How to Finally Make a Virtual Assistant Actually Work For Your Business

You've thought about hiring a virtual assistant a dozen times. It sounds great in theory – delegate the grunt work, focus on high-value activities, scale your business without burning out. But in practice? Most fractional executives end up frustrated, micromanaging someone who costs more time than they save.

Here's the truth: virtual assistants can be game-changers, but only if you know how to set them up for success. After years of mediocre VAs and recent months with a high-performing one who's transformed my productivity, I'm sharing exactly how to make this work.

Why You Actually Need a VA (Even If You Think You Don't)

Let's be honest about your daily reality. You're drowning in tasks that need to get done but aren't in your zone of genius. Email management, calendar coordination, research, social media monitoring – these are all below your pay grade.

Every hour you spend on administrative work is an hour not spent on strategy, client relationships, or business development. If you can find someone affordable to handle the tasks you don't love, aren't great at, or simply don't enjoy, it's not just helpful – it's essential for scaling.

And here's the kicker: it doesn't have to be expensive or time-consuming to manage.

What a High-Performing VA Actually Does

Let me show you exactly how my current VA transforms my daily operations:

Email Management He goes through my entire inbox, filters out spam and junk, then tags emails that need my attention with "Bradley needs to respond." Every morning, I get a Slack message with new emails requiring responses and ones I haven't addressed yet. No more missed opportunities or forgotten follow-ups.

Calendar Management Not just scheduling – full meeting prep. For each call, he provides attendee LinkedIn profiles, notes from previous conversations, and sets up Notion pages with relevant questions or tracking templates. By the time I join a call, I'm completely prepared without spending a minute on prep work.

Marketing Activities I give him criteria for podcast outreach, and he researches shows, finds host contact information, tracks everything in spreadsheets, and manages follow-ups. Same process for guest outreach for my podcast and customer acquisition for Mylance. He's essentially running my entire outbound marketing machine.

Customer Delivery Support While I handle strategy and creative work, he formats deliverables, populates templates, drafts emails for my review, and manages customer communications. I focus on the high-value work while he handles execution.

Social Media Management He monitors my LinkedIn inbox, filters meaningful connections from spam, and suggests responses to important messages. I edit and approve, but he handles the heavy lifting.

The Secret to Setting Your VA Up for Success

Here's where most people fail: they expect their VA to read their mind. Instead, I give comprehensive instructions for every task.

My Three-Step Process:

Step 1: Detailed Instructions I either record a Loom video, write detailed step-by-step instructions, or meet with him live to explain exactly what I need. I often create document templates or headers for him to populate.

Step 2: The 10-Minute Test Before he spends hours on a task, I have him do 10 minutes and show me the work. This catches errors early and ensures we're aligned before he invests significant time.

Step 3: Daily Accountability He tracks every task in a Notion page that I can check anytime. Each day, he sends me the link so I can see his task list and progress. No wondering what he's working on or if things are getting done.

How to Find a VA Who Won't Waste Your Time

I've had multiple virtual assistants over the years, and most were mediocre at best. Here's what I've learned about finding the good ones:

Location Matters Through trial and error, I've found South American VAs (Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile) work better for me than those in Asian countries. Similar time zones, better infrastructure, and fewer connectivity issues. This isn't prejudice – it's practical experience.

Use an Agency Instead of sifting through millions of candidates on Upwork or Fiverr, I use a VA agency that pre-vets candidates. They send me three qualified options, I interview them, and give them a test project. Much more efficient than starting from scratch.

Test for Attitude, Not Skills I don't care what they know – I care about their willingness to learn. I'm looking for someone with a "yes, of course" attitude who asks questions when confused but doesn't make excuses when they make mistakes.

Give Them a Real Test Create a simple exercise: set up a Google folder, move documents, create a Notion page. See how they handle basic tools and follow instructions. Their approach tells you everything about how they'll perform.

The Interview Questions That Actually Matter

Skip the typical "tell me about yourself" nonsense. Focus on attitude and problem-solving:

• "What do you do when you don't understand an instruction?"
• "How do you handle making a mistake?"
• "Walk me through how you'd approach learning a new tool."
• "What does good communication look like to you?"

You want someone who takes ownership, asks clarifying questions, and views feedback as learning opportunities.

Setting Boundaries and Building Trust

Start conservative with access and permissions, then expand as trust builds. You might begin without giving them credit card access, then allow purchases up to a certain amount as they prove reliable.

Remember: this person can manage both business and personal tasks. Travel booking, kids' schedules, personal appointments – decide what you want off your plate and what you're comfortable delegating.

When to Cut Ties and Move On

Not every VA will be a home run, even from a good agency. Give feedback and second chances, but move quickly if someone:

• Makes excuses instead of taking ownership
• Consistently misses deadlines or requirements
• Shows a victim mentality
• Simply isn't aligned with your working style

There are plenty of great VAs out there. Don't settle for mediocrity because firing someone feels uncomfortable.

The Transformation You Can Expect

My current VA recently blew me away with a simple Typeform creation. He didn't just build what I asked for – he branded it beautifully and improved the language flow. It was so well-executed that I realized I'd been settling for bare minimum work when I could have had excellence this whole time.

That's when it hit me: the right VA doesn't just save you time – they elevate your entire operation.

Your Next Move

Stop thinking of a VA as a nice-to-have luxury. When you're billing $200+ per hour, spending time on $15/hour tasks is business malpractice.

Start with 20 hours per week – it's enough to make a real impact without the full-time commitment. Focus on the tasks that drain your energy and keep you from high-value work.

The goal isn't just to free up time. It's to free up mental space for the strategic thinking that grows your business.

Ready to stop drowning in administrative work? The perfect VA is out there waiting to transform your productivity. You just need to know how to find them and set them up for success.

Mylance

‍This value-added article was written by Mylance. Mylance takes your marketing completely off your hands. We build the marketing machine that your Fractional Business needs, but you don't have time to run. So it operates daily, growing your brand, completely done for you.Instead of dangling numbers in front of you, our approach focuses on precise and thoughtful input: targeted outreach to the right decision makers, compelling messaging that resonates, and content creation that establishes trust and legitimacy.To apply for access, submit an application and we'll evaluate your fit for the service. If you’re not ready for lead generation, we also have a free, vetted community for top fractional talent that includes workshops, a rates database, networking, and a lot of free resources to support your fractional business.