Probably the biggest problem with being a small business owner is right there in that phrase. Small.

Small means few or no employees. Small means you end up doing most, if not all, business tasks yourself. Whether or not you're any good at them.  But even if you ARE perfectly capable at completing those tasks, is doing them really a wise use of your time? (Just because you CAN do something, doesn't necessarily mean you SHOULD.)

Did You Know?  That Team Double-Click works with more virtual assistants than both the IVAA and IAVOA combined? IVAA = 606, IAVOA = 403

Team Double-Click’s Virtual Assistant Group = 13,000+ and is growing daily!

As a business owner, you should be focused on the big things -- a vision for your business, putting together a plan to reach that vision, developing new products, spending time with your clients, and marketing. In other words; those "big picture" tasks that grow your business.  What you should NOT be doing is worrying about getting your invoices out, mailing products, providing troubleshooting help, scheduling your time and all those other administrative duties.

In fact, the more time you spend on all the minutia of running a business, the less time you'll spend on tasks that can actually grow your business.

Team Double-Click assesses clients' needs and matches them with virtual assistants. The company monitors and nurtures that relationship and acts as a de facto virtual human resources department!

It's a vicious cycle. Maybe you feel like you don't have enough income to hire help. So you do the work yourself. Because you do the work yourself, you don't have the time to work on growing your business. So then you don't feel like you have the income to hire help. And so on. The same cycle exists if you feel you don't have enough time to locate and train help. You end up doing the work yourself because there isn't anyone who can help.  And because you're so busy doing things you truly have no business doing, you'll never have the time to locate and train someone to help you out.

In either cycle, you're probably discovering you feel overwhelmed, drained and with zero creative energy. Instead of jumping out of bed excited at being in business, you wake up each morning facing a to-do list longer then War and Peace and wanting to crawl back into bed and put your pillow over your head.

Have you hired your own virtual assistant yet?

Just $22.50 per hour! No set up fees, no termination fees, pay only for what you use*!  This includes the services of a TCE or TCRE virtual administrative assistant as well. (Team Double-Click does require a two-hour per week minimum.)

So what's the solution? Hire a virtual assistant.  Virtual assistants, also known as VAs, are freelancers who specialize in taking care of the "busy work," freeing you up so you can focus on why you started your business in the first place.  Because they're freelancers, you pay them for the hours they work. And you don't pay for overhead, vacation, taxes, office supplies, a desk, etc. It's a perfect win-win for everyone.

VAs can put you on the path to building a successful business. They can help you with just about every business task imaginable (with the sole exception of filing - you're probably stuck doing that yourself). Some examples include:

• Bookkeeping, including invoicing, paying bills and following up with unpaid invoices 
• Product fulfillment 
• Customer service 
• Answering e-mails and phone calls 
• Scheduling business and personal appointments \
• Maintaining databases 
• Updating web sites 
• Submitting articles to article databases 

I can tell you from experience that once you take the plunge and hire a VA, you'll kick yourself for waiting so long. You'll have more time to devote to the tasks you most enjoy (rather then struggling with the ones you hate), you'll be less stressed and have much more creative energy. Plus you'll probably find yourself making even more money.

48 Days -- The average number of days that it took for an American company to fill a job vacancy in 2004. The average cost per hire was $3,270.00. (Source: Business Week)
Going virtual with Team Double-Click cuts the hiring cost to $$0 and adds a new staff member to a team in less than a week!

Ready to try a VA but not sure how to begin? Make a list of everything you do in your business each day. If you get stuck, keep a notebook on your desk and write down things as you do it.  Now look at the list. Pick something you could delegate to a virtual assistant. Once you find the right VA and have freed up those hours, make sure you use those hours to do something to grow your business. Maybe do some more marketing or develop a new product line.

What Can A Virtual Assistant Do For Me?

• Answer the telephone 
• Forward calls 
• Take messages 
• Create web sites 
• Make appointments 
• Fill out necessary forms 
• Deliver information and forms 
• Make and deliver copies of public record 
• Write and place advertising in newspaper and other forms of publication 
• Type forms 
• Perform company bookkeeping 
• Arrange for and oversee repairs 
• Collect demographic information 
• Solicit interest in engaging the services of your business 
• Make cold calls 
• Make follow up calls 
• Organize meetings 
• Perform clerical duties 
• Hand out preprinted information 
• Distribute company information
• Deliver paperwork 
• Contact management 
• Drip marketing campaigns 
• Personal tasks such as ordering groceries or making flight arrangements 

Now after you've started seeing more income, take some of that extra money and add to your VA's tasks. Again, use the time you've freed up to continue to grow your business. Before you know it, you'll have a built a thriving, successful business with less stress and have more energy and income then ever before.

(Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business.)