Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amber Miller. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Amber, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
As a boutique virtual assistant and professional support services team, we do more than “tasks”. Our story starts back in 2004 with a vision to provide entrepreneurs with the operations and marketing support needed to run a business – without the expense of hiring and managing. Many small business owners are struggling not only with what to delegate – but the how. We not only provide that support, we also help them to see the benefits of them not doing all the operations and administrative tasks themselves. And the the power that comes from delegating. We don’t just do tasks. We are part of their company, their team, their vision. We invest ourselves into what they are contributing to the world.

Amber, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
As a virtual team providing marketing, administrative and operations support, clients hire us to be an extension of their team. We value relationships, learning and growth. We are proud to say that we have worked with several of our clients for over 10 years and have been an integral part of their business growth!]] Our mission is to provide quality support while ensuring our clients that we will always “have their back”. From answering emails, to creating. marketing campaigns and provide launch support, we have had the privilege of watching the success of many entrepreneurs. Founded in 2004, Smart To Finish was created to meet the needs of entrepreneurs who had a vision… but needed the backing of a strong support team.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
As the company grew, I began to hire contractors to work with me and our clients. I learned quickly a few things with this method. 1. You need to be careful in hiring contractors (that are not a formed company such as an S Corp) as there are legal implications with the IRS to be aware of. 2. I found that I needed staff available just to my team to be completely available to support our clients. I had to completely shift the structure of our staff and transition many of them to employees. The difficult part was many of them were in different states. That now became a larger undertaking as I had to learn how to pay and manage as a business in several states. I looked for support from my lawyer and accountant and had to change our entire hiring and onboarding process.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Our team is 100% virtual and has always been. It is important for us to stay connected not only as a team – but also it is important for me to connect with each one individually. We used to meet weekly as team on zoom but found that was too much with everyone keeping busy supporting. our clients, so now we meet once a month to go over business agenda items but then also set up zoom calls for fun virtual activities such as happy hours and virtual parties. I also have 1:1 calls each month with each of my staff to say hi, connect and offer support. Sometimes we get busy and forget these little things are very important. We also meet quarterly as a team for training as it is important for us to always know the technology so we can best support our clients!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://smarttofinish.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarttofinish/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smarttofinish/
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/delegationdiva/

Image Credits
Elaine Kessler