I’ve realized that there is more to being rich than having money. Think about it, having boatloads of money, but having to work day and night for it really defeats the point. If you have no free time, then all the money in the world really isn’t worth anything. This is why real estate works for me. Passive income has become my goal.
In my pursuit of passive income, I’ve found that although real estate is one of the lowest risk investments, it is sometimes difficult to get involved in. Maybe not difficult, but with the way the economy is heading, you’re probably going to need to have some cash. If you have cash, it’s almost a perfect investment avenue. However, I want to build a free standing cash machine, one that runs without me, or with minimal intervention. That way I’ll have cash to invest in real estate.
I don’t think that it’s possible to jump right into delegating and macro-managing. It’s a tough process to let go of your decision making, and allow other people to make decisions for you. Of course, I don’t mean every decision, just ones which are trivial or daily. To be efficient as a business, you have to design a model that works, and then figure out how to have other people do it. That way, you only make mission critical decisions, and the business can run without you. First, strip out everything that just wastes time and is busy work, and then allow other people to do what’s left. That’s also being effective.
Sounds risky, huh? That’s why I am going to experiment first with a virtual personal assistant. I’m going to use a VPA to learn how to communicate well, and to learn a little more about having people work for you. I stumbled on to this concept from my latest book, The 4-Hour Work Week. It introduced me to companies like Your Man In India, which offer virtual personal assistants starting at about $5 an hour.
What will I have my personal assistant do? Well, to learn how to direct people, I’m going to try and begin to outsource my life. I’ll have my VPA do simple tasks at first. Easy things to save me time. The object here is to learn to communicate and to have my VPA accomplish things that would normally take up my time. Things like, make sure my bills are paid each month, possibly my Christmas shopping, schedule a doctors appointment, etc. Each week, I’ll designate things for my VPA to do that would normally take up my free time. That way, I’ll have slightly less money, but the peace of mind knowing that my things are getting done, and most importantly, free time to do the things I want. Now, I won’t be freeing up huge amounts of time, but it’s a start.
Wouldn’t you like to have more free time? Try using a VPA to accomplish your menial tasks, and then work up until they are doing larger and larger things (like negotiating a bank loan or helping you find a cheap house in foreclosure).
Tags: assistant, Business, Money, passive income, Real Estate, the 4-hour work week, vpa
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I’m interested in “personal outsourcing” too, but not quite sure how well it would work or what exactly to use it for in my life. (And having other people handling my finances creeps me out.)
Be sure to post about how it goes for you!
I’d definitely like to hear about what you decide to have your VPAs do, what the service works well for, and what it doesn’t.
September 25th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Great idea on how to get things done!
September 25th, 2008 at 11:59 am
You have written a great article. Certainly, VA’s are a must if you need to some free time in your life. As you have mentioned, the cost of hiring them also is very cheap. Thanks.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I also love the idea of virtual personal assistants. I usually am one, so it is great to hear people who appreciate us!
September 25th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
VPAs to help get work done, huh?
Never really thought about it, but it makes sense. Why go so far as India though? Wouldn’t there be market for say, poor college students. I’m not sure if there is a distinct benefit in that, but there you go.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
What an interesting concept. I must be out of the technology loop because I have nerver heard or thought of this. It’s a great idea. Thanks for the info.
September 25th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I frist learned about VPA in the 4 hour work week also, but found them expensive for a little as I though I would use them (i could only see them checking my email). I get a ton of email in a day (100-200 messages) but I set Gmail up to filter them all and then I prioritize them based on the tag they receive, this can really make life easier for free.
September 27th, 2008 at 7:32 am
A very interesting post. And I agree that Virtual Assistants are a must if you need some free time in your life.
September 27th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Something different…nice one…We all surely need VA’s
September 27th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I’m looking for a job if you want to hire me. Of course, I can only work parttime and I will require more than $5 an hour. Your blog illustrates the wave in virtual assistants that may start booming in the near future.
September 29th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Hello,
Nice ideas…
But, about the layout, maybe you can change the background to a lighter color (white on the posts with black on the bg arent the best idea, I think).
October 6th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Thank you for this great tip, A personal assistant would be a great asset to anyone running a business. It is very hard trying to perform so many task in a day and a personal assistant would be a big help.
October 7th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Hi, I think its a good iea to create a virtual assistant, and its a good written article too!