🥗 It Took 14 Years as CEO to Learn This

Hey there,

Welcome back for another bite to chew on.

I (Ron) am taking the floor this week to talk about how I transformed my daily grind into a well-oiled machine. 

I finally took the leap and hired a Virtual Assistant. 

I’ll walk you through the entire process and what my life is like now with one.

Give me 5 minutes of your time, and I’ll set you up with a foolproof guide to hire a VA.

You’ll wish you had unlocked efficiency like this so much earlier.

Take this directly to whoever you go to for hiring and set yourself up for success right from the start.

(I have some recommendations for this too, that comes later)

Time to get into it.

Your “Aha” Moment Already Happened

If you've ever found yourself juggling more than you can handle, wondering if you need a VA, you already know the answer to the question:

Yes, you do.

I went back and forth for years on whether I needed a VA. 

I always thought I could handle it, or that money could be better used somewhere else.

Starting Chew On This really opened my eyes to things.

I needed help to maintain my dedication to Obvi while nurturing this new idea.

We had and have investors counting on us to deliver 100% of our attention to Obvi, and rightfully so, that always comes first.

We have an entire team built out for Chew On This now, (more on that in future newsletters) so things have calmed down on that front, but back to the main lesson here with VA’s.

If your focus isn't singular, assistance is essential.

Don't wait for the stress to build like I did. 

The right time for you might be now.

Where Do You Even Look for a VA?

So, I’m still skeptical about the investment at the start.

Could a VA truly free up my time and enhance my efficiency?

I go straight to Twitter, and to say I got a good response is an understatement…

Turns out, the answer was a resounding yes. (I’m cheap. Every dollar counts.)

I connected with Assistantly, shoutout to Laith and his team!

They worked with me to find out what I wanted, the skills I needed, sourced those specifically, and sat in on all the interviews.

They matched me with a perfect fit.

This isn’t even an ad for Assistantly, I just loved their service so much it needed to be mentioned.

But I Could Just Do It Myself?

Yes, you definitely could. But isn’t that why you need a VA in the first place? To not do everything yourself?

If you want to coordinate overseas meetings, handle governing accounts for payroll and health insurance and employ them directly, be my guest.

I let Assistantly handle ALL of that. My VA also reports directly to Assistantly as an additional accountability source.

There were plenty of other services I talked to that were glorified placement fees, which would have been a rip off compared to Assistantly.

Here’s the mindset to take into finding a VA:

- Go beyond the resume

- Ensure your VA aligns with your work style

- Make sure they can genuinely take the load off your shoulders

What Life’s Like Now (SO MUCH BETTER)

For me, it’s not uncommon to have 6-9 meetings a day.

Each day, I have my VA prep a guide for each meeting:

• Who I’m meeting

• Why are we meeting

• Have we met before? If so, what were the notes?

That guide is texted to me first thing in the morning, so I’m ready to go straight from the start.

Now, not everything goes according to plan every day…

Scheduling conflicts? Fixed.

I don’t have the energy to give this next meeting the full amount it deserves? Rescheduled.

An emergency with my family? Day cleared.

My VA handles it all and she knows exactly what to do to make it all happen.

Think of all the time I save not prepping for 50 or so meetings a week..

I go into each meeting entirely dialed in.

The efficiency doesn’t stop there.

That amount of meetings all require follow up too, right?

All of my Firefly AI notes get reviewed after and follow up actions are scheduled as needed.

I simply don’t have the time to devote that amount of follow up because sometimes breaks are rare on meeting heavy days.

All of this gets compiled into weekly prep meetings every Sunday.

The laundry list of tasks gets systemized and scheduled out in a way where all the goals can be achieved.

How to Train Your VA: A Step-by-Step Guide

1. Create Tutorial Videos

Utilize tools like Loom to record your processes. Demonstrate each task, articulate your thought process, and detail the steps involved. This visual guide will serve as a practical training tool for your VA.

2. Develop SOPs Together

From the video tutorials, have your VA draft a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). This document should outline the tasks in a step-by-step manner. Review and refine it together. This exercise not only serves as training but also ensures your VA understands your processes inside and out.

3. Embrace Full Access

Trust is key (more on this later). Grant your VA access to necessary tools and platforms, including your email and calendar. Holding back access means holding back their potential to fully support you.

4. Provide Continuous Feedback

Establish regular check-ins to review your VA's work. Offer constructive feedback, set new goals, and discuss improvements. Over time, this will reduce the need for daily meetings, moving towards a more efficient, update-based communication style.

The Hard Part: Trust

Allowing your VA to become an extension of yourself, managing your schedules and handling personal errands is a huge exercise of trust.

What lowered my walls was including my VA into personal life too.

Researching restaurants and booking dinner reservations with my wife, sending out appreciation gifts to people I work with, even booking parking spots for Chew On This events,

All taken care of in advance.

So much mental storage freed up for focus.

I did hold onto one thing though…

I looked at everything under the sun to not give away access to my email.

It took a month and a half to make that leap of faith.

Email is one of the most sacred things to me, but the scales tipped when I thought about this one aspect:

I’m turning my VA into as much a replication of me as possible. They need full access to everything I do to be even more efficient.

It's about finding someone whose discretion and efficiency you can rely on, even in your most guarded spaces. 

Keys to Building Trust:

• Start slow

• Establish boundaries

• Communicate clearly

Trust is built over time, and with the right VA, it becomes the foundation of an incredibly productive partnership.

Tool of the Week

We know we said there isn’t a fancy audience or bidding strategy in Meta that’ll make your ads more efficient.

But, that’s actually not true.

In fact, THERE IS an audience that is virtually guaranteed to perform better than anything you’re currently running.

… and that is Proxima’s AI audiences.

Now look,

We didn’t really believe it to be true, when Alex from Proxima told us with 10,000% confidence that his AI audience would perform better than a standard broad audience on Meta.

But…

We put it to a test, and it sure as hell did perform better than anything else in our account

Here are the results;

- Our NC-CPA dropped by 6.2%

- Our NC-ROAS increased by 7.5%

Now - the obvious follow-up question is: Does it scale?

… and yes, it definitely does!

Right now - Proxima’s AI audiences are taking 30% of our entire Meta Spend… which is a good chunk of money.

Anyway - we’d strongly recommend you to give Proxima a try if you want a quick, easy, and reliable way to increase the efficiency of your ads.

#ProudPartner

The Latest Soundbite

In our latest episode, Ezra Firestone shares unparalleled insights into achieving success through consistent effort, strategic thinking, and the importance of maintaining work-life balance.

Just like how a VA can give you back more precious time, see what else Ezra can offer to expand your way of thinking and efficiency.

Watch it so you don’t waste any more time!

Hungry for More?

Our DTC Founders’ Happy Hour is T-24 hours away, hosted in the heart of NYC with OpenStore and Workspace6.

Don’t miss out on specialty cocktails, delicious bites, and a chance to connect with the top founders building on Shopify.

Reserve your spot HERE!

Thanks for Reading Along

If my journey from skepticism to becoming a full-on VA evangelist tells you anything,

it's that having the right help can revolutionize your entire approach to business. 

Bringing a VA into my day-to-day wasn't just about offloading tasks, it was about unlocking a level of efficiency I hadn't imagined possible. 

So, why wait to make your work life smoother and more productive?

What could you achieve with more time focused on what truly matters?

Think about what your focus is worth.

All the best,

Ron & Ash