If you feel that even a 12-hour working day is not enough to get everything done just right, and various administrative tasks are falling through the cracks, you might consider hiring an assistant. This holds particularly true if mundane tasks such as expense reports and invoicing are taking up a large chunk of your working day. But before you hire anyone, you should also make sure that you really need an assistant and won’t be wasting your time and precious funds. The following signs can help to determine if you need an assistant or not:
Your Product or Service Is Taking a Hit
This is the best area to note down any red flags if you are missing your deadlines in spite of going over and beyond your working hours. In other words, if you are constantly making mistakes, odds are that you are losing control and you really should hire an assistant. Such factors are of vital importance in the real estate sector since a missed call from a prospective client can easily mean the difference between closing a deal or losing out to your competition.
Frustrated Stakeholders
All businesses (even sole proprietorships) are collaborative efforts. Your team, your partners, investors (if any), and even your customers combine their resources and efforts to make the business a success. If any of them are getting frustrated with the quality of the output of your business, it is a clear sign that something is going wrong. This is the part where you should seriously consider hiring an assistant to take care of at least a portion of your work burden.
Your Desk and Inbox Are Completely Flooded
Take a quick look around and see for yourself how your desk and office are looking right now. Are they neat and tidy? Is everything in its place? If that is the case, you don’t need to worry about anything, but you are in serious trouble if it is overflowing and you have a ton of unanswered mail. Unanswered queries from your clients are a sure sign that you need to hire an assistant.
Look at the Larger Picture
Take a step back and look at the larger picture. Are out losing old and loyal customers and new business? If that is happening, rest assured that there is a reason behind it.
If this trend continues, you will start losing your reputation and your target market will notice that you don’t follow up or fulfill your commitments. Your excuses will not make any difference since your customers and clients pay you for your services and are not interested in anything else. Always remember, customer retention is a whole lot easier than making new customers.
Conclusion
The above reasons will definitely require you to divide your workload and hire an assistant. If you want to know more about this topic, you can contact me at lutherragsdale@me.com or log on to my website.
