Winning the “Bid”

Bids, most of the companies create bids in order to secure an account. As a VA we speak with our potential clients, evaluate their needs and put together a proposal bid, not unlike most service businesses. Here are some quick tips for “winning the bid”
1) Target the correct company for you and your services. Make sure they are a perfect fit with your company and same the other way around. You do not want to be putting in a bid on a job just because and then do the job poorly.
2) If you are a “smaller” company think about working with larger service suppler companies! This allows you the opportunity to work with clients you might have never had the chance to work with before. 3) Get certified! For a lot of the smaller service based companies you can look to be certified in different service arenas. Organizations like Women’s Business Enterprise National Council www.wbenc.org offer certifications and this shows larger companies you are serious! Get out there and check out the opportunities, they are everywhere!

Delegation… Works Best When You Build a Relationship

It seems that no matter where you go in the business world one of the key elements is building a relationship. Well the same holds true for those who do work for you, you want to build a strong and personal relationship.

If this is going to be a strong support person for you they need to know about you and your business, not just the task at hand. You want a support person or staff to be invested in your business and that can only happen when you make them a part of your business. It has been proven that an “employee” or “sub-contractor” takes more pride in their work if they feel like they are a part of it. So take a bit of time to get to know your support team and let them get to know you and your business. With this small investment you will get a return worth a fortune based in higher quality of the output of work and the higher level of responsibility! Keep an eye out for next week’s next delegation tip!

Delegation… a Lost Art Part Two

Do you find yourself thinking I don’t even have the time in my day to delegate a task to someone… This is a pitfall many of us fall into. The truth is you don’t have the time NOT to delegate.

As a business owner your calendar is probably your most valuable tool. Notice I called it a TOOL – you need to use it that way. Schedule everything you have to do on the calendar that includes shopping, paying bills not just business meetings and networking! You will get a clear picture of the REAL amount of time you have in a day. Now while you are scheduling things – schedule in a block of time for delegating tasks, the beginning or end of the day is always best!

During this time you will focus on tasks you can hand out to others to complete type up an instruction email, include all attachments and don’t forget to include a date you expect this task to be completed – send it and consider that task completed! Your support team will get it done! It is important to make time work for you not you rush around trying to keep up with time!