We all know that our business can create a lot of admin for us but at what cost to us and our business? I hope to show you what the hidden costs really are!? It’s easy to become overwhelmed when you run your own business. It can seem like there aren’t enough hours in the day. Of course, you want your business to grow, but as it does, you will probably notice that the amount of admin you have to do increases. The more time you spend on tasks like admin, the less time you get to spend working on your business, generating sales, and making money.
But the hidden costs of doing your own admin are more than financial. Being burdened with these tasks means that you waste your precious time and energy trying to work out what is actually important. You spend less time working on the business, which is where your passion is. You lose sight of why you wanted to start working for yourself in the first place and you end up feeling burned out.
So what are the real costs?
Your business can’t grow to its potential
This is about thinking about what your time is really worth. None of us have endless amounts of time, so whatever precious time we do have should be spent on the activities that are most likely going to generate revenue for your business. Burying yourself in admin, though necessary, adds no value to your business.
Being too busy causes oversights and affects your quality of work
Keeping yourself busy, but not necessarily being productive is a big problem for those who run their own business. If you are distracted every time an email pops up, or you get started on an important task but find that you are constantly side-tracked by minor issues, you will feel stressed out, especially if deadlines are looming. This might cause you to feel rushed and panicked, and you might not produce your usual quality of work, or overlook important details which doesn’t reflect well on you and your business.
You lose sight of what’s important
When you’re running your own business, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that every task you do is crucial to your success. Yet, it’s not! The key to being productive and building your business is to learn which tasks are important and which ones aren’t, or more to the point; which ones can be outsourced.
Less work/life balance
When you work for yourself, every minute of the day is a potential minute when you could be earning money, so you work as hard as you can. But all work and no play can really start to impact upon your health, and eat into the time you spend with your friends and family, or time when you could be relaxing, or even sleeping.
Yes, you want to make your business work, but you didn’t go into self-employment to run yourself into the ground, did you? If you are burnt out, you won’t be helping anyone. Remember that work is work, and home is home, try to learn to clearly separate the two to ensure that you have a good work/life balance. This is more tricky if you work at home, then you need to have times when you do not work, no matter what!
You lose your passion 
If you find yourself constantly bogged down with admin, and sweating the small stuff, this can have the unwanted effect of making you lose your passion for your business. The very thing that made you want to start working for yourself in the first place; the thing that makes you believe in yourself, and your products or services.
So, what can you do about it?
Why not enlist some help? Don’t struggle alone, feeling overwhelmed but instead why not consider outsourcing? As a virtual assistant, I can provide flexible, professional, and affordable help, so you can free up some time and focus on your business.
My name is Sofi and I’m the founder of Lime Blue VA; my business provides administrative support to individuals and businesses virtually. If you’d like to find out more then please visit limeblueva.co.uk or email me at sofi@limeblueva.co.uk