.....But let`s not rule out having technology and great
business processes assist us in automating our businesses and taking
some of the load off of the human resource. I suggest that my
clients begin thinking about better ways to streamline their procedures
or how they can implement a tool or technology to take some of the
strain off of their back.
I concur. The problem with entrepreneurs doing everything themselves
can`t usually be helped in the beginning, particularly if they`re
bootstrapping. But when does the business move from that beginning to
the next step---how do we measure that point?
To say that a VA is the same thing as a process analyst is, I think, to
elevate the knowledge and skill-set of a VA to an unrealistic level.
After all, the "A" stands for Assistant---not Consultant.
The much bigger problem is for business owners to understand the whole
idea of processes (and procedures, too, when you think about it). We`ve
had topics in the past about working toward being non-essential to your
own business. There are the topics on working IN vs. ON the business,
and those on writing out procedure manuals.
Too many times people hire an assistant, administrative, secretarial,
or virtual, with the blind hope that somehow this new contractor or
emloyee is going to "fix" everything. They`ll make the business run
smoothly, do everything, and handle it all. That`s not the job of an
assistant.
VAs likely come in varying levels of competence and initiative, but the
basic line, again, in my opinion, is where assistance crosses over into
developing processes. There`s nothing wrong with documenting an
existing process, or helping to make it flow more smoothly. But it`s up
to the business owner to develop the processes initially.
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