Whether you’re a fan or not, sports are a huge part of life around the world.
With the World Cup happening a little over a month ago & the Super Bowl coming soon, it’s impossible to miss the spectacle, the outrageous costumes, the national pride from sport lovers everywhere.
My favorite sport is business, so that’s what takes up most of my time and attention.
But, I like the cultural aspects of athletic sports, the scandals, the back stories, the intersection of sports, marketing and money, athletes as role models, and all that kind of stuff.
I came across an interesting radio broadcast the other day about how many international players are now in the NBA.
It used to be one or two in the whole league and now there are players from almost every continent.
Basically, it started when a couple scouts realized that the US isn’t the only country that plays basketball.
I mean, we all watch the Olympics and know there are other countries that play, but no one took the other international basketball leagues seriously.
Until these scouts decided they were going to look for talent in places where other scouts weren’t looking.
And that’s the connection to HireSmart Virtual Employees and the way we give our clients a competitive advantage.
Sure, you’ll find great employees in your local area who can work with you in person, if you’re willing to pay competitive wages, offer great benefits, maybe pay an expensive placement agency to find them, or have the patience and time to conduct the search yourself.
That’s the “business-as-usual” approach for small companies.
But, before going that route, let’s consider a couple things.
Are the only available assistants, bookkeepers, customer service reps, data entry, graphic designers – in the US?
Aren’t there other pools of talent – great, motivated, highly skilled and trained employees in other countries looking for work?
Doesn’t it make sense to consider all your options before following the business-as-usual path?
Those scouts who had that vision, who had the ability to think creatively about finding talent, they gave their teams a serious competitive advantage.
Guess what? Now every team has international scouts.
Another consideration: International players have lower salary expectations than US players.
HireSmart Virtual Employees are just as qualified, dedicated, skilled and trained as their US counterparts.
They deliver the same work product at a highly significant discounted labor cost.
If you believe in creative solutions to business challenges, we’ll make sure you get a competitive advantage. Click here for a free consultation.
The dreaded tax season is upon us once again. As with any business, management companies need to ensure their tax filings are in order. The 2023 deadline to file is April 18th, so there are still a few months to manage your management company’s tax return prep. Here are a few things to remember:
Every year, businesses (and individuals alike, honestly) struggle to submit their tax returns on time. It’s a daunting, cumbersome task, and time can get away from all of us when important deadlines loom overhead.
Knowing application deadlines for all your various forms is an excellent step in tax preparation. Because the 2022 Tax Season officially began on January 23, 2023, businesses can now submit completed tax returns, but not all are prepared to do that.
If you’re not ready, the best first step in your management company’s tax preparation should be to apply for an extension as soon as possible. Businesses can use this extension to file taxes for the company beyond the original deadline of April 18, 2023. Getting in as quickly as possible means one less task on your checklist to worry you’ll forget about.
Once you sort that out, you can build the rest of your calendar. Remember to include the following dates at a minimum:
Management company tax documentation can be complicated because your business works with many other businesses. Keeping track of all of those files is, fortunately, less of a hassle in this digital age we’re in, but still not an easy task.
You’ll likely need to go through multiple technology platforms to get the paperwork the IRS requires and find a convenient way to allocate it all in one place. While time-consuming, it isn’t impossible, and hopefully, digital copies mean fewer chances of misplaced receipts or coffee-stained invoices.
A good approach to this hurdle is to start by segmenting the types of documents and paperwork you’ll need to get together to file correctly. Here are a few to add to your list, but remember to check with an accountant for any forms we may have missed:
The list of documents you need to prepare for vendors can get lengthy depending on the kind of vendors you utilize and how much you’ve paid them. This list can include, but is not limited to:
What this whole list really amounts to is a lot of paperwork. Paperwork to file, paperwork to send out, paperwork to take in – it’s a lot. And it’s something your HireSmart Virtual Employee can easily handle on your behalf.
Now to be clear, a traditional Virtual Assistant shouldn’t be used to replace an accountant. This is important stuff, and the actual filing and final accuracy checks should all be done in-house by trained staff or an accountant. But having your Virtual Employee (VE) aggregate all of your documents, set your schedules, assist with tedious tasks, and essentially manage your time can make your 2022 Tax Season run much more smoothly.
When you’re ready to take care of your business tax return, a HireSmart Virtual Employee is just a click away. Contact us today for your free 30-minute consultation to see if a VE is the right choice for you.
Virtual employees add diversity of experience and perspective to your team.
Many business owners hire consultants, coaches, advisors to help them see things in a different way, to get a different perspective from a trusted source.
It’s especially common in real estate and commission sales-type businesses where outreach and messaging are critical to success.
There is value in bringing in not only an extra pair of eyes but an objective outsider point of view that isn’t bogged down by too many details.
The outsider holds a valuable perspective simply by being an outsider.
When you’re so caught up in your business, knowing all the problems, all the details – you might be missing the forest for the trees.
Consultants and coaches and advisors are usually pretty expensive – especially the ones with good reputations.
So, you might not be ready to pay for that kind of outside analysis and support.
There’s another way to get a fresh take on your business from people who are already on your payroll and care about your success.
Yes, I’m talking about your employees and in this case specifically HireSmart Virtual Employees.
Virtual employees have an outsider perspective that can be valuable if they’re encouraged to express their ideas and insights.
They’re an excellent way to diversify your team.
Diversity is a term that gets thrown around a lot.
Where I’m coming from, it’s not about showing that you have a diverse staff, so people think you have enlightened business ethics.
Diversity is valuable in business because fresh ideas, new ways of understanding, and creative approaches are born from being able to see things in different ways.
When your staff is diverse, you can benefit from a diversity of experience, cultural values, styles of education – even different ways of thinking.
HireSmart Virtual Employees are known for their high quality and low labor cost value.
They also have value because they bring their own unique cultural approach to business, work and life.
If you’re interested in taking advantage of highly skilled, dependable and motivated virtual employees who can also see your business from a fresh perspective, click here for a free consultation.
In today's competitive business landscape, HOA management companies recognize the importance of supporting their key employees.
Community manager burnout and high turnover are major problems in the industry. And yet, the solutions to these problems have traditionally been the same handful of ideas: higher salaries, software efficiencies, outsourcing services, or adding more employees. In short, throw more resources at the problem. But, as the famous quote goes, trying the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
It's time to try something different — a fresh perspective on how to organize your company.
Dynamic Association Managers Wanted
Community managers must have dynamic skills to be successful in their roles. And must be adaptable and flexible to tackle the fast-paced HOA industry.
The ever-changing demands of board members and homeowners require crystal-clear communication and exceptional problem-solving skills. A community manager must also be organized and have excellent time management skills.
Finding talent with a combination of these skills can be difficult — no wonder management company recruitment efforts often feel like searching for a needle in an impossible-to-find haystack.
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Reevaluating Workloads
Community managers often struggle to handle the influx of responsibilities due to high staff turnover, contributing to burnout or leaving the profession altogether.
A significant way to support community managers is to lessen their workload. This is not about taking away core tasks but reassessing how to perform specific tasks.
47 tasks a virtual employee can handle for you
According to the Foundation of Community Association Research:
Outdated and Ineffective: How Traditional Organizational Structures Hold Management Companies Back
Community managers today wear many hats. They handle covenant enforcement, community maintenance, project management, board meetings, new employee training, and more. Many HOA management companies offer support through an assistant or care team.
The Costs of a High Turnover Rate
The "assistant community manager" helps with administrative tasks, including answering homeowner phone calls, handling invoice payments, and preparing welcome packages and mailings. Often, they assist a team of community managers and multiple properties to keep company costs down.
Community managers report they are barely keeping their heads above water. The work piles up, and they're trying to keep from drowning.
Getting to the Crux of the Matter: Unfulfilled Career Aspirations
The outlook is not so bleak, though. There are some things about the job community managers enjoy and find rewarding.
According to the Foundation of Community Association Research, these key factors contribute to longevity in the profession.
Hiring is Hard; Here’s How We Help
Motivate overworked and underfulfilled community managers by enhancing these positives. This requires a fresh perspective on how to organize your company structure.
Rethinking Traditional Organizational Structures through Community Association Virtual Employees
So, how do management companies reduce workloads, hire more support, and keep prices down?
The new emerging trend — virtual employees (VEs). Save costs and improve operations by utilizing virtual employees. Reduce the burden of administrative tasks and optimize efficiency.
The Cost Benefits of Hiring Virtually
Virtual employees can also lead to improved customer experiences. Train VEs like the rest of your employees. They can easily communicate with customers in a personalized and conversational manner using your HOA software system, through email, chat, or over the phone.
Rethinking Job Duties: Sample Organizational Structure
Every management company functions differently. When considering how this may best work for your company, remember your unique needs. Here is a sample organizational structure that can aid in rethinking job duties:
Reduce turnover and costs related to hiring and training new employees. Improve company morale, productivity, and customer service. Let managers do what they do best.
Tap into the existing talents of your newer employees as your company grows. Assistant managers have the skills needed to advance into Manager roles. Reduce recruitment costs and minimize the learning curve associated with new hires.
Productivity increases, homeowners communicate better, and your board members are happy. And the cost is less than hiring an in-office administrative assistant!
When Tom Quits, Consider a VE Team Instead
Start by assessing your employees' strengths and interests and realigning their responsibilities accordingly. Think outside the box to unlock your managers' full potential and keep your best talent. Gain a competitive edge and position your company for long-term success.
Click here to set up a free consultation and let us embark on this transformative journey.
Why being understaffed is bad for your health.
Health is related to stress, that’s what the research and science tells us.
It’s not all stress that’s bad, it’s excessive stress that can tax your body and mind and lead to illness.
Managing a business comes with a certain amount of necessary stress because at the end of the day you’re responsible for delivering a quality product or service.
Add in employees and competition, taxes, and inflation and it’s easy to see how the pressures and challenges can build up.
That’s just the baseline level of stress for a business owner or manager, that’s the amount that comes with the territory.
As a successful business owner, over time, you learn how to delegate, become more efficient and adopt strategies to create a healthy relationship with your work-related pressures.
That’s what I think of as the “sweet spot”, when stress is manageable, there’s support from staff, and you have enough time to devote to family life.
It’s like you’re floating down a river on a fully blown-up raft, enjoying the scenery, paddling just enough to guide the boat and steer clear of major obstacles.
And then, inevitably, something changes.
Let’s say your assistant needs to move somewhere else to take care of his aging mother.
He can’t give you any more than two weeks' notice and that’s nowhere near enough time to find, onboard, train, and get a new assistant up to speed.
That raft you’ve been floating on starts to lose some buoyancy and you have to paddle harder to avoid the obstacles.
Let’s say this all happens when your business is particularly busy, or you have a deadline to get something done.
This is another level of stress, one that starts to move into unhealthy territory.
I hope you don’t know the feeling of being overwhelmed by the demands on your time, losing sleep from knowing just one more crisis or bad break would be devastating to your business.
But you probably do know the feeling – it’s part of the game.
At HireSmart, we want you to know that you’re not alone in those types of dangerous situations when your stress levels are maxed out and you feel like you’re spiraling out of control.
Not only can we find you highly capable, dependable, affordable virtual employees ready to join your team, but we also provide onboarding strategies and ongoing HR support.
Our business is designed to make your life less stressful and your company more successful.
There’s a lot more value to a relationship with HireSmart than simply quality virtual employees.
If you’re feeling stressed out trying to replace staff or build your team, let us be your employment partner and we’ll take care of you.
Click here for a free consultation.