A friend of mine recently reached out with exciting news–she’s going to start doing some virtual assisting work on the side for a small business owner, and the woman she’ll be working for wanted a little bit of advice before getting started!

I answered her questions and sent along my advice, but it got me thinking I should explain some of it here as well! Because when you’re starting to outsource to a virtual assistant, it is so easy to build it up in your head that it needs to be this complicated, convoluted process. But I promise (especially when you’re starting out), it can and should be so simple.

As a virtual assistant for photographers in the wedding and creative education set, I generally recommend starting small when outsourcing for the FIRST time.

For example: if you’re a new parent, you generally don’t choose to go out of town on an overnight trip the first time you leave your baby with a caregiver. You usually test it out with something like “mom’s-helper” or run into town for a couple hours while the baby stays home with a new sitter.

I’ve noticed the same with outsourcing. Very rarely do I see someone new to outsourcing who is 100% ready to hand everything over to someone new. And that’s ok! We generally start with a few things, and then build up from there once we get the lay of the land and trust is built.

If you’re a small business owner ready to outsource, but you’re not quite sure how you can prepare things on your end…keep reading!

My advice before I get to the list of things to prep, is DON’T wait until you’re overwhelmed & swamped with your own client work!!

I know, I know. Sometimes you can’t always predict when “the straw will break the camel’s back” so to speak…but my #1 recommendation is to consider outsourcing before the busy season strikes. If you want your VA to be successful & learn the ropes of your business, you have to invest some time up front during the transition.

I’ve had experience in almost every aspect of a wedding photographer’s business. Over the last ten years I’ve: been a virtual assistant for photographers, I second shoot at weddings, I’m an associate photographer for family sessions, and I’ve worked as a private photo editor.

I understand a photography workflow and each step that goes into the process…BUT, there is still a slight learning curve with every business I step into because each photographer does things differently.

Be sure to account for that learning curve and expect to:

• Spend at least a few hours getting things prepared (more on that below)

• Have a bit more back-and-forth with your VA during the first 2 weeks to answer a few questions as they start doing the tasks. You can prepare as much as possible, but there will be unforeseen circumstances that they’ll need guidance on in order to do the job to your standards.

4 Tasks to Do Before you Outsource to a VA

These suggestions can vary based on your business type and what you’re planning to outsource. However, after 10 years of being a VA, I can say that these are the most-common items I’ve needed from my clients who have never outsourced before and would be a good starting spot for those considering outsourcing in the future:

First, grab my free Outsourcing Wishlist HERE for prompts to help you audit your business processes before you begin working with a VA!

1. Consider all the tasks you want to outsource in your business & compile all the logins a VA would need to do those jobs.
2. If your VA will do any client-facing communication or content creation, write out your preferences for your brand messaging and key details they’ll need. For example: what is your brand voice, your why, what words do you/don’t you use, pricing/services, etc.
3. Go through your inbox and be sure email templates are updated & clearly labeled so your VA will know exactly what emails to use in certain situations. Same goes for any existing graphics templates you have in platforms like Canva!
4. Start compiling any files you’ll need your VA to have access to & have them clearly marked. While we all have those duplicate files that WE know are the correct one, it’s best if your VA won’t have to sift through 7 duplicate files with small name variations to figure out if the correct version is named Inquiry Guide 2025*final OR *Inquiry Guide 2025*final final. 🤣

And yes, some of these steps won’t be applicable to you depending on what you’re outsourcing OR if you’re outsourcing to a VA to help you get these things organized! It’s all a case-by-case basis, but this is a great start to get you to a place where you could easily start to delegate once you decide you’re ready.

I’ve loved helping small business owners start outsourcing and have the time to focus on what matters most. If you’re interested in learning more about working with a virtual assistant and ready to scale your business, click HERE!