PPB April 2020

I recommend using VAs to get tedious and time-sucking tasks off your plate. Even though youmay be able to complete those tasks quickly, you are robbing yourself of the opportunity to spend more time on your strengths. I’dmuch rather hire a VA to complete a task that doesn’t require my specific skill set because it frees me up to work on the business rather than being a slave to the business. Think of it as a game; you win when you get things off your plate. The goal is to only do the work that requires your expertise. If you look at hiring VAs as you would employees, I highly recommend against hiring a VA based on the lowest price. A lot of people are attracted to the VA business model as a way to get cheap labor, but just like the products in our industry or any other, you get what you pay for. Calculating The Target Hourly Rate Here’s one formula to figure an hourly rate for your VA: look at your monthly (or annual) income goal then divide it by the number of hours you need to work for that period. For example: $200,000 (annual income goal) divided by 2,000 (number of work hours to achieve that goal) equals $100 per hour. (By the way, 2,000 hours is based on working 40 hours a week. So, take this example with a grain of salt because your goal is really to work four hours a day or less. But remember, you need to put in the work upfront to get to that point.) Now that you see your time is worth $100 per hour, you’ll realize that every task in your business has an approximate dollar value, so be extremely mindful of how you spend your time. In the May issue, the second part of this article will discuss some of the tasks VAs can handle for distributors, where to find reliable VAs and tips for effectively onboarding them. Be patient and expect some mistakes as you and your VA get used to working together. Make sure you have a plan in place so that when you do get discouraged you can easily go back to your visualization of what your life will be like if you continue down the path of using a VA. Working towards your vision and knowing your 'why' will keep you aligned with your higher purpose. Sam Kabert is principal and creative director at SwagWorx.com in the San Francisco Bay area. He’s also content creator for the Soul Seekr podcast and founder of WhatUp! Silicon Valley, a media network for news in business, sports, networking and innovation. 40 | APRIL 2020 | GROW