No doubt in your recent year at home (shout out to COVID), you’ve heard the term OBM- Online Business Manager and maybe wondered, what’s the difference between that and having a Virtual Assistant and why should I care?
As a company that seeks out and continues to train the best US based Virtual Assistants we can find and build teams for small business owners to regain their time, flourish simultaneously in all areas and scale their business, we have discovered a few things along the way.
Those small business owners who have built a virtual team and are now serving the type of client pool they could only dream about a year ago tend to be even shorter on time than they were to begin with because they can now afford to take their families on vacations.
When small business owners achieve initial goals it allows them to take a step back, a day off and redefine what the new goals are moving forward.
When these two things have now become who you are, you are then left with an opening for a second in command that will be able to manage and delegate at the level you would expect from yourself.
So what defines an Online business manager? { OBM } is someone who can do just that and will virtually manage the daily operations of your business while you focus on steering the ship.
One part therapist, one part coach, one part cheerleader, but mostly a miny you who can look at your business, understand your vision and see the pieces that will make your vision come alive all while knowing the ins and outs of each job required to do so in order to provide oversight to your team and feedback to you. Truly your second in command. Read more here: https://www.cascadevirtual.com/post/what-is-an-obm
On the other hand, how do you define a Virtual Assistant {VA}?.
According to Google, A virtual assistant is generally self-employed and provides professional administrative, technical, or creative assistance to clients remotely from a home office.
At Cascade Virtual however, we take this definition a bit further in an attempt to train all of our VA’s not only in the task area they manage for your business but also in the ways of the OBM so that all of our clients will experience a team who displays top level communication skills and reliability.
The difference between the two?
OBMs are the planners, VAs are the doers.
An OBM works with their clients creating custom built strategies then manages the project from start to finish. A VA is task oriented and takes on assigned tasks to help clients achieve desired outcomes.
A visual: VAs stock the shelves while an OBM manages the store.
OBMs and VAs are motivated differently
I love jumping on a call with a client - hearing their goals then I pitch ideas of how I can streamline and reach their goals.
Like we tell our clients, “ you are the big thinker, I help you plan out the details on how to make your dreams come alive. ”
I love seeing their face light up so excited to see a road map to their finish line.
While OBMs get satisfaction from drawing out your road map and creating the task list.
VAs love to check things off the list.
Having both an OBM and VAs as a part of your team is essential! They work hand in hand. Making your life easier. Focus on your genius - your team will do the rest.