Virtual Business Management

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What is a Virtual Business Manager and do you need one?

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One of the most common questions I get when I tell people what I do is:

“Soooo…. what exactly do you do?”

A lot of you visiting this post have probably wondered the same thing! Well, I am going to clear the confusion and help everyone understand more about what a Virtual Business Manager is and what I can do for you.

A virtually based support professional who manages online based businesses, including the day-to-day management of projects, operations, metrics and team.

www.onlinebusinessmanager.com

VBM, OBM, Integrator

First things first, let’s talk about the title. Is a Virtual Business Manager (VBM) and an Online Business Manager (OBM) the same thing? Yes! Depending on where in the world you are and who you are talking to the titles may change, but the work they do is the same. You may even see the title of Integrator used for this same role. The reason I decided to call myself a Virtual Business Manager is that I do not work solely with online businesses. Instead, I work with any small business, just in a virtual capacity.

What does a VBM do?

This is where most questions come from. A VBM is your operations manager. The strategic thinker of your business. A counterpart to visionary entrepreneurs.

A VBM starts working with you by digging deep into how things are currently running in your business.

  • What standard operating processes are in place
  • What technology are you currently using
  • What systems and processes are you using to run things
  • Who is on your team
  • What goals do you have in your businesses

From there we will work to improve systems and processes to support your goals. Depending on your business size, goals, and improvements needed we may do some or all of the following:

  • Operations management
    • Systems management (client onboarding, billing, customer service, marketing, etc.)
    • New software research and implementation
    • Team management (coordination between service providers like bookkeepers, VA’s, developers etc.)
    • Key metrics review and reporting
  • Project Management
    • Breaking down large projects into milestones and steps
    • Coordinating all individuals involved
    • Tracking expenses and budgets
    • Launch support
  • People management
    • Hiring and training of new team members or support professionals (VA’s, developers, designers, etc.)
    • Reviews as needed of team
    • Point of contact for questions

Virtual Assistant vs. Virtual Business Manager

Having a VA or an VBM is not always an either/or situation. Many VA’s and VBM’s work in conjunction to accomplish all the needs of a business! But if you aren’t ready to have both of these roles in your business how do you know which is right for you?

Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants (VA’s) are becoming more and more common these days as so much of business operations are done online. VA’s are all about getting tasks done. If you are clear on your processes and a good delegator then a VA can be a huge support. A VA is also going to be less expensive because they only require you to assign the tasks and then they execute them. You will still need to be the driving force of deciding what needs to be delegated and the ultimate holder of all the answers.

Virtual Business Manager

A VBM is more about strategy and not as much about the execution of a list of tasks. A VBM could execute the tasks (and sometimes we do) but the value and price of a VBM comes from the strategic thinking of what tasks should be prioritized, how to get them done, and who is the best person to do them. This frees up owners to take on the tasks that only they can do and lifts some of the burden from the owner of having to be a great delegator and people manager.

When do you need a VBM?

Most small business owners are trying to make sure their business is running smoothly while also focus on the service they are providing. But this gets harder and harder as the business grows. It’s not sustainable for owners to continue doing it all. You need time to do the things only you can, spend time away from work, and recharge.

There is a tipping point where you just need someone to be in your businesses who can do more than just tasks. This frees you up to focus on the things that only you can do for your business. It’s also important to remember that even if you can do most of the work, is that the best use of your time and talents? Are you putting off harder tasks with work that can easily be delegated to someone else? If any of this sounds like you then it’s time to consider a VBM:

You are spending more time managing your service providers (VA’s, bookkeepers, developers, etc) than you are actually growing your business

You find yourself wondering where all your time was spent in a day because you got sucked into all the little tasks that you could delegate to someone else

You are struggling with bringing on help to your team because you are not even sure how to train them

Plans are being put on the back burner because you just don’t have the bandwidth to work through them right now

You are pushing off taking time away from work because you don’t have systems in place to allow you to be gone for an extended period of time

You are tired of making all the decision on your own and need a fresh set of eyes to help you think through your strategy forward

Did you check one, two… ALL of the boxes?

Then it’s time to talk.

Why Standard Operating Procedures are Vital

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If you are a business owner you have probably seen the term SOP thrown around quite a bit.  But do you know what SOP stands for?  Don’t worry if you don’t,  I’m going to be honest for a minute…  For a good portion of my professional life, I didn’t know there was such a thing as an SOP.  A colleague mentioned the term one day which inspired me to do some Googling.  After spending just a few minutes researching I realized that I had actually been creating SOP’s for years without realizing they had a special name! 

I am very much a detail-oriented person and writing SOP’s was just something that naturally made sense to do whenever I was creating or improving a process.  It helped me to make sure I was being consistent in my execution and speed up the work because I wasn’t fumbling around each time trying to remember exactly how I did something. In addition, I learned as I trained others that it was much more efficient to have written out directions rather than solely talking someone through it.   They learned faster and I ensured that I was giving them all the steps and wasn’t forgetting anything. 

So keep on reading to find out exactly what an SOP is, why you need them, and some tips on creating your own!

What

SOP stands for Standard Operating Procedure.  By definition, this is a step-by-step guide to completing a task.  The task can be as small as sending out a welcome email to new clients all the way up to how you process payroll for employees (and anything in between).  A few examples of SOP’s

Your format can vary depending on the needs of your business but traditionally an SOP is a written-out document.  But with the popularity of project management software, many SOP’s are moving toward a more dynamic and interactive process.  

Who

Every business!  I 100% believe that every business no matter how small needs to have good SOP’s.

Why

Efficiency

You are not reinventing the wheel every time you need to accomplish a task. 

Consistency

You provide your customers, clients, and audience with the best product/service each time. 

Trainability

If you have brought help into your business (or dream of it) then you need to have a way of training them in your processes.  You will drastically improve their chances of success if provided with clear directions.

How

How you create SOP’s depends on you and your team’s working style.  In my business, I have a mix of Google Doc’s with written out instructions as well as some ClickUp templates for items that require more of a checklist format.  

Step 1:

Resources. List out ALL of the resources someone will need to accomplish this task.  This could include software, lists, spreadsheets, contacts, supporting documents, etc.

A tip if you are using Google Docs, you can list all of your resources as links so that each item is easily accessible!

Check out this video to see how it’s done.

Step 2:

Purpose. Decide what the purpose of this SOP is.  What is your goal if someone were to follow these directions? You can be pretty specific here! I like to include descriptive words that emphasize the importance of this document.

Step 3:

Party. Who should be conducting this task.  This is helpful so that as your business grows you have clear expectations among team members. 

Step 4:

The process.  This is the bulk of the work and will definitely take some time, so don’t rush it.  Write out as much as you can in clear bulleted steps.
Don’t give up when it gets hard!  Because that is the place others on your team would also likely get stuck.  It can be helpful if you find a very difficult step to work through to think about how you would explain it to someone if you were training them to do this item. How would you break it down for that person? What would you want to make sure they fully understood?

  • I love to use screenshots when I can to help simplify the directions and maybe cut down on the text.  
Step 5:

Credits.  At the end of the document make sure to include the name of who created the document as well as the date and a space for updates.  This also becomes helpful as your business grows!

I hope this was helpful to understand why SOP’s are so vital to a growing business and provide a good starting point for creating your own.

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What A New Year Looks Like For Me

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Now that 2020 is behind us (and good riddance) we can start to look forward to a fresh year. I’m usually not a big proponent of New Year’s resolutions… why wait until the new year to do something? But I do like to take the start of a new year to really look at what I WANT out of the upcoming year and how I can go from vision to reality. 

Here are a few things I find helpful to make the most of a new year…

A Time to Review
Sure, 2020 was not a year any of us expected. No matter if you had an awful year, a wonderful year, or somewhere in between you need to sit down and spend time reflecting. Here are a couple ideas of how to review your year:
1. Take an hour and write down a list of successes and failures. No matter if your failure list is a mile long it’s an important exercise to do.  Every success should be celebrated, and every failure is a chance to improve. 
2. Have a “year in review” meeting with your team to discuss what everyone saw as the high points and low points.  Having input from your team is a great way to get a sense of what is important to them.  You can also use this time to shout out great work by individual team members!
A good review of the past year is so important because it’s easy to forget all the great things that happened and fixate on the negative. And even if there really wasn’t that much good going on we can use the hard times to learn, adapt, and grow. 

A New Planner
I am a bit old fashioned in that I really LOVE a paper planner. Of course, I wouldn’t be able to function without my Google calendar in conjunction, but something about being able to physically cross things off my list is soooo satisfying. And sometimes there are just not technological replacements for the in-depth customization I can do with my paper planner. Spending time laying out the year on paper makes it seem so much more tangible.  Plus, this year I am especially excited because I am trying out a new journal/planner combination format! I have high hope this can help me keep my goals front and center all year long.

A Fresh Mindset
Taking time off around the busy holiday season is so important. Even more so for small businesses and entrepreneurs who have spent the last months working their behinds off. With a few days to refresh and recharge it’s easier to assess what worked for you over the last year and what didn’t. Then you can move forward with your successes and make improvements from your failures.  
If you didn’t get to take time off, then maybe it’s time to bring someone onto your team who can free you up for some time away.  When you are ready to talk about how we can give you that freedom let’s talk.

A Wildly Important Goal
A Wildly Important Goal (WIG) is basically what your sole mission is as a business owner. You may have supporting goals, but your WIG is all about what matters THE MOST in your business.
Having a clear WIG does several things:
1. Gives you clarity when making decisions in your business. You can easily decide what is truly important and what ultimately does not support your WIG
2. Be able to clearly express to your team what you are working toward and how they can be a part of it
3. Narrow down the scope of your goal setting to only focus on things that are going to support your WIG
When I am thinking about my new year, I nail down what my Wildly Important Goal is FIRST before diving into other goal setting efforts.  

We hope 2021 is a fresh start in your life and business. When you are ready to have Flow- VBM help you get set up for success let’s talk. 

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