You need a strategy if you want to manage a successful firm.
Every facet of your business, from Facebook marketing to coffee buying, must work together to create a powerful brand.
Without planning and a little automation, you would run out of time before finishing each work or getting in touch with each customer.
If you’ve been driving your business to speedy success, you are aware of the demands of a ringing phone, unanswered emails, and orders that need to be met.
These are all fantastic things to have, but they may become problems if you don’t take action to control the increase in demand.
A virtual assistant or online business manager could be a wonderful fit if all you need is someone to handle the daily grind.
There are times when development necessitates increasing your staff, though. If you believe you do not require a personal assistant, that is excellent.
That is not the topic at hand.
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What is a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant does tasks.
You’ve met a virtual assistant if you’ve ever seen the woman drinking a cappuccino, accepting invoices, booking the budget retreat while wearing one earbud, and crossing things off the team’s to-do list while rocking some VA heels.
VAs ask inquiries, accomplish tasks, and carry out the game plan while working from home. These talented team members are your organization’s workhorses.
What Is A Manager Of An Online Business?
A manager of an internet business is a strategist. OBMs focus more on how the project should be completed than on enforcing the actions necessary to do it.
An OBM focuses on the company’s future and creating a strategy to expand the brand (and revenue).
It’s really difficult to be both a good manager and a good leader as a business owner.
At some time, the workload will force you to choose between the two, at which point you’ll need to engage an internet company manager.
What Distinguishes an OBM From a VA?
You may choose which one is a better fit for your needs by comparing a virtual assistant and an online company manager and focusing on a few of their significant distinctions.
Manager vs. Assistant: A manager gives general instructions, and an assistant carries them out. The project is managed to guarantee that each component is finished on time and that the overall picture is cohesive.
Worker vs. Orchestrator: Having a virtual assistant on your team makes it easier to complete tasks. To guarantee that everyone completes their task, an online business manager is engaged.
Catch-all vs. Communicator: If a customer makes a last-minute adjustment, the VA is the one working late to make the change happen, regardless of whether it’s the best course of action for the business.
When a last-minute adjustment is requested, an OBM will be aware of the company’s objectives and will be able to tell whether the change is beneficial or bad and effectively convey it to the owner.
5 Ways a Virtual Assistant Differs from an Online Business Manager
Do you currently run a small business and find it difficult to prioritize what is important since your to-do list is so long?
When you need someone to assist you with your business but are unsure of who to turn to?
Although some of your company associates insist that you need a Virtual Assistant (VA), others extol the virtues of their amazing Online Business Manager (OBM).
Which one do you thus need?
Actually, there are some really significant distinctions between what a VA and OBM can do for you, so that depends on what you want to accomplish.
In a word, an OBM serves as a strategic partner in the expansion of your firm, assisting you in defining objectives and formulating workable plans of action for achieving your desired business results.
A virtual assistant (VA) is more of an extra set of hands to assist with duties and relieve some of the “busy labor” off your desk.
1. Considering the big picture over fulfilling specific tasks (Online Business Manager vs Virtual Assistant)
Identifying the things you need to delegate when you’re buried with hectic work might be challenging.
An OBM will help you choose which activities you should delegate to a VA (and which ones you shouldn’t), even if a VA can relieve you of some labor (they’re excellent implementers for many things like social media or frontline reception, database upkeep, or setting up digital tools).
Because you want to be sure you’re providing them with the correct jobs to support the expansion of your company when you invest in hiring someone to assist you with hectic work.
It might be challenging for a business owner to take a step back and consider their company as a whole.
It’s simple to put off crucial marketing tasks that keep that pipeline flowing while you’re busy with client business.
And what if you’re occupied with producing content for social media but what you truly need is for your website to function more effectively right now?
An effective OBM will begin by:
- Creating your professional and personal objectives
- identifying the areas of concentration you should work on to achieve your goals
- Making an action plan is something you feel comfortable doing.
Although giving a VA predetermined duties might reduce some of the strain, if you don’t have a goal-oriented plan to direct the work, it could feel like you’re paying someone to keep spinning the same wheels you’ve been spinning for so long.
Working with me as your OBM will enable you to achieve your company goals and build the capacity you require.
Organizing your workweek to maximize productivity
Keeping you concentrated on the proper tasks at the appropriate times
Deciding if and how a VA (or team of VAs) can serve your company most effectively
Managing your VAs to complete assignments as promised
Supplying helpful accountability — checking in with you to make sure you’re on track, making any adjustments to plans, and having someone to enjoy your victories with!
2. Offering strategic solutions as opposed to requesting your advice (Online Business Manager vs Virtual Assistant)
A VA can be excellent for relieving you of routine busy work chores, but you must provide them with a clear brief and continuing advice and coaching to ensure things are completed on time.
And that might eat up a lot of the time that you need to recover.
An OBM is accountable for locating issues, dealing with them, enhancing procedures, and taking the necessary steps to get the finest possible business result on your behalf.
Additionally, they are skilled in scrutinizing every facet of a firm, optimizing procedures and methods, and lessening the demand for ongoing direction from you.
Throughout my corporate career, I was accountable for providing senior-level managers with dependable business assistance so they could concentrate on their leadership responsibilities.
By comprehending the overarching business goals, I was able to simplify processes and put effective measures into place without occupying the company director’s time.
Planning for productivity was always a priority:
- What aspects of procedures may be cut?
- What were additional business systems required to expedite things?
- How can we implement procedures that complement the team’s working methods?
3. Time management vs business and personal change (Online Business Manager vs Virtual Assistant)
You should have more time if a VA relieves you of some of those administrative duties, right?
Yes, but how will you use that time? Will you be able to let go of the “I’m too busy” attitude so that you may concentrate (really concentrate) on company development?
A shift of perspective beyond the current treadmill you’re on is necessary to achieve more in your business.
Time management alone won’t always help you make the necessary mental change.
An OBM will assist you in setting priorities and focusing on what needs to be done to avoid wasting even a minute of that time.
4. Self-management versus outsourcing team management (Online Business Manager vs Virtual Assistant)
While using a virtual assistant (VA) to outsource chores might save you time, maintaining a VA or group of subcontractors can take up a lot of your time.
However, you may delegate entire team management with an OBM.
In my company, I manage a group of virtual assistants and hire more professionals as subcontractors, ramping up and down capacity as necessary for the tasks of my clients.
Because I streamline the process and take care of the hiring, briefing, onboarding, and administration of their virtual teams, my customers don’t have to worry about managing the daily VA responsibilities.
This guarantees that my clients won’t wind up focusing exclusively on team management (which can quickly defeat the purpose of offloading the tasks in the first place).
You won’t have to worry about deciphering who does what and when with an OBM (which *is not* what you need when you’re already overwhelmed with business).
Instead, you may delegate team management to someone like me, allowing you to start checking off the items on your wish list that you have been wanting to do *for* your company.
5. Exploring possibilities versus remaining on task (Online Business Manager vs Virtual Assistant)
Tasks are what drive VAs.
They are aware of the steps necessary to do a specific work you have given them, but they are not necessarily required to know about other aspects of your company’s operations or how their assignment fits in.
They don’t really need to think about the larger company environment because they can perform task-based work of the highest quality.
While a VA will deliver well within a certain scope, an OBM takes a more holistic approach, always considering how the various parts work together and where things may be made better.
An experienced OBM (*cough* like me *cough*) will anticipate dependencies and deal with them as they arise.
It involves more than just completing a certain scope of work. We OBMs are always looking for chances and efficiency improvements and advising steps and tactics to keep you going in the right direction.
Content writing is my passion. And I believe in following my dreams to achieve my goal in life! I am a full-time entrepreneur who believes in investing his time in his profession and passion equally.