What was your reason for starting your coaching business? Financial freedom? No bosses? No office politics? You want to help people?
All of these reasons (and the others that are floating in your head) are admirable and should inspire you to reach high for your goals but the only way to reach those goals is to stay focused on your main mission (client work) and not on admin tasks.
Jane-of-all-Trades are those coaches who feel the need to do everything themselves. They schedule their own client appointments, answer emails, handle customer service issues, and do their own monthly bookkeeping. Plus all the myriad marketing tasks that are necessary to attract customers and grow their customer base.
If you’re so focused on ALL of these admin and marketing tasks, how much time are you really dedicating to your clients? The money is with your paying clients, yet all the other admin and marketing tasks are certainly necessary. How do you split your time?
Quite simply, it’s time to delegate your admin tasks to an assistant. It’s your choice to hire a Virtual Assistant, who works remotely from their home office, or a real life admin assistant, who lives nearby and comes into your office to do physical tasks. Either of these assistants can answer the office phone, schedule appointments, answer questions about your coaching programs, and keep your social media profiles updated.
For something as specialized as your financial books, hiring a CPA or a certified bookkeeper is important. Not only are they bound by confidentiality and a code of ethics but they know how to keep accurate records and how to organize everything for a smooth tax season.
In general, hiring experts in their field is a wise business investment, even when it comes to hiring admin assistants. Those with solid job experience can finish tasks much more quickly and efficiently (and with fewer mistakes) than someone with less experience, or even you! Remember the last time you tried learning new software? There’s a learning curve to everything; why put yourself through that, wasting precious time and money, when there are experts who can implement that software in half the time?
Also, a word of caution when hiring. Be very clear on the tasks you need completed and what skills you want in an assistant. Absolutely anyone can say they are an admin assistant or a VA, even if they have limited experience. Go through an interview process, ask for references, call those references. Your business is important so you want to hire a qualified applicant.