Admin

A computer on a desk with a glass of water. The title card says How to Delegate without losing control of your business. above the title is the category "Strategic Operations"

How to Delegate Without Losing Control of Your Business

Strategic Operations /

I had an interesting discussion that started waaaay back with a past client when she said something that I held on to for years of working together & her pausing her business to work on something else. She said, “I think the reason why I struggle to delegate some things is that I’m thinking, ‘This business is my baby,’ and I hold on tighter and tighter instead of letting go and letting God bring people to me that’ll do a great job on my behalf.’ I’ve been ruminating on that phrase “my business is my baby” for a long time (probably long enough to gestate fully, to be honest, lol), and this quote (from me, cause I am brilliant, lol) came from it: “Your business is not your baby, your business is your business.” – Rutendo N.C. Matongo And if you’re in a business that requires a team to thrive, then delegation is mandatory. But, we cannot hammer into you, “Just delegate!” without addressing some of the common fears around delegating in the first place, right? So, let’s do that right away. The fear of delegation is usually: what if I lose control of my business? The heading is spot on, isn’t it? Delegation sounds like you’re handing over the keys to your business, and now they can just run roughshod on your business and do what they want. You know how kids go into every private thing and somehow find your nice snacks and eat them even though you had your own snacks for them? Sounds terrifying, huh? But let’s digress a bit… how do children do that? It’s like they have some internal radar that picks out the high-end, “I bought this for myself, you can’t have it” snacks and locks on till they finish them all! I need to find out how that happens. Anyway, back to the fear of delegation… It’s all about a loss of control. The feeling that once I delegate some part of it, it won’t look the same as how I built it. It might not have my voice anymore, or my values; my vision will be altered, and I’ll lose clients because it now looks like some generic business, and not the one I built. The people I delegate to don’t know how I do things, so now they’ll have to wait for me to revise things. Or, it’ll take longer to do things because I can do them faster. Do any of these sound familiar? I will tell you right now that all of these feelings make sense. When you start the business, you’re doing everything, and it’s necessary for a time. But then you get to a point when doing everything yourself doesn’t make sense anymore and you need to start delegating to a core set of people. But it’s scary as hell. You built the business to what it looks like right now and losing it to randos is something that no one wants. But before we go into detail. You are the heart and soul of the business. No one can do what you do, and that’s what you built this business around, yeah. Everything else that comes with running a business (that which we continuously and aggressively call “Operations”) can and should be delegated at some point in your business. Let’s give you a step by step on how you do that without accidentally giving away your business’s secret formula. 1. Identify what only you can do in your business I’ve been reading a lot about this, and a few things stand out and will help you gauge whether you are you’re doing the right amount of stuff, or you gotta start letting things go. I loved this article that divides the CEO job into four pillars: Everything else besides the above can and should be delegated once you’re beyond the capacity of doing these things. 2. Seek out & invest in people who can do The Rest better This is how you cement your job as CEO of your business: You’re investing in your business by finding people who can move forward the vision you set out. Now, I’ll address something really quickly, and it’ll make sense why I worded the heading the way I did. I’ve heard a lot of business owners say that they avoid delegation because “they can’t do it the way I can.” For this, I’ll be brutal. You’re not looking for someone who’ll do it like you. You’re looking for someone who does it better and more efficiently. You’re looking for someone who is an expert in this field, and who’ll make you look at how they’re doing things in your business, and it hurts your ego a bit. Because let’s face it, unless that is your zone of genius, or whatever they say, there’s someone who can do it better than you, right? And there can be better ways to do it than the way you did it. However you did it was comfortable to you, but their focus is only this so they can do it in the best possible way. So trust them, trust their process, and trust your hiring skills. If you’re starting the hiring process, you’ll be responsible for the initial onboarding and making sure they get an idea of how your business works, and that’ll be a slog. Initial delegation isn’t pretty. It’ll feel like you’re wasting time, but remember you’re investing your time into greater capacity. That’s why the “we save you time” promise from any team member is great… but not an immediate promise. Until they get and buy into your business and your values, and are strong enough to be your core team, that work will fall on you for a while. 3. Know the difference between letting go of tasks and letting go of standards Remember when I said that your job as CEO and founder of the business is to build the culture and team? You always have

How to Delegate Without Losing Control of Your Business Read More »

Strategic operations partner holding a laptop. her hands have lavender nail polish. The title card says: The Real Cost of Doing Everything Yourself in Business, with the subcategory Business Operations on Top

The Real Cost of Doing Everything Yourself in Business

Strategic Operations /

I had a conversation with a fellow business owner recently. I was telling them about our business, what we do, and how we could support them in their business. They asked me a rather specific question that day:“Do you do invoice follow-ups?”Turns out, they wrote off an invoice that hadn’t been paid in a year. Because their business was doing relatively well, they didn’t notice that unpaid invoice and forgot to follow up on it. They were trying to run and remember everything themselves in the business, and that unpaid invoice showed them that there had to be a better way.Another fellow business owner who already knew what they needed was again running their business by themselves and doing very well for themselves, but they’d forget client meetings, networking meetings, and would delay on client work as well because they were verbally booking meetings & would forget to schedule them, had no concrete follow-up system, and the other party would reach out to remind them. When they say “the truth is stranger than fiction”, it’s true. These are real stories and an indicator of what can happen when you try to handle everything in your business yourself. What makes it interesting is that, even though their businesses are doing so well, they still have operational gaps that need to be sorted out. What really gets lost when you can’t watch Everything We’ve heard the phrases that entrepreneurship is like a 24/7 job you got to escape the 9-5, or that you end up having multiple roles instead of the one role you wanted: Owner & CEO (that might be two, don’t judge me, lol). It’s true, frankly. When you start a business solo, you do wear multiple hats, and for a time, it looks like it’s sustainable, but as your business grows and does well, it makes less and less sense for you to do everything alone. Not only is it costing your time, but it also costs you client relationships (think of the one who kept forgetting meetings & follow-ups), collaboration & networking opportunities, and in the long run… money. No matter how well you’re doing, it’s the principle of the matter. If you don’t notice a tiny gap, the tiny gap will become a bigger gap as you grow and will be the weak point that gives your business problems. As the saying goes: “You’re only as strong as your weakest link” And “You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.” No matter how amazing your goals may be, if those structural gaps in your business are not filled in & built properly to support the weight of your business, it will falter at that very weak point. This isn’t a personal failing; it’s a structural one  As I always say (jokingly, but it’s an important saying nonetheless), “It’s nothing personal, it’s business.” Some people might look at these stories and think “Ugh, what are they even running a business for?” Nah. Listen. With the way their businesses are thriving monetarily, it shows that the skill set they have that they built this business on is 1. Necessary 2. Something they’re excellent at. The problem is that not only are they the centre of their business, they also are the structure that’s holding the business together, and that does not work, frankly. We are but human; we cannot be all things to all people, or to our business. “I’m every woman, it’s all in me,” is a song lyric; it’s not a manifesto to build your life on. You can’t be everything in your personal life, and you surely can’t be everything in your business. It does not work; it’s not sustainable, and that’s why your operations are so important. That which is built in the background to help your business run helps catch what you may miss when things get busy, when life lifes and hey, when you’re like “I need a holiday.” You can switch off just a bit knowing that you have structures in place to run when you’re not around to check every little thing. Can you do it all yourself excellently? I’m coming back to this: what we can learn from these two stories is the true cost of trying to do everything yourself. Now, you can argue till you’re blue in the face that “I can’t trust anyone else to do it, I can do it all myself. No one can do it like me,” and I’ll look you dead in the eye and say, “That’s exactly what they said till they noticed an unpaid invoice 1 year later and clients calling them reminding them of their meeting.” Listen, we’re all excellent at things; that’s why you’re doing as well as you are, but why are you trying to split the time between something you’re so good at that you are making good money off of, and something you’re good enough at to keep your business from falling apart? Wouldn’t it be better for you to stick to what you’re excellent at and pay money to have someone maintain your operations, you know, someone who’s excellent at it and makes you and your business look great instead of you splitting your time between things you can hand off? Something to think about. We find (and fix) the gaps before they cost you something What I love about Lucia and me (and yes, I am bragging) is that our business is to get into your business, spot those gaps before they become problems, and plug them up in a way that will work for your business. Now, what does that look like, you wonder? Let me give an example with the stories we talked about: For the owner who kept missing client follow-ups:So they hired a PA when we talked, which was a step in the right direction. Now, assuming the PA is good at Google Workspace because that’s what they use

The Real Cost of Doing Everything Yourself in Business Read More »

hands on a laptop which represents an online business manager working on operational strategy, which is a great definition of a strategic operations partner

From Virtual Assistants to Strategic Operations Partners: What Changed and What It Means for Your Business

Strategic Operations /

If you’ve known us from the beginning of our business journey, you knew us as virtual assistants. It might come as a surprise, then, coming onto our website & seeing that it says “Strategic Operations Partner,” instead of the usual. That’s a long phrase to say virtual assistant, huh? Only that it’s not a virtual assistant. Not anymore! We’ve done it! We’ve evolved!! Remember when I said we’re niching down? We finally bit the bullet and did it. We’re no longer virtual assistants. This is not really niching down as it is fitting into our perfect role. We’ve always been operations-minded; we just wanted a little experience with online businesses to get to where we were always meant to be. And work with them we did, to the point we realised that our support was better fitted with established businesses, with a VA or a team, with consistent revenue (at least 6 figures annually) & needed a partner, not just another person to check off tasks. So today, we’ll let you know what exactly a Strategic Operations partner is, how it compares to an online business manager, and what that means for your business. Why We Evolved Beyond Traditional Virtual Assistant Services The short answer is: because it was time.The long answer is: because it was time to evolve. I jest. Honestly, though, it was time. I would look back at all the clients we had as Nawena Virtual Solutions, and the common thread with each one of them was: we’d ask about their business operations before getting to the tasks at hand. It was almost clockwork. They’d hire us for admin & social media & our instinct would be “what is going on with your operations there?” If something wasn’t working the way we’d like, we’d conspire to fix it. We’d spot inefficiencies and turn into operations managers, in addition to what we were already doing. One day, after offboarding a client who wanted admin & we ended up suggesting how she could use her Google Workspace more efficiently, we “looked” at each other (we were texting each other, so… it wasn’t a literal look) and said “Um, maybe it’s time to jump fully into operations?” We saw that the clients who leaned fully into our operations minds really thrived, and we wanted to do that fully, without hiding behind providing virtual assistant services. No. We’re here to be your business partner, to help you run your business operations while you do what you, as a CEO, started the business to do. If you need someone to bounce ideas off of while you do CEO things, we’re here too. What Is a Strategic Operations Partner? The Core Components of Strategic Operations Partnership I’m starting this with an inside joke that I can’t get over. If anyone watches Dimension 20 & watched Fantasy High, remember Baron of the Baronies? The one who was Riz Gukgak’s Romaence Paertner? Yes, we’re your Strategic Operations Paertner! (If you get this joke, hire us, we’re meant for each other!). Again, I digress.So what is a strategic Operations partner (I’m trying very hard not to giggle, Riz Gukgak!) Here’s the YT video, please watch it! Okay, seriously this time. A Strategic operations partner is a virtual support professional who manages the day-to-day business operations & your team with the added support of a strategic partnership. So we not only manage your business operations so you can be great, but we’ll also help you in strategising just how to make those strategies you have for growing your business great. We’re there to set you up for success because we’ve saved you time from having to constantly work on your operations, and we help you get structure for your future plans. Just think, the major pillars in your business are sorted: What’s the difference between that and an OBM? Great question! By all accounts, they do seem similar. But here’s the major difference. Let me put the definitions below: An online business manager is a virtual support professional who manages a company’s day-to-day projects, operations, key performance indicators (KPIs), and teams to implement the owner’s strategy and ensure tasks are completed on time. So an OBM implements the owner’s strategy, and we do all of that, but there is an added benefit from us where we help you strategise and then map it out so it is ready for implementation. It seems small, but it’s a powerful addition. Not only are you getting operations management and team management, but you’re also getting someone who strategises with you AND puts structure into your strategy, so we’re not floundering around when it’s time for implementation. That’s a huge plus for your business and your business operations. Why This Evolution Matters for Your Business It matters if your aim is to grow beyond where you are now in your business & need the freedom to figure out how that will happen. See, what happens is when you start your business, usually it’s just you, then a VA eventually, when it gets a bit bigger, and for a time, it works. When you need specialised services, you can find one, and then continue, just the two of you. Until… it doesn’t.And this is for the people who want to go beyond a certain point, who’d like to see where their business will go and how big it can get. So for you to get beyond that certain point, you need to let go of the biggest thing: running your business. Because, here’s the truth: you made your business because you saw a problem & wanted to solve it (or to make money, he he he, but you know what I’m saying), but your time and impact are slowed down by having to run the business. You didn’t build the business to run the business!! If you’re a coach, you started it to make money coaching & make an impact. If you’re in the events industry, you started that business to

From Virtual Assistants to Strategic Operations Partners: What Changed and What It Means for Your Business Read More »

A white ceiling with beige balloons, with a box of text over it saying: Niching Down: It's Growth and it's scary

Niching Down: It’s Growth and It’s scary

Founder Insights /

  Niching down: It’s Growth and It’s Scary 2025 marks 4 years of Nawena Virtual Solutions, and I’m always grateful for our journey. I always talk about how it started as a WhatsApp conversation, and here we are. We started with what we knew, evolved and upskilled to who we are now and what we’re passionate about and I believe this fourth year is the beginning of us moving towards not only what we’re good at, but what we love doing. I will say, it’s been a long time coming, and I have been resisting the change and procrastinating. Why?  Because I was scared. I have no other explanation. Starting the business was scary, but there’s something about narrowing your focus (what we call niching down) that feels a bit more terrifying than most. I can’t even put my finger on it just yet, just that I am scared. Maybe it’s because it’s such a huge vision, I’ve seen others do it and I feel I can’t do it like them, I don’t know. But it hit me… that’s when you need a team in your business. If I didn’t have Lucia, I would’ve stayed comfortable in my little bubble. I wouldn’t have taken time to see what I love, what I’m passionate about and how I can be even more value to future clients. Sometimes, the reason your vision isn’t coming to fruition is because you don’t have a teammate in your business to take that vision and run with it while you take some time to ask yourself, “What in the world am I doing?” Accountability partners are amazing, but at times, you need a team where you can say, “This is what we’re doing”, and while they execute it, you find your paper bag and breathe into it.    I know how this feels…   And… That’s our focus from now on. It may be the firstborn daughter in us. Still, we’ve noticed that we put a lot of energy in the overall scope of the business (how it runs, and what makes it run), and we decided we need to start focusing on that… the overall business operations. That’s what we’re passionate about and that’s what we’ll be doing. So stay tuned for updates on our new offerings. We’re working behind the scenes to give you a great experience.  What have you been putting off because of fear? Sometimes you gotta go “all in” and go for it. Even if you need to hyperventilate into a paper bag to do it.  With you in business, Nawena Virtual Solutions

Niching Down: It’s Growth and It’s scary Read More »

A woman eating at the desk. The blog title is 7 productivity tips for Online Service providers

Conquer Your Day: 7 Productivity Tips for Online Service Providers

Business Tips /

Conquer Your Day: 7 Productivity Tips for Online Service Providers Many people have various degrees of productivity during certain times of their day. Our focus waxes and wanes even during the week depending on our energy levels, hormones, life stages and all that. We’re not robots, our energy levels will rise and dip. What is constant though? Our workload as online service providers. It’s rare to have a day with fewer tasks just because it’s a day when you’re having trouble getting focused. So how do we keep the work flowing even when we can’t pull from our energy reserves? Some good old discipline and routine help. Here are 7 things that you can do to help stay focused and productive, even when your focus reserves are at zero: 1. Write a To-do List I’ll always remember my dad telling me this (God rest his soul). Guess he knew his scatterbrained daughter better than she thought. He’d always tell me, “write a to-do list of your day before you get out of bed!” And I do. Semi-religiously. The days I make time to write a to-do list (even adding the seemingly mundane things), my day goes smoothly. The day I don’t… well… Moving on swiftly! Here’s a tip to take your productivity for the day to the next level: after you write the to-do list, order it by priorities and by similar work, if you have multiple clients. That’s called batching tasks, but we’ll talk about that more later on. That way, when you start, you know that task #1 is truly task #1 and you don’t have to go down the list looking for your most important task. That wastes time and defeats the whole purpose of making a to-do list in the first place. 2. The Pomodoro Technique I swear by this because breaking up my work day like that funny enough has helped me be even more productive. The usual technique is having 25 minutes of focused work, a 5 minute break for four cycles, then a 15-minute longer break afterwards. I love this desktop app. It’s simple and easy to use. It’s not hard and fast; make the times how you want them, but make sure it’s 4 short breaks then a longer break. I extend the longer breaks to coincide with my meals so I can relax, eat in peace and watch an episode of my favourite show (lately it’s Kaguya-Sama: Love is War), before getting back to work. Fully leaning into your breaks and not trying to get work done is a great way to boost productivity, believe it or not. We’ll get into that a bit later, too. 3. Batch Your Tasks This is important. One of our last posts spoke about how context switching affects your productivity. That’s when you switch from one task to another completely different task that requires you to re-focus and that amount of time spent trying to re-focus wastes a lot of time. Let me give you an example: Let’s say you have 3 clients: Client #1 needs you to schedule posts to their FB group and then to IG. Client number 2 needs you to engage in Instagram and edit & schedule their newsletter for the week Client number 3 needs you to create graphics for their Instagram & Pinterest, and schedule them to the respective platforms. What is the best way to batch these tasks so you’re not bouncing back and forth from one task to another? Here’s what I would do: I’d start with the graphic creation for Instagram & Pinterest and the newsletter (if there are any) and download them to their respective folders. Once I did that, I’d prep all the posts that need scheduling, and schedule them to the respective platforms. I’m assuming the clients have their own scheduler, so it’s a matter of logging in, dragging and dropping and finalising the posts and scheduling them. Now, since I’m in schedule mode, I can hop on over to Client #2’s scheduler & do the engagement from there instead of going to IG. Once I’m done, I can re-focus and finish off the newsletter. I have the graphics already so it’s a matter of adding them to the newsletter, making final edits and scheduling them. I’d love to know how you’d do it. Let’s hear it. 4. Take Proper Breaks Close that computer. Get off your desk. Put down that phone. Multitasking is not your friend and it causes you to be less productive than you thought. In fact, I was readig up on a study about how multitasking doesn’t help you and causes you to lose focus and make more mistakes. When you’re switching from one thing to another, do it intentionally so your brain can switch gears and focus on the task at hand. This includes taking a break. When you’re taking a break, be intentional about it. Let your brain say “Ah, it’s break time”, shift gears and get into rest mode. Once you’re done, your brain can shift gears back into work mode without being all over the place. 5. Have an Accountability Partner That could look like having coworking sessions with a network, having a business partner who keeps you accountable (like me!), or being in a Facebook group of like-minded individuals. Whatever that looks like to you, having people who help you stay productive is important for some people. If that’s something that you know helps you, then go for it! 6. Technology Helps! I need dings and dongs (and occasionally gongs) to keep my mind focused on work sometimes, and when those days come, I make use of all the technology that’s available to me to make sure I stay focused on all the tasks ahead. Google calendar houses all my serious and not-so-serious tasks. Gmail has notifications so I can keep up with updates in real-time. Zapier is so amazing! Adding tasks to my task manager of choice from emails through Zapier is

Conquer Your Day: 7 Productivity Tips for Online Service Providers Read More »

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies. 

Scroll to Top