How to confidently and successfully use Support Assistants
to scale your business
EOfire
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Episode breakdown
Barbara Turley the founder & CEO of The Virtual Hub, a business she started by accident that quickly exploded to become one of the leading companies that provide support assistants in the digital marketing space to businesses who need to free up time so they can scale. Tune in as Barbara shares how to confidently and successfully use support assistants to scale your business.
- Why people fail with Support Assistants, losing money, time, and energy
- How can entrepreneurs set their selves up for success before hiring a support assistant
- What tasks to delegate that works out well
- How to minimize mistakes
- Onboarding process to get success with support assistants and allowing a 3-month transition
- Creating recurring tasks lists and projects lists
- What needs to be done within the first week of having the Support Assistant
- How to give constructive feedback
- How to get from one support assistant to one whole team without overwhelming the business in general
- How to let your team run the business while maintaining control
- Documenting processes
- Making sure you’re always on the conductor role and taking one step at a time
- How The Virtual Hub started accidentally
Delegation is actually a skill that needs to be learned, and most people are extremely bad at it—but if you get it right, support assistants are the key to scaling your business cost effectively.
In this episode
00:00 - Introduction and Guest Background
John Lee Dumas introduces the episode and Barbara Turley. She shares her background, including her unique story of working around U2 in Dublin and her move from Ireland to Australia.
03:42 - Why Support Assistants Are Key to Scaling
Barbara explains why Support Assistants are a cost-effective solution for entrepreneurs, highlighting offshore hiring benefits, especially in the Philippines.
04:38 - Addressing Guilt and Global Impact
Barbara reframes the guilt entrepreneurs feel about offshore wages, showing how Support Assistant careers transform lives and communities.
09:55 - Why Entrepreneurs Fail with Support Assistants
She identifies poor delegation, lack of preparation, and weak recruitment as the main reasons entrepreneurs fail with Support Assistants.
12:39 - Preparing for Success Before Hiring
Barbara stresses the importance of creating a clear, granular task list before hiring a Support Assistant.
13:59 - Examples of Effective and Ineffective Tasks
She outlines tasks that work well for Support Assistants (blog posting, social media, podcast management) and warns against starting with personal admin tasks like email and calendars.
19:49 - Reducing Confusion and Mistakes
Barbara emphasizes a three-month transition, onboarding systems, and daily huddles using Scrum to minimize confusion and mistakes when working with Support Assistants.
28:49 - Giving Constructive Feedback
She explains how to provide feedback without discouraging Support Assistants, discouraging the “sandwich technique” and recommending structured check-ins and expectation-setting.
36:10 - Growing from One Support Assistant to a Team
Barbara shares lessons on scaling from one Support Assistant to a team, highlighting the need for an org chart and leadership structure to avoid chaos.
40:45 - Maintaining Control While Scaling
She describes how she maintains oversight using Asana, Zapier, and daily pipeline meetings to centralize processes and keep operations aligned as Support Assistant teams grow.
47:30 - The Accidental Business Story
Barbara recounts how The Virtual Hub began unintentionally after a failed product launch, evolving into a thriving Support Assistant business.
48:47 - Closing Guidance and Call to Action
Barbara advises committing to at least part-time Support Assistants for loyalty and long-term success. She shares how to connect with her on LinkedIn and The Virtual Hub.
