Fire me, PLEASE!
catherine | Virtual Assistance | Tuesday September 2 2014What?!! I’m often asked why would you want a client to fire you? So here is my easy and relevant answer to the naysayers.
I love working with newer businesses that are at their max and know they need to hire someone and don’t necessarily have the right cash flow to make that happen. I get it. The company is small, at the max to the point of over-taxing the people already working and so it lands on the owner’s desk to “make it happen.” The excitement lies in talking through the plans to get us to the point of being fired.
Our company is not meant to be a permanent solution. Sometimes it’s about working through the art of delegating. We’ve had some clients who have been fired by us. They have learned from us that in order to delegate, micromanaging is ineffective. We’ve had clients who have the most amazing potential and really are treating their business as hobby, which they don’t want to change and that’s great. They don’t need to hire a professional though. They need to get in touch with a local college to get an intern or hire someone who simply wants to make some additional cash. Finally, there are those people who want an on-site assistant and don’t quite understand the concept of virtual, even though we are in the same city as them.
When we first meet or talk, I will ask a client, “If you had a full-time assistant, what would that person do?” Some people just want us to step in and take over. That’s great but if you are not in control of your business then why are you doing it? Being in charge also means being an active participant in the decision-making that drives the business. We work with all our clients through dialogue, documenting those work functions that can be put into a process and also creating a job description for when they do leave.
You see, our goal is to bridge the gap for our clients until they are ready and able to hire an assistant. This past year alone we’ve said a fond farewell to four clients who are growing and prospering. It’s so exciting to see them grow. They’ve all hired full-time individuals to replace our services and have someone onsite to assist with some day to day work that is not able to be handled remotely (can you say filing?!).
So yes, fire us please. Just be sure to recommend us because we all know someone who could use some help.
