I was thinking today about a conversation I had a year ago with a potential client. He said he was finally going to let go of the mindset that so many entrepeneurs have. That was, thinking that he wouldn’t be successful unless he did everything himself so his business remained his business.
We had a lot of discussion around that and before our chat, I hadn’t realized what a mental block that could be for many people who could really benefit from the services of a Virtual Assistant.
We all know who Sam Walton is and in case you don’t, he’s that guy who founded Wal-Mart. Do you think Wal-Mart would be a household name if Mr. Walton was managing stores, working as a cashier, stocking shelves and greeting people by himself?
Obviously that would never work. He has fleets of people who do the work it takes to keep the chain of stores running. Does that make him any less of a visionary business man? Is he any less successful because he has so many people working at all of his Wal-Marts?
Of course not.
If you choose to partner with a Virtual Assistant to unload your administrative burdens, you won’t be any less of an entrepreneur than if you were doing it all yourself. You’ll just have more time to dream up more business ideas or go to the movies once in awhile! Don’t be stubborn! Let go!!
Great insight, Jaime – giving up control can be very difficult. Obviously when you go into business for yourself, your mindset is that you will be the sole person in the business; but that doesn’t mean you have to do it all! It can be difficult to give up any part of it, even if it makes sense to do so. I love the Walmart analogy! So true!
Outsourcing is probably hard for many people, in the beginning. I think that they are afraid. They might have the mind set of, “If I don’t do it myself, it can’t be done right or on time.” But this is not the case. Where would all of these big businesses be today if they had tried to do everything themselves. As you stated, Walmart would not be the success it is today if Sam Walton had even tried to do everything himself. In fact, there is no way he could have done everything himself. Walmart would not have existed, if not for the help of his employees. This may be the case for many businesses today, if they become too scared to outsource. Times are hard. And hiring employees can be very expensive. If not for the help of a Virtual Assistant, where would these businesses be? Everyone wants their business to succeed. No one wants to look back and think, “If I had only hired a Virtual Assistant.” Businesses need to think of their furture, Today. As you stated Jaime, “Outsourcing does not make you less of an entrepreneur.” It makes you a better business person accepting that you cannot do everything yourself and you need help. And, as we know, Virtual Assistant’s are there to help.
I’ve just been wondering and trying to get the words written about what would seem to intimidate people and keep them from working with a virtual assistant.
WalMart is an exellent example of getting the employee base engaged for the benefit of a business.
Another one that uses members’ engagement and loyalty to grow is VAnetworking.com We are learning the benefits in the best virtual and outsourcing lab that we could wish for.
I work with a lot of moms, and I think they often have a hard time outsourcing because they’re so used to handling everything on their own. For most mothers, if they want something done, they have to figure out how to do it themselves!
Moms like me often bring that same mindset to their businesses, where it is simply not true. Since I’ve started outsourcing many of my own business tasks, I’ve been able to make more money, have the freedom I want, and I’ve been ble to start dreaming again… rather than be tied down, figuring out how to make everything work.
I did a blog on this back in September. http://www.olindaservices.com/osblog/archives/60 Hopefully we can build the trust we need with a client base that will allow them the freedom to outsource. Thanks for bringing it to our attention again.