In the past year, there has been an enormous shift in the global economy: The Great Resignation.
It’s more than a catchphrase: it’s a real migration of talent and labor. There’s an average of 4 million people in the U.S. alone quitting their jobs every month. For most, though, it’s not because of lack of opportunity — it’s because there are more opportunities than ever before.
For many people, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a life-changing event. Both in work terms and because it’s forced many to evaluate their priorities. This includes work–life balance, and a deeper sense of purpose and worth.
In commenting on this phenomenon, Ariana Huffington, founder and CEO at Thrive Global said: “The Great Resignation is really the Great Re-Evaluation. What people are resigning from is a culture of burnout and broken definitions of success. In quitting their jobs, people are affirming their longing for a different way of working and living.”
In part, this enormous migration is the consequence of disruption across a broad swath of industries. With employees being compelled to work from home – for many, the first time they’ve ever done so. And in tandem with that, the discovery that there is more value in work being produced rather than simply spending time in an office because “it’s always been done that way”.
What Is the Great Resignation?
A large number of job migrants have opted to seek out positions where they feel they’ll be better valued. Financially as well as relationally in the workplace. And this is not a bad thing, because it’s prompted many employers to re-evaluate their businesses, too. Workers generally aren’t demanding anything excessive: they’re simply choosing to go where they’ll be fairly remunerated. An appreciated for their skill and time, and not exploited.
Here are just some of the reasons people have given for making the shift to self-employment or more meaningful employment:
- A toxic work culture in their former workplace
- A desire to be valued and rewarded adequately for their work
- A shift in focus or better clarity around long-term life goals
- Higher financial aspirations
- Choosing to prioritize their health, mental wellbeing, and independence
But there’s another group of people within The Great Resignation who are choosing a different path. For these, the time has come to embark on the entrepreneurial journey. And for both groups, The Great Resignation has very plainly also become The Great Opportunity.
What You Should Know If You’re a Great Resignation Entrepreneur
If you’ve chosen to walk your own path, you’ve probably realized that you’re entering a new economy. A broadly defined entrepreneurial industry centered around collaboration, remote teams and mutually supportive small businesses. There’s a largely online community of like minded entrepreneurs.
Setting up your own businesses as a way of better leveraging your skills is a huge step. You need to overcome some challenges when you become self employed.
For example, as a newly-minted entrepreneur, you now have to tap into a much wider range of skills in order to succeed:
- Business planning and practically implementing meaningful routines and habits
- Assuming broad control over administration: emails, invoicing, responding to clients and to other business
- Marketing your business, driving sales, as well as mastering analytics
- Getting graphic design and branding done
- Learning more about digital marketing channels and how to use them effectively
- Having a customer service framework in place
… and of course, still finding the time and capacity to take the lead and steer your business. Oh, and somehow freeing up that cherished personal time you wanted, too.
How to Get the Help You Need
For any entrepreneur – whether you’re running a formal small business or starting out a dropshipping gig – it’s unreasonable to think that you’ll be able to cover all the bases. Your time is precious. And you may also not have the skill or expertise to handle every single aspect of running your own business single handedly.
Conversely, you might also not be in a position to hire full-time employees just yet. And in fact, you might prefer never to do so. Remember, employees create entirely new layers of responsibility. There’s contracts, human resource management, taxes and 401(k). And a host of responsibilities you probably wanted to leave behind you when you left your corporate job.
The good news is that there’s a smarter solution to getting things done expertly, efficiently, and also at a substantially lower cost. And that solution is outsourcing.
Outsource the Work, Build Your Business
What do clients really expect from any business? Do they get excited about things like bespoke offices, legions of employees, and shiny nameplates on glass doors?
Pretty obviously, no. Wow clients by offering a great service or product at a reasonable price. Be a business that keeps its word, as well as putting the needs of your customers first. Simply by being faster, smarter and more responsive. By being better able to shape your offering to each client’s preferences and needs.
Of course, you can only do this if things are running smoothly. If you’re snowed under all the time, you’re no better off than you were before the Great Resignation.
And that’s where outsourcing can make all the difference. Because logically it makes sense to first outsource the day-to-day tasks that chew up your time. A virtual assistant can perform essential tasks, setting you free to attend to higher-level business building.
For general or routine tasks, a general virtual assistant, or administrative virtual assistant, can be a game-changer. These include tasks like email monitoring, customer communications and support. As well as scheduling, coordinating calendars and events, database management or data capture. By having the most time-consuming tasks taken care of, you’re better able to focus on deep work. The meaningful work of building your business.
And, in addition to general virtual assistants, there are other options for your business, too. These include:
- Sales Virtual Assistants
- Social Media Virtual Assistants
- Graphic Design Virtual Assistants
- Executive Virtual Assistants
Excellence and Affordability
As with any business owner, you’re probably keeping an eye on the bottom line. The good news is that making use of a virtual assistant enables you to easily budget for the tasks you need done . Simply pay a set fee for the number of hours you require per week. And you have the freedom to arrange those tasks according to your requirements.
We carefully match clients with our virtual assistants. This ensures compatibility and a great working relationship. We’ll answer all your questions and learn about your preferences in a discovery call.
Ready for the Next Step in the Great Opportunity?
Book a discovery call today and discover just how valuable a virtual assistant can be to your business. We’ll even take 10% off to sweeten the deal!
