According to Gallup, 45% of entrepreneurs report feeling stressed, which makes perfect sense: being the main decision maker and doing everything in a company becomes overwhelming and frustrating, even if one is passionate about what they do. In response, one of the most critical steps is to hire a personal virtual assistant — a person usually hired through a contract (rather than a traditional employee), who offers both flexibility and enhanced options for getting things off your plate .

Virtual assistants perform a wide variety of tasks, including emailing newsletters, social media scheduling, calendar management, research, data entry, proofreading, landing page creation, and much more. And there are reliable signs that you need one. Most people wait too long and then rush through the hiring process, making disappointment much more likely.