The Problem
Six years ago Nicholas started his IT business. He always knew it would hard – but it wasn’t until the workload started to increase and the complexity of business got more he suddenly realised he was working more than 80 hours a week – suddenly, business wasn’t fun anymore!
Everyone around him kept telling that he needed more support but he didn’t know where to start or even what type of employee to bring on board – he needed salespeople, technicians, admin, bookkeepers…as he was doing it all.
He had a negative preconception of virtual support staff as he’d heard how ‘outsourcing and offshoring’ had not worked for other IT companies.
4 main problems
- Overwhelming workload meant he was quickly working 80 hours a week.
- He needed to employ staff that could do a variety of skills
- He had a negative preconception of virtual staff and what outsourcing actually meant.
- He didn’t have anyone to turn to for help that he trusted.
The Solution
His options were …
- Don’t grow the business any more and keep working 80 hour weeks.
- Try and find local staff and train them from scratch.
- Scale back his client base so he could service key clients with a 50 hour week.
He met with Basil from Space who shared his story and how his workday now looked with virtual staff completing his tasks – it made sense to create Space for yourself in your own business. It was about Space not just outsourcing.
The onboarding zoom sessions were recorded, and this really made sense to Nicholas – as it wasn’t just the task that was being recorded but also his methodology and reasoning behind the task. He could see that Space was replicating ‘how’ he completed his tasks, not just ‘what’ he was doing – Space were making an identical copy of him.
The Outcome
As a self-confessed control freak, he knew his issue would be ‘letting go’ and trusting in the process.
Now he can see it working everyday as he has speaks daily with his virtual assistant. He wakes up refreshed not daunted, knowing that he has the right support in place.
His stress levels are down, his head is clearer which allowed him to work ‘on’ his business and new clear goals.
He has hired a new full-time local staff member and grown his business over 180% since bringing Space on board to his team.
He feels well supported not only by his virtual staff but also the team at Space – he has people to talk to and help him when he needs a new project area to be outsourced or whenever he has any questions.
By finding Space, he has grown his client base, reduced his working hours and is now excited again by his business – working on it and achieving higher goals.
