Stuck In The Middle

Written by LiveLink
December 10th 2024

Stuck In The Middle (with you)

Every business goes through growing pains. And none are quite as tricky as in the first few years.

As a business owner, you start off by doing everything. From bookkeeping to bottle-washing. You’re the expert and the learning curve is massive.

But if you want to grow and have the life you deserve, there has to come a time when you’re not ‘Jack of all Trades’.

This is quite a leap. Taking on your first employee is a risk and a risk many businesses are reluctant to take for many reasons. Expense, time, likeability, risk.

Not doing something will leave you stuck. Unable to move forwards and possibly, moving into reverse. Either way, you’ll be frustrated.

Virtual Assistants

This is where a virtual assistant will be your friend.

Of course, there will be the usual concerns about them not knowing YOUR business and what YOU do. Concerns about showing someone else what to do when it’s quicker to do it yourself (short-term thinking). And fear. Fear because it’s new.

With the right virtual assistant (they all have different skills and specialities), training will be minimal as they will have years of experience in business administration. And will do tasks far quicker than you’ll ever be able to do them.

When you’re stuck in the middle and it’s all got a bit messy, it’s time to consider contracting a virtual assistant. You’re in charge of the number of monthly hours they work (depending on the contract), it’s tax deductable, you’re not at the whim of the government raising employers NI and minimum wage and the new employment regulations that are likely to come into play in 2025. And don’t forget pension – employees are entitled to a pension and there’s the employers contribution too that is added to the payroll.

If you employed an administrator that has the skills that a virtual assistant has, you would likely have to pay them a minimum £35k annual salary plus pension. They are not minimum wage employees or apprentices. So beware of comparing apples with oranges.

So when you’re stuck in the middle wondering which way to turn it may pay you to research virtual assistants as it’s guaranteed that one will be ideal for you and your business.