive consideration. More life flexibility/increased productivity for employees while cutting down on the overhead costs of housing physical employees has been regularly discussed.

So, what are some challenges businesses are facing when trying to oversee virtual teams during the coronavirus pandemic? Here are some biggies.

Experienced Virtual Managers Are in Short Supply

They’re scarcer than meat, hand sanitizer, toilet paper and computer devices used for remote work. We’ve delved into a world that seems more like something out of a sci-fi novel instead of real life. And we had little to no warning beforehand.

You may have been immediately forced to go online with your project management. It’s been a bit like learning to fly a plane once you’re already in the air. And that’s a lot of added stress on everyone involved.

On top of that, finding an experienced virtual manager to help you walk through the challenges of getting started hasn’t been an easy task. There are way more businesses still trying to figure everything out compared to those who are used to leading virtual teams.

Overseeing Employee Success Without Being Intrusive

Another major challenge is overseeing projects without being intrusive, obnoxious or downright creepy. At its worst, stories have emerged where supervisors want to see their now virtual employees on video all day. On the other side, the newly dubbed online business manager isn’t getting the results that are needed.

It’s been a painfully delicate balance, to say the least. Because when you compare an in-person work experience with a virtual one, you’re nowhere close to comparing apples with apples.

How do you oversee projects and achieve the needed productivity without becoming a micromanaging nightmare to your employees? The best answer is that delicate balance comes with a lot of learning, experience, and trial and error.

But the manager online who just days earlier was overseeing physical employees will naturally struggle with this balance. It’s not their fault. There just wasn’t the available time to acquire those skills before all of this happened.

Knowing How Much to Expect of Your Virtual Team

Those who expected to simply go remote and experience productivity similar to before the pandemic began have been sorely disappointed in nearly all cases. The trouble is, there are so many variables at play that it’s hard to know what to expect.

Demand too much and your employees will burn out and become resentful. Expect too little and your profit margins could jeopardize your bottom line or even the existence of your company.

Yes, there’s the major challenge of everyone learning to work remotely with kids, dogs, and a thousand other interruptions (not to mention sickness-related concerns). But on top of that, everyone’s feeling general stress simply because of the weightiness of the pandemic.

These have been uncertain and scary times for most and that’s made it all the harder to focus and accomplish the normal amount of work.

Could Your Business Benefit from Hiring an Experienced Online Manager?

In her “Forbes” article entitled The Sensitive Leader’s Guide to Managing a Remote Team During the Coronavirus Pandemic, Melody Wilding shares the following:

“Now more than ever, your team needs you to step up and provide much-needed structure, direction, and support. You can be the manager they need, all without sacrificing your well-being or stressing yourself out in the process.”

If you’re able to manage the stressors of leading a remote team during the coronavirus pandemic, good for you! However, if you increasingly find this task too overwhelming, Smart to Finish can assist you. Having a seasoned manager online (especially now) can make all the difference for your company.

At Smart to Finish, we can provide on-demand experts for your business when you need them most. Whether you have an immediate need for an online business manager, virtual assistant or virtual team, we’re here to make a positive difference.

Would you like to learn more about how Smart to Finish can propel your business forward during the coronavirus pandemic? If so, feel free to get in touch with us for a free 30-minute consultation.