The VA Mistakes Most Founders Are Making with Richard Woods

Business is hard.

With delivery, sales, marketing, and everything in between, there’s too much to do, and not enough time to do it.

That’s why I tell creative studio owners that the first hire they should make is a virtual assistant.

And in this episode, I’m joined by Richard Woods - a three-time bestselling author, serial founder, and finalist on The Apprentice - to dive deep into how to leverage VAs to scale twice as fast.

Richard runs Million Dollar Sprint, where he helps small businesses get to a million dollars as well as Sprint VA, a global virtual assistant business with nearly 200 people.

If you don’t have a VA yet, this will help you figure out what to look for and where to start.

And if you already do, you’ll learn how to stop managing them so closely and get hours back each week.

Covered in this episode:

• Why most creative business owners wait too long to hire a VA.
• How to find the right VA.
• The first task you should outsource in your business.
• The common mistakes that cause outsourcing to fail.
• Management strategies for those who hate managing people.
• How to know when a team member isn’t working out.
• What will separate businesses from the rest in 2026.
• And more…

If you get value from this episode, follow Creative Courage on your favourite podcast app for more transformational content to help you thrive as a creative.

PS: If you want a custom roadmap to grow a creative studio that works for you, rather than the other way around. Click this link - https://resources.mattessam.co.uk/.

 

LEARN MORE 

Sprint VA - https://sprintva.co/courage 

Million Dollar Sprint - https://milliondollarsprint.com/ 

LinkedIn For Breakfast - https://www.skool.com/linkedin-for-breakfast/about 

Work with Matt to grow your agency - https://www.mattessam.co.uk/creative-life-accelerator

CONNECT 

Richard Woods on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardwoodsofficial/ 

Matt Essam on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattessam/ 

LISTEN 

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2LSpLIyYtBLe03JBC8LjvT 

Apple Podcasts - 

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/creative-courage/id1721515799

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcf0CcYK3MtnITQCyGXoVVR-eTu8SEbAV