Pavel started Virtudesk, a virtual assistant company, in 2016. After being a real estate broker for many years, he decided to hire his first virtual assistant to help him schedule appointments with leads, do outbound calling, and other admin tasks. When his virtual assistant started booking more appointments than what he could keep up with and closing more than twice his regular sales, he knew there was something unique about this model. After starting his brokerage, other real estate agents started to ask him about virtual assistants. Then he started Virtudesk to meet the demand. Along the way, he developed unique software like Timedly and Tymbl Power Dialer in order to increase the efficiency and accountability of his virtual assistants.
Timedly is a Virtual Assistant and Project Management software owned by Virtudesk that tracks the progress of virtual assistants by taking screenshots of their computer screens every two minutes. Clients and their virtual assistants can assign each other tasks and stay up to date on progress. Tymbl is a power dialer that makes outbound and inbound calling automated.
Pavel is determined to make Tymbl and Virtudesk leaders in their industries. He is passionate about maximizing your time and productivity by working smarter rather than harder. He teaches others how to delegate properly so entrepreneurs can have more time back to grow their business or spend enjoying life.
What is Virtudesk all about?
Virtudesk was founded in 2016, and is a virtual assistant company. Just some of our main services include virtual assistants specialized in marketing, prospecting, customer service, administrative tasks, transaction coordination, and time block services. Virtudesk’s main goal is to help business owners, entrepreneurs, real estate agents and other business professionals scale their business. We help entrepreneurs identify what types of work they are completing on a daily and weekly basis, how many of those activities directly contribute to revenue and what activities don’t. This information helps us decide what their virtual assistant will do. We want our customers to delegate the tedious, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks, or the tasks they are not good at (e.g. content creation or video editing, etc.) so they can focus on developing their brand and growing their business. We want our prospective clients to realize that they don’t have to live life hustling every single day and stay small. They can grow and get a bigger client base, and get more time back to their life, once they master the system of delegating responsibilities to highly competent people.
Then, once we help the lead determine what kind of virtual assistant they want, they can go on to interview 4-5 VA candidates we hand select for them, based on their job description and business needs. They can look at their resume and disc profile. Once the client selects their candidate, the virtual assistant (VA) can begin the onboarding process with their new client.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I was born in Siberia. In Ulan-Ude, Russia. I emigrated to the United States in 1997. Moving to America was the logical step because of the desire for a better life and better opportunities. America seemed to be the land of entrepreneurship, free enterprise and where if you really want it, you can make it. The only thing that is needed is your desire to succeed and hard work.
After I came to America, in order to go to University, I wasn’t quite sure on what to study. I first picked journalism, because I thought it would be interesting. After completing my major, I realized that journalism was not something I wanted to pursue. The next interest I always had was law. I had also always dreamed of becoming a lawyer.. While in Law school I took some real estate classes and was fascinated with the concept of property ownership and the opportunities it could unlock.
After graduating law school and passing the bar exam, I discovered that real estate was more in tune with my entrepreneurial mode and DNA and I became a real estate broker.
For 3 years, I practiced real estate at a 100% commission brokerage. At the time, I was working 12-16 hour days with no real break. I was doing everything from Marketing, setting appointments, outbound calling, meeting with clients, going to showings, etc. I then decided to hire my first virtual assistant in order to help me set more appointments. The results were dramatic. My virtual assistant was responsible for doing outbound calling and setting up appointments. I could barely keep up, and after hiring her, I spent a lot of my time going to appointments. My sales that year tripled! No joke. I started to realize the value of virtual assistants and the power of delegating. After those 3 years, I started my own brokerage Nexus Realty in 2015. As I brought on more brokers, I realized they had the same problem – time. Just like I did. I discovered they needed virtual assistants as much as I did, and they started asking me about it. That’s when the idea of Virtudesk came on. I realized most of the agents around me desperately needed help, so I started Virtudesk to assist Nexus, and saw how I could expand past my brokerage due to this common pain point that all agents and entrepreneurs face.
A couple of years after starting Virtudesk, I started building a new product, called Tymbl. This autodialer was designed to automate outbound calling for real estate agents and sales agents. I designed this platform so I could help agents keep track of all of their leads, create campaigns around their lead status, and bulk analyze the calling metrics. It is still in its start-up phase, but it has helped Virtudesk and other agents so much already!
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
One of the biggest problems I struggled with was establishing and building the systems needed for operational effectiveness. One of the most challenging parts of starting Virtudesk was that I had to assign roles to every person in the organization and have a detailed job description of what they would be doing in that role. I had to tell people in detail what their defined role was before I even knew what the role entailed myself. It required me to sit down and really think and write out what I wanted each person to do, and how I wanted to create my systems. I learned that I needed to first create the role (and a detailed version of it), and then hire. Then create systems. I had to do this in no other order. In the beginning of starting your own business, and especially as you continue to grow, knowledge is the hardest to come by, from yourself and others. You have to learn and make mistakes as you go. You also have to hire people who are extremely knowledgeable and talented at what they do, so they can provide your company continual value as well.
Part of this struggle of building out systems includes creating several layers of management and a hierarchy of who would go to who. I also had to address who would cover what if a manager went out sick or on vacation. Could I ensure the job would still get done well with this person absent?
This was different from when I started my brokerage, Nexus Realty, as Virtudesk required multiple layers of people to run different functions. Now, I’m doing this again with my Tymbl, as it’s still in the start-up phase.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
One of the top mistakes I made starting out was not hiring the right people. Again, they may have been qualified on paper, but I didn’t assess whether or not they were a good fit for the company. I didn’t make sure that the people I hired always had the best interest of the company in mind. I ended up finding out that when you hire people who also don’t think similarly to you, it can be harder to take on new projects together. I believe this is very important in the early stages of a company. You have to bring on hard working people who have a vision for your company as well.
I realized I made mistakes very often, even daily. However, it was paramount to my learning and perfecting our systems and how we operate and present ourselves.
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
Read. I try to read daily, and finish about 1 book a week. Reading is super important to intellectually grow and expand your mind. Especially when you are younger, it’s essential to read as much as possible. Don’t spend your time binge-watching Netflix, when you could be spending that time more wisely and gaining knowledge, learning skills, or getting perspective on important topics that can help you in your business or area of interest.
This way, I am constantly exposing myself to new ideas. The beauty of reading is that you can access the minds of extremely successful, intelligent, experienced, and influential people. In this way, it’s kind of like a mentor-on-demand. This is powerful, and when recognized, can warrant a lot of benefit to the reader.
Reading books is not the only type of reading you should be doing. It’s just as important to stay up to date on current events. Reading newspapers, magazines, journals and more every day on what’s happening in your country and the world more broadly is important for staying aware of important events. Not only is this good for awareness-sake, but can be beneficial when making key business decisions.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
- Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
- Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
- 4 Hour-Workweek by Tim Ferriss
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
I wish I knew how to hire slow and fire fast. Especially in the beginning of Virtudesk, I was too fast to hire and slow to fire. I onboarded people quickly, because I needed help, but didn’t take the proper time to truly evaluate their skills, their intentions for the company, and their background. More importantly, I didn’t take the time on whether or not they would be a good fit for the job or with the company. I believe this is paramount to a successful working relationship and the employee’s success as well. You can hire a 100 qualified people, but if they don’t think similarly to you on where to take the business or they don’t get along with the teams already on staff, then progress can be slowed, and less will get done to benefit the company overall and in the long-term.
Even firing slow was a problem I had to overcome. Hiring someone can be scary, as you are taking the leap to trust them with part of your company. That’s why in the beginning it was hard for me to fire, as you do invest in them and put faith in them that they will do well. When you let someone go, you’re letting them and yourself down, at least that’s how it felt in the beginning.
Other hiring struggles I’ve encountered are just hiring friends, or people I am in close network with. Again, hiring was fast and easy – even fun and exciting. However, there have been times when they proved they didn’t cut the cake, and it took a long time before I had to let them go.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Hiring a great marketing team! This one can be overlooked, because it’s so obvious. However, when you don’t have the right people on board, this will immediately stunt your marketing efforts. You need a hardworking, experienced team who have vastly different strengths from one another. This way, their skills can complement one another, and they can get more done working together. Having a great marketing team with people who have great minds, can think outside of the box, generate many ideas, and think big picture while still paying attention to the details is paramount. You are only as good as your team(s). This is crucial to understand as an entrepreneur, as you have to realize it doesn’t take you to do it all, but rather a team of highly skilled and competent people.
Besides having a great marketing team, going to conferences and partnering with influencers has been another great strategy that has generated a high ROI for my businesses. Take Virtudesk, for example. When we started partnering with Tom Ferry on virtual events and going to his conferences, we were able to tap into his ecosystem of coaches and clients and generate a lot of sales from this. When you are able to tap into the ecosystem or audience of an influencer who is targeting a similar group as you, it can pay dividends for your company.
Besides that, conferences are a great strategy as well. Conferences offer you a chance to connect with people face-to-face and form partnerships or deals. It has also generated a lot of leads and sign-ups for us in the past. Additionally, when you are actively participating in panels or sign up to be a speaker, it can set you apart from the other attendees and establish you as more of an authority on your topic.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new startup, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
The first asset I would put that $1000 towards is a nice and robust website. Because we live in a digital age now, and the website acts as the company’s central hub for company information, it’s important to give users a positive and informative experience. Not only is the website the place where many of your leads will convert (whether you are eCommerce or lead generation), but with the increasing use of the Internet, Google, and search engines, having a great and optimized website will make you more discoverable.
After building a great website with a solid foundation, invest the rest of that $1000 into Facebook and Google marketing. This will largely take the form of ads, but can include setting up business pages as well. The reason I would prioritize the money towards these avenues is because a lot should be invested in marketing. Your product or service won’t sell if people don’t know about it. Marketing gets the word out about your solution to people’s problems. Plus, Google and Facebook ads can reach many new people within your target market while converting them at a low cost. This is due to the capabilities of advanced targeting. We have experienced a high ROI with these strategies.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Just do it. Don’t worry about perfection and don’t overanalyze your next move for the company. Execution trumps overthinking. I see many entrepreneurs get scared to act when it comes to making important decisions to move their business forward. They are afraid of making mistakes. However, they have to understand that making mistakes is not only inevitable but essential to learn and grow and advance the business. It will never be the right time, you will never be ready or prepared to start your business or take on a new project or initiative. Just do it.
What is your favorite quote?
“The best is yet to come”.
When you work hard and you have a focused vision for where you want to take your company, you know it’s only going to get better. When you see your company making noticeable and fast growth and progress, you get excited for the possibilities and the path you and your team are headed. This further motivates me to push through any hardships. However, I want to emphasize that it’s just as important to enjoy the journey. The journey is 95% of it.
Besides hiring amazing people to your team, getting a robust CRM is essential to grow. A good CRM will help you keep track of leads, organize them efficiently, automate many processes to maximize efficiency, and allow you to deliver a much better customer journey. It will give your team all of the information they need to properly nurture leads and push them through the sales funnel.
The next is going to be a project management tool. We currently use Clickup. This particular tool I often find is underestimated. When you are growing your team, and you want to maximize efficiency and productivity, a project management tool is vital. This will allow all of your teams to better track deadlines, complete deliverables, and collaborate more effectively. Plus, it can be good for cross-department collaboration. When you are consistently adding new team members, it can help them keep track of what they are responsible for, and it can act as a resource hub.
Another tool that I would recommend is a good email marketing service. This will help you send mass emails to all of the contacts in your CRM. Email has proven to be one of the best ways to nurture leads. We have gotten many sign-ups from emails. Although the number of promotional emails has gone up, when you create value-driven emails, you will get a high engagement rate.
How is running a tech company different than what you thought it would be?
You have to sift out the BS and hire the right people who are skilled in technology. Hiring talented engineers to vet out the developers has been essential. Staffing has been the biggest obstacle as a tech founder.
How can readers get in touch with you?
You can get in touch with me on social media or via email. You should be able to find me on any social media account just by typing my full name. But you can also find me at @thepavelstepanov on Instagram or @pavelStepanov77 on Twitter! My email is Pavel@myvirtudesk.com.
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